Some great results on the weekend particularly belting the old enemy and last year’s grand final opponent Ainslie in first grade.
1st Grade – Belconnen Magpies beat Ainslie 133 to 64
BMFC finally hit its straps and showed its playing potential in what was a physical encounter with Ainslie at Manuka Oval. It was the unveiling of the 2009 premiership flag and we wanted support from ex-players and we received that with many coming out to Manuka and experiencing sparkling sunshine and warm temperatures. There were numerous changes to the team that was beaten by QBN the week previous with the coaching staff deciding that quick legs were the remedy to a floundering attack. The speed with which players like Jennings, Love & Turnbull moved the football and the steadying influence of Lexie Bennett in defence allowed opportunities for our forwards which they haven’t received this year. BMFC talked about and wanted a 4 quarter effort and that was received with us extending our lead at every break and finally winning by 12 goals. The BMFC midfield controlled the game throughout with Martin Rice dominating the clearances and allowing our midfield brigade first use of the ball. Griffin Underwood had his best game of the year, kicking 3 goals but assisting in multiple others. His courage was on field for everyone to see as he was bashed around but always got up, and his class with the football is something we haven’t seen for a while. While our reserves also won by a large margin (see reserves report), the most pleasing part is the attitude shown by the players and their commitment to the task at hand.
2nd Grade – Belconnen Magpies beat Ainslie 112 to 42
Another young reserve grade outfit ran onto the field on Saturday and put on a good display for our past players and officials. Stephen Miekle came up from the under 18’s and showed that he is a talented player and has a big future ahead of him. Another debutant was rugby convert Graeme Cook, after playing a couple of games in the lower grades ‘Cookie’ came into the side as our second ruckman and also showed with some fine tuning will be an asset to the club. We starting the game well kicking 6 straight to their 1 goal 2 and continued it on in the 2nd quarter controlling most of the play going into half time 8 goals up. In the 3rd quarter we dropped our work rate with Ainslie having more possession of the footy than us. Cam Burdett showed some individual brilliance in the later half of the quarter which kept our score ticking over maintaining a 9 goal lead. Kicking a further 4 goals to 1 in last quarter finishing with 17-10-112 to 5-12-42 scoreline. Solid performances from the big forwards Craig Eckersley and Daniel Posch kicking 7 and 5 goals respectively along with Stephen Miekle who ended up with 2. Best player were S. Coate, T, Le Fort, S. Miekle, P. Raadts
3rd Grade – Belconnen Magpies lost to ADFA 34 to 102
After putting two good wins together it was disappointing to see the performance that was on display from the Magpies, going down to ADFA by 11 goals on Saturday. The first quarter was where the game was lost, as ADFA piled on 7 goals to one in a dominating display of fitness and skills that left the Pies facing an uphill battle for the rest of the day. With Collo missing some valuable experience from his side it was up to the younger blokes to step up and stamp their authority at third grade level, but unfortunately this never eventuated as the Pies relied on too few players to get a 22 man job done.
Whilst the first quarter set up the ADFA win, the Pies did not let them kick away in the second and third quarters, and matched the impressive Rams outfit for most of these quarters. Whilst only ever about 5 goals from the lead, the Magpies never threatened the Rams with closing the gap on the scoreboard, and were never really able to score consecutive goals throughout the match. The pressure applied by ADFA in and around contests meant that the Magpies struggled to deliver quality kicks into a forward line that was considerably smaller than the Rams defenders. Constant turnovers across our half forward resulted in numerous goals to ADFA, as their fleet footed and loosely accounted for midfield swamped the BMFC backs with numerous attacks into their forward line. In the last the Rams finally kicked away as a few serious injuries to Toddy and Stevie limited rotations on the bench. The final score line provides evidence that the Pies have a lot more work to do to match it with the top teams in the Canberra District competition. The few good contributors on the day were Coatesy, Dyl, Devo, Jacko, JBR, Tails and Calvo. With the season balanced at 2 and 2, this weeks game against Ainslie becomes a must win.
4th Grade – Belconnen Magpies beat ADFA 117 to 65
4's travelled to ADFA wary of a side that always runs for four quarters and is hard to beat at home, despite not having won a game yet this year. After giving up the first goal of the game, Belconnen steadied to get the next four goals thanks to the midfield dominance of Rory Markham and Trent Hopkinson and the goalkicking of Michael Sammons, and went into quarter time with a three goal lead. A dominant 6 goal to 2 second quarter saw the Magpies take an 8 goal lead into half time. Sammo continued to dominate his opponent up forward and Bennet Foster was unpassable in the backline.
As expected, ADFA continued to run and the third quarter was a much more even affair. With the Defence boys getting on top in the midfield, Jamie Duncan was moved into the middle to give the Pies some grunt and immediately made an impact. The last quarter, as expected, was the toughest of the day as the older 'Pies side began to run out of legs and ADFA's superior fitness saw them kick 4 goals to 2 in the last quarter. The boys never stopped fighting though and finished up with a 52 point victory that was a lot tougher than the final margin suggests. The win kept our undefeated start to the season intact but the biggest test of the year so far comes this weekend against last year's premiers and fellow unbeaten side Goulburn at Jamo on Sunday. Best players on the day were Foster, Sammons, Duncan and Markham.
Under 18’s – Belconnen Magpies lost to Ainslie 50 to 89
First home game of the season, beautiful sunny day, unfurling of 2009 senior flag, what more could you ask for. Unfortunately the Ainslie boys were more committed to get the hard ball when it counted. Our effort is there but our execution let us down at crucial times. Some of the lads are slowly learning the pace of the game is a lot quicker than have been used to from previous years at the under age levels. Andrew McQuiggin had his best game of the season kicking two fine crumbing goals. Adin Pini again displayed excellent skills in the slippery conditions to kick two vital goals and to keep us in the game. Vineel Dutt and Tom Madsen rucked all day but unfortunately our ground level players were unable to capitalize on their efforts. Football is a week by week game; our lads are slowly learning that preparation and attitude are the keys to success. Next week we play Eastlake at Manuka.
Women’s Team – Belconnen Magpies beat ADFA 128 to 0
We played ADFA at ADFA on a perfect Saturday morning. We attacked right from the start but blew a few chances and kicked a number of points. Finally the first goal was scored and then they just kept coming. 6 goals in the first quarter was a great start. The second quarter was much the same. We kicked 5 goals and were in control at half time. Stef Whaite and Hannah Wallet were superb across half forward taking some great marks. Sophie O'Dea, Ruth Bradbury and Michaela Costigan all made great contributions. In the third quarter we swapped forwards and backs. The backs kicked 6 goals in a great quarter of football. Karina Bailie, Allison White and Jess Gilmour all contributed goals and Amy Jason-Jones was impressive. Early in the last quarter an ADFA player was injured and an ambulance was called. The game had to be stopped. A very disappointing end to a great game. Our on ballers were simply brilliant all day playing a fast brand of football. Elise O'Dea, Gen Netting, Kim Coventry, Clare Gough, Heather Anderson and Nicole Wood should be proud of their efforts. Unfortunately the ladies can’t register percentage on the ladder until they concede a point!
Last Modified on 05/05/2010 09:19