Men’s Seniors
UHS-VU 7.8.36 – Old Geelong 20.14.134
Goal Kickers: Todd Cracknell 2, Ben Dimattina, Will Thompson, James Gilfillan, Connor McCutcheon, James Healey
Written by James Healey
UHS travelled to South Yarra on Saturday to face the best Geelong had to offer. In many ways, the match mirrored the Olympics – filled with skill, precision, speed, ability, guts and determination. Unfortunately for UHS, Old Geelong took skill, precision, speed and ability for themselves, leaving us with guts and determination. The best Geelong had to offer was indeed very good football.
Despite this, spurred on by Aussie Gold at the games, UHS Senior Men’s side took to the field with an appetite for success.
With the wide open spaces at Como Park requiring marathon level fitness, it was Old Geelong who started best with some fast and accurate football that would become a feature of their day. With their striped foes kicking the first two UHS were desperate to hit back and get themselves into the game.
And they did so with precision kicking of their own, moving the ball from one end to the other through a combination of short and long passing a la The Matildas, James Gilfillan hitting a lovely pass to Todd Cracknell who finished with aplomb.
Soon after, UHS had the ball moving forward again with Ben Dimattina breaking away from the peloton, road race style, getting out the back. From a tight angle, he banana-d a goal which curled through like an Emma McKeon tumble turn. It was game on.
Game on meaning Old Geelong turning up the dial and quickly converting 2 more precise goals in the space of a minute. However, this would not deter the UHS first quarter charge! A scrambled kick forward and some good forward scrapping and pressure, would see the ball spill to James ‘Patty Mills’ Gilfillan who dished his 2nd dime for the day, as James Healey converted a tough shot from the right forward pocket.
Down 6 goals to 3 at quarter time, the Vultures would take confidence from the way they were competing across the ground. With Fraser ‘Sha’carri Richardson’ Allen suspended from the game, the ruck was left to James McGee, whose shot putter-esque power was matched against Old Geelong’s extra height. McGee added an extra dimension to the midfield, acting as a fourth midfielder as well as a ruckman, a move similar to leaving the net empty in Handball to add an extra attacker.
The 2nd quarter was a tight greco-roman type tussle. Spencer Horton turned it on, bursting out of stoppages swerving through several obstacles like Jess Fox as he racked up the possessions. UHS scored a single goal in the term to Old Geelong’s two, James Gilfillan’s scoring involvements continued, this time with a lovely set shot snap from the pocket after Ezza Ramsey hit him on the lead with accuracy of an Archery athlete hitting a bullseye.
At halftime UHS were down by 25 points and felt they had a foothold in the game, just lacked a little execution. From the half back line, Myles ‘Peter Bol’ Legudi was covering more ground than most and causing huge issues for Old Geelong with his running ability.
The 3rd quarter was where the game really turned for Old Geelong. UHS suffered from the long break and due to the large ground, they were overrun and out skilled. The one goal from the quarter came from a nicely designed play, finished by a nice pass from Horton to Connor McCutcheon, who converted from a distance that would make Javelin competitors proud to throw. Ayui Makieng, with a leap that’d put Brandon Starc to shame, patrolled the backline all day long, repelling many of forward entries Old Geelong threw at UHS. Unfortunately, it was not enough, as Old Geelong pulled away with five goals to one in the third quarter.
With the result a formality, the game opened up in the last quarter. Verbal barbs were thrown out by the Western Victorians, in behavior that may be viewed as against the spirit of the games. Steve Brooks in his first senior game for UHS was thrown forward and took a nice mark from a short pass by Ben Dimattina. Brooks gave up his opportunity at a first goal for the club, and decided to go for a beach volleyball style combo, setting the ball with a nice handball for Cracknell who slammed the ball through the big sticks.
As Old Geelong continued to utilise their pace and footskills, as well as their home ground knowledge, wingers like Matt Dimattina often found themselves in 5 on 1 situations (in what felt like a perverted version of 3×3 Basketball).
With little reprieve, Old Geelong put on 7 goals, while UHS were able to put through a second goal for the quarter through Will Thompson. After an un-characteristic error from Old Geelong and good pressure from forward marvel Gilfillan, the ball spilled to Thompson, whose goose step past the defender drew inspiration from the Rugby 7s, before sending the ball home through the goals.
Strangely, Old Geelong did not agree to share the points in Men’s High jump fashion, the final margin blowing out to 84 points. The UHS men will pick their heads up and go again as they’ll be looking for the golden touch in their next game, whenever that may be.
Men’s Reserves
UHS-VU 1.0.6 – Old Geelong 20.19.139
Goal Kickers: Otto McKinnon
Written by Nicholas Grapsas
After a lengthy lay off from matches, the boys were ready and raring to go against Old Geelong at Como park. Despite a few lads arriving late and getting lost in the aesthetically pleasing streets commonly found in the south-eastern suburbs, the energy was good pregame. Captain Besty had lost none of his edge during the three-week break, giving his usual fiery team talk and asked for nothing short of effort and intensity – the boys dually obliged.
Wanting to make amends for an extremely poor start against the same opposition on our home deck earlier in the year, Uni-High matched it with a team who were undefeated. Some fantastic tackling and hard work in the contest was on display early – the only thing missing was reward for effort. Multiple inside forward 50 entrees were generated, however perhaps the lack of match time playing a factor, the forwards were unable to function effectively and turn these entrees into goals. Unable to turn the early intensity into scoreboard pressure, Old Geelong began showing why they were sitting top of the ladder. Clinical in front of goal and executing their skills to a higher level, they went into the first quarter break with a 5 goal to zero margin, with the Uni-High boys unable to register a score.
The second quarter saw much of the same story unfold – old Geelong were beginning to flex their muscle a little more, and unlike the first quarter, there were limited chances going forward for Uni-High. The home team began to also lock down defensively, while continuing to execute on the offensive end. Ball movement and cohesion going forward out of the back half continued to be a problem for the boys after a good showing in the first quarter.
At 73-0 at half time, you could forgive most teams for simply giving up and allowing the opposition to pile on more misery – not at Uni-High. The boys dug deep and after getting an appetite for the contest again and showing a bit of polish, were finally able to hit the scoreboard themselves while managing to hold the opposition to four goals for the third quarter. Enter Otto, aka “The Big O”, who saw fit to channel his inner Eddie Betts and snap a bouncing goal from the boundary after a quality passage of play from our back half. With skill and acumen (and a goal-line shepherd which will no doubt go unmentioned in the grand scheme of things) Otto put it through the big sticks and the boys took a collective sigh of relief knowing we would not go through the game goalless. Scoreboard aside and looking at the third quarter in isolation, the boys can be proud knowing they didn’t’ completely pack it in and put up some level of resistance in difficult circumstances.
Unfortunately, that 3rd quarter was as good as it got for the lads in green and tan. Unable to add to our tally, Uni-High finished with a solitary goal for the game while Old Geelong put together another quarter reflective of their quality. The final margin of 130 points will no doubt still hurt, leaving fans, players, and coaches disappointed. However we can take heart in the fact we achieved our goal of not being dominated early, as well as taking off 5 goals from the total margin in which we were beaten at Brens.
The boys will take whatever positives they can as we head into the home stretch of games, with plenty of opportunity to add to our solo win for the year and finish the season off on a high.
Thirds
UHS-VU 5.6.36 – Canterbury 13.8.86
Goal Kickers: Tom Woodlock 3, Jackson Ferguson, Marcus Walsh
Written by Marcus Walsh
The Zookeepers ventured to the leafy suburb of Canterbury for their final game of the 2021 season in what would be the battle for the wooden spoon.
UHS great David Fazakerley donned the green and tan jumper for the 150th time whilst Craig Mawdsley was kitted up for his final game for the club. The boys wanted to start strong and put the pressure on early to gain its second win of the campaign.
The team started strongly kicking into the breeze in the opening stanza, Addley (“Silk”) was proving too much for Canterbury’s ruckman, running him ragged and his crafty taps opened the corridor to Gya and Cross to deliver inside 50. UHS kicked the first goal of the game courtesy of a great on the run effort from Ferguson. The lads went into the quarter time change with a narrow lead.
Unfortunately, the second quarter didn’t go to plan. Canterbury pilled on six unanswered goals to take a handy lead into the main change. The boys went into the rooms, with their heads still high knowing the game was far from over.
With the thought of winning the wooden spoon soon becoming a reality, the boys started to mount a comeback in the third quarter, Woodlock was sensational, taking a great contested mark and kicking a much needed goal. He then added his second soon after as the team clawed back the lead. The fightback was thanks to great effort from the defenders, Kruisheer injecting himself into the game with some great tackling and hit up work and St.Clair leading the way as per usual.
The final quarter of 2021 began as the boys looked to peg back a 32 point deficit. The Keepers started strongly, digging in and putting their bodies on the line, something that was lacking in the second quarter. Woodlock kicked his third, however it was not be for the boys. They went down to Canterbury by 50 points and unfortunately claiming the wooden spoon.
Women’s Friendly Match
UHS-W vs North Brunswick
Written by Katie o’Rielly
After a disappointing and abrupt end to the the official season, the combined UHS women’s teams braved the Saturday morning Lygon Street traffic and were keen to get cracking against North Brunswick on a windy but glorious day.
Having whipped out the sunscreen for the first time since April, UHSW shot off the blocks and made the most of the gale force winds in the first term. A Buddy Franklin-esque 50m torp from captain Abbey Mills opened the flood gates as UHSW piled goals upon an awestruck opposition. An uphill battle awaited in the second term, but speedy efforts to rival Rowan Browning from Sarah Carnovale lifted the spirits and UHS were determined to keep the Bulls goalless despite having the wind. The third term mirrored the first with dogged forward pressure from the likes of Marlo Zambelli, Amy Lawrence and Maya Gorman locking the ball in the forward 50 and giving the North Brunswick defenders no time to rest.
Much like the USA Men’s basketball team, the Bulls came back from the half time break with a point to prove, scoring two goals despite the best efforts of a besieged backline. Pressure around the ball from Katie Webb, Lucy Beukers, Molly Kennedy and Anastasia Gilchrist helped to stem the flow and keep a North Brunswick comeback at bay.
The fifth term was a tough greco-roman wrestle with the ball bouncing between 50m arcs and both sides goalless.
Coming into the sixth and final period, UHS were determined to keep the wind-assisted Bulls scoreless. UHS pushed the ball toward and superstar Kate Richardson teased the crowd with some oh-so-close shots against 50km/h gusts.
Irrespective of the final score line, both teams walked away with heads held high and can look forward to next season with optimism. Many thanks to Gel, Darren, Scotty, the Committee and the Bulls for arranging the game, and to all players for a competitive hit-out.
