De La Salle vs Williamstown

Match Report

Qtr 1: With the ground churned up from 2 previous games & the centre a bog, clearances were paramount. Strong defensive marking by Tom Deane-Johns & Luke Healy held out persistent Williamstown forward thrusts. Quick transition from defence, through the centre delivered the ball to Lachie Gawel, in the unfamiliar #40, who marked & goaled at the 2 minute mark. 11 minutes of tight contested pack footy ensued before Willi brought up their 1st gaol, aided by 2 dropped marks, which should have been held in spite of the conditions! Really good play by Ryan O’Meara & Fraser Cameron gave Gawel his 2nd goal at the 16 minute mark. Although there was little, if any rain, ball handling was difficult with players of both teams fiercely contesting ground balls. The numerous “ball ups” strangled the game of any momentum.

The curse of the 50 meter penalty re-emerged, when at the 21 minute mark, Willi scored their 2nd after being advanced from deep on the HFF to the goal square! Willi were clearly on top now winning the ball at ground level. A clever snap, from a FP stoppage, gave them the lead at the 28th minute mark.
DLS 2.2=14 Williamstown CYMS 3.2=20

Qtr2: DLS started well, with its rucks doing well, against a much bigger ruck. A centre clearance landed with O’Meara, who goaled from CHF at the 1 minute mark. Then Cameron, a recipient of a perfect handpass from Hugh Nicholson, goaled at the 3-minute mark to restore DLS’s ascendency! Showing strength at the contest, Gawel delivered perfectly to the lead of Adrian Indovino who converted from distance to push the lead to 12 points at the 8-minute mark. The opportunity to extend the lead was passed up when O’Meara, following a fine contested mark, missed everything from 40 out directly in front of goal.

Packs & “ball ups” were a constant event! 9-10 minutes of the mall moving between defensive arcs, made for very taxing viewing & arduous play. Willi again snapped truly from a FP stoppage, clearly a well worked play! Seb Filipovic from an interception, passed superbly to Gawel 50 meters out, directly in front. He delivered with skill, considering the blustery wind, at the 31-minute mark & extend the DLS lead to 13 points. Willi employed their well-rehearsed stoppage play, to snap their 3rd for the quarter at the 33 minute mark. 8 minutes of “overtime” indicates how much time was spent on “ball ups” Although some time was lost when a kick from DLS went over the pavilion roof! Just slightly “out on the full”. A tribute to the players’ skill was that in this quarter 8 goals were kicked from about 10-12 attempts.
DLS 7.3=45 Williamstown CYMS 6.2=38

Qtr3: Rebounding from defence, a long kick into the DLS forward area, which was devoid of players, gave the fast running Tom Docherty space to gather & run some distance into the open goal, at the 1 minute mark. This was surely the highlight of the match!
After Cameron had goaled at the 3 minute mark, play reverted to the swing between defences, until the unstoppable Docherty, passed brilliantly to Pat Bohan, who kicked accurately from CHF & extend the DLS lead to 25 points at the 14 minute mark. While Willi were matching DLS in general play, they did not impact on the scoreboard, as the DLS defensive unit lead by Sean Fisher & O’Meara moved into defence, stood firm!

A long kick into the Wiili attack cleared the defensive pack for Willi to secure a well earned goal at the 18 minute mark, reducing the ¾ time margin to 17 points. DLS kicked 3 straight to Willi’s 1.2 for the quarter.
DLS 10.3=63 Williamstown 7.4=46

Qtr4:Willi lifted their intensity, if that was possible, & had the ball constantly in their ½ of the ground. Willi’s # 11 rucked all day, in what was a tremendous effort, given the conditions & the good contesting by Bohan & Stanton, who were both named in DLS’s best. Bohan’s kicking & marking around the ground is an asset for DLS!

At the 18 minute mark, Jake Williams, who had been playing an unusually defensive game, broke clear near the centre to send a superb pass to Indovino on the fast, contested lead. He sealed the issue with his 2nd goal from CHF. At the 20 minute mark, newly promoted Hamish Curtis, snapped cleverly from a pack situation, 15 meters out, to secure DLS win by 32 points.
DLS 12.9=81 Williamstown 7.7=49

Although DLS had, on the scoreboard, a convincing win with a strong 2nd half scoring 5.6 to 1.5, it was not until about the half way mark of the final quarter that DLS supporters & no doubt, the coaching panel could breath easily! Well done particularly to the “in & unders” such as Tom Docherty, Christian Algeri, Hugh Nicholson & the Filipovics.

Best: Lachie Gawel, Tom Docherty, Pat Bohan, Christian Algeri, Tom Stanton, Fraser Cameron
Goals: Gawel 3, Adrian Indovino 2, Cameron 2, Ryan O’Meara, Stanton, Bohan, Hamish Curtis, Docherty.

Onto the crucial game Vs Old Trinity at Trinity next Saturday! The Ladder shows how vital this game is:

Olf Haileybury 40
DLS 32 140
Old Trinity 32 125
Old Geelong 32 112
Old Ivanhoe 28 101

Check out the full ladder here