U19s go down to Glen Eira

This week’s game was going to be a big one for the U19’s as they faced the ladder leaders Glen Eira/McKinnon on their home ground, East Caulfield Reserve. Having lost to Glen Eira/McKinnon at home last time we were out to reclaim top spot from them and make a statement.

With 10 changes to last week’s winning team it was going to be a challenge but one we thought the boys would be up for even with the early start.

The first quarter saw us score the first goal with Dillon Melnjak hitting the scoreboard early. Glen Eira/McKinnon Had the wind so our defence had the task of holding their scoring to a minimum and they did a great job applying constant pressure across the backline. Tanner Ellis snagged a second goal against the wind and at quarter time in a tight tussle Rovers were only trailing by a point.

The second term saw us with the wind and Harry DeWolf put our 3rd goal through to give us the lead followed by a set shot from Mo (Salah) Labib that had everyone excited. Glen Eira/McKinnon were not going away though and against the flow kicked 2 goals 3 to take the lead back from us late in the quarter. This saw us go into half time 4 points down.

The feeling in the rooms at half time was good and the players seemed ready to go out and keep up the pressure.

Unfortunately Cooper Watson copped a hip injury at the start of the quarter and couldn’t return. This definitely weakened our defences in the backline. This was shortly followed by Rakia also injuring his lower leg and not returning for the remainder of the match. We were down to 1 on the bench. Without the usual rotations the boys started to make mistakes, drop the pressure and were not able to keep up with Glen Eira’s 2 way running. Tanner’s second goal in the third term was our only one compared to Glen Eira/McKinnon’s 5 goals 3. The game was slipping away.

The final term did not see things improve when at one point we had no bench at all while Matt Spaziani suffered from asthma and once he recovered he then hurt his knee. Harry managed to snag his second goal for the day and that was all she wrote. Glen Eira/McKinnon put through a further 3 goals 4 to take out the win and cement themselves on top, while we were relegated to 3rd after Sth Melbourne beat Mentone.

Thanks again to the volunteers: Timekeeper/Scorebord – A.Donald, Runner – E.Melnjak, Waterboy Goal Stats – C.Morris, Interchange Steward – M.Marron

Next week we play Sth Melbourne Districts again but at home this time on the Boss. We need to win to regain 2nd spot. Let’s hope the players received Sam’s message loud and clear.