Olinda Women’s team played ladder leader Healesville for the second time in three rounds at Belgrave on Saturday morning. While the result was the same, Olinda going down by 50 points in a little over 2 quarters of play, the spectacle was much better and Olinda was able to produce a much better brand of football. It was, in fact, the best football Olinda had played since it’s round 3 Anzac Day win vs Upwey.
After dealing with the late withdrawal of young gun Grace Belloni, Olinda had even honours in general play in the first quarter. Ball movement was much slicker, as was transition from defence and clearance work.
The difference between the two sides, and it plagued Olinda for the duration of the game, was Healesville’s ability to outnumber and get free players in attack. This resulted in 2 fairly easy goals for Healesville and they went into quarter time 16 points up.
The second quarter brought a showing of Mars Attacks! as ruck Amalija “Mars” Kostich followed up her good first quarter with a masterful display in the ruck. Olinda won every centre bounce clearance, and Amalija’s contested work, marking and ball use around the ground was a highlight. Capt. Maddie Collins put on her usual display of strong body work, marking and long kicking. Claire Hyett did as she does every time she runs on the field, hard running and attack on each contest, and continually bringing her teammates into the game.
However, the brilliance Olinda displayed was nullified by Healesville’s continuing ability to get easy goals, mostly as a result of their midfielders being able to drift forward unattended. Olinda had their chances up forward, but the delivery into the forward line was haphazard, and any genuine scoring opportunities were sprayed. Credit must go to Healesville, they have proven to be the benchmark of the competition at both ends of the ground. Healesville put on another 3 goals to go into half time 37 points ahead.
Healesville started the third quarter with 2 effortless goals in as many minutes which was disappointing. Unfortunately, the game came to a sudden halt when Healesville’s Captain, Kelly Laidlaw, bravely backed into an oncoming marking pack and received a knee in the back for her troubles and landed awkwardly. With the risk of spinal damaged, she could not be moved until an ambulance arrived, and the clock ran out with no more play. We sincerely hope she is ok and applaud her courage.
The final result was Healesville 50 to 0.
Kylie Verbakel played as a defensive midfielder and hardly conceded a contest for the game. Ness Bateman continues to show a maturity that belies her age, fights hard for every contest and is sure by hand or foot.
Lily Carlin was a welcome inclusion after a few weeks out with injury, her attack on each contest and elite ball use a highlight. Alex Gunn launches herself into every contest with ballistic intensity and wears her opponents like a glove. She is a nightmare match up for any opposition. Rapidly improving defender Sophie Caldwell stood Healesville’s Danielle Carrucan, the destroyer from the last match who kicked a bag of 7 goals. She finished the game with only 1 goal, kicked during Sophie’s rotation on the bench.
Olinda’s mosquito fleet continues to be vibrant and effective. Ellie Andre, Emma McLaughlan and Emmalee Keegan all had impressive moments in the game. Full back Casey Seymour held her opponent goalless, and was the instigator in many of Olinda’s strong transitions out of defence.
So whilst scoreboard wasn’t pretty, the coaches felt progress has definitely been made. With two of the best players to come back in, Olinda should be a much harder opponent for Healesville next time around.
The U9s Friday night comp only has a few rounds to go and this week was the first with only one match played by each team. The kids had a ripping time, as usual, but were ready to go for another game!! Both team played really well and their footy improves every week. The modified nature of the game, with zones, ensures everyone gets a red hot crack at the footy!
A cracking winter’s morning greeted teams across the valley on Sunday morning, as our junior teams headed out to the various grounds to do battle with the league’s best. As one of our mighty U10s asked his coaches, “Why can’t they make the quarters longer when the weather is like this?”
The U10s were off to Seville and really enjoyed their morning’s footy. Whilst scores aren’t kept, Coach Ben said that the majority of the game was played in our half with multiple scoring shots and goals. Young Sol Smith snagged a couple whilst Syd Higgins won the medal for his dash across half forward past opposition defenders to snap a goal. Great stuff Syd! Billy Brown also led the way through the middle and Ben said that the experience these boys are having in the U11s is really showing in their age group. The sun out on a crisp Sunday morning made all the difference for players, coaches and spectators alike!
The U11s came up against the toughest opposition away at Monbulk that they have faced in some time. It was a see-sawing game with only two points separating the team at half time. Whilst Olinda had the advantage at 3/4 time, early goals in the last quarter to Monbulk had the game up for grabs. Coach Stuart and his team furiously worked the magnets and plotted their way to find a win, which they did with goals to Connor Lourey and Syd Higgins, who kicked the winning goal with a great mark and set shot! It was great to see the team challenged and find a way to win. Well done boys!
The U12 girls travelled out to Wandin on a spectacular crisp morning. There was great energy leading into the match with the girls celebrating Jess Verheyen’s birthday before the game. Wandin provided to be too strong for the girls but strong marks to Lulu Rayner and Reagan Seamer were a feature for the girls. Claire McPeake was a rock down in defence and Lucy Cremeane rucked well. Jasmine Thompson’s kicks to teammates on the wing generated forward movement whilst Franki Edquist’s run down the wing, in just her second game, was great to see.
The U13 boys headed down to Mt Evelyn to test themselves against one of the stronger teams in the division. Like the U11’s, this was a tough see-sawing contest where neither side could break through with regular scoring. Ollie Haynes run and dash through the middle was great, winning loose ball. Spencer Garrett and Ned Monkhurst intercepted the ball well across half back for rebound efforts and Ollie Millwood’s height in the contest also proved telling. Rio Neish and Will Benkiron, in the end, found ways to kick goals and get the boys the win, in what was a pleasing result for the coaches.
The U15 boys hadn’t really been tested since moving up to the top grade, and had played with the consistency and polish to match it with their opposition. This week, though, with five outs, mainly upper age key position players, and against a very strong Mt Evelyn outfit, they would be tested from the outset. Olinda struggled to match the bigger Mt Ev bodies in the contest which enabled them to win the ball in the middle and score easily. Cass Hine’s height and strength through the middle generated play and rebounded the ball, whilst Tom Ford was active around the ground. Aden Bates’ speed and skill make him a very hard match up and he repeatedly won the contested ball around the ground. River Bellemo’s courage around the contest was noted by Coach Scott in the main break and Will Meyer’s rebound defence was great. Tough day for the boys, but they’ll learn from it and improve. As Scott said after the game, “they’ve been wanting to be challenged and today they got it”.
The U17 boys headed down to Monbulk to see how their improving form would compare against Healesville. Coach Paddy was really looking for team oriented footy and set the agenda for the boys to be accountable for running receives and pressure acts. In close to their strongest line up for the year, the boys responded and put on a masterful display of hard running, team oriented footy. First Menzie Jans McKirdy’s 60m chase down the wing to spoil a kick, and then Quinn Forward’s run and chase down in the third quarter had the coaches roaring as perfect examples of rewards for team oriented effort. Luca Smith was powerful around the ground with solid marks and 3 goals. Ned Ford also snagged 4 goals in a stand out performance. Isaac Tonkin battled through a corky sustained in senior football on Saturday, but provided options up forward when not up the ground. Abel Teese’s hard running and intercept marking was great all day and he was rewarded for a goal. The only disappointing thing of the day was Healesville’s intercept mark in front of a hard charging Max Dooley in front of goal which would have been a fine reward for his efforts and enthusiasm for the team. Next time Max! A great effort by the boys and, as Paddy said, they’ve set a benchmark now of how to play out the season and if they can continue in this form, they will be a tough unit to beat!
