From the Kennel: Strathmerton FNC reports

This week’s game saw us travel to Blighty in great conditions. Another solid first quarter from the boys saw them take control of the game.

With our midfield on top the forwards were able to kick a lot straighter this week. Fifteen different goal kickers was an example of the spread of good players all across the field.

Best players: J. Ellery, T. Collyer, L. O’Sullivan, D. McCormick and S. Emmett.

Reserves: Strathmerton 22.15 (147) d Blighty 0.0 (0)

With the reserves making the road trip to Blighty, sometimes we are not sure who is going to turn up. With the thirds having the week off we entered the game with a great mix of youth and experience. The boys had Blighty on the back foot from the start.

Young Jake Henderson slotted into full forward and had a day out, kicking six. At the other end of the experience scale, Christian Speechly chimed in with five in his comeback game from a hamstring.

Team footy was the theme for the day and through sticking to our structures and the process throughout we kept the Redeyes scoreless and slotted home 22 goals of our own.

Along with Henderson, the best players were Ryan Wyatt, Josh Beer, Joel MacKenzie and Mick Keane.

Thirds: No game

Fourths: Strathmerton 5.5 (35) d Blighty 0.0 (0)

After a week off, the little Bullpups were raring to go.

Once the ball was bounced the boys soon realised that the physical size of some of their opponents was not going to be a match for our speed and desire to win the footy.

Our ability to find space and rebound from half back helped to keep the Redeyes scoreless and to give the Bullpups another well-earned win. The coaches have loved watching the improvement from the group and Saturday gave the perfect platform to again showcase their talents.

Best on ground this week was Jonno Macrea with his best game for the year.

Ashton kicked two goals while Tory Wilson, Mykel Argus and Tyler Sim dominated the midfield. RJ Patmore was winning everything across half back, while Levi Spaul and Waverley Coghill played well to round out the awards.

Netball

A-grade: Strathmerton 46 d Blighty 16

It was a nice win by our A-grade girls this week, beating Blighty by 30 goals. With a big focus on individual goals and putting into play what we practised at training, it was nice to see some new combinations and rotations.

Vanessa Ward is in great form, playing an inspiring leadership role this week. She provided a lot of voice and direction in the defensive end and caused many turnovers from her pressure.

Meg Denson was among the best again, she was on the hunt at goal keeper and proved very good at it, taking many intercepts and rebounds. Jemma Ryan provided plenty of drive in the mid-court and fed beautifully to the goalers, setting up lots of opportunities to hit the scoreboard.

It was a great team effort and it was nice to be back on the winners’ list heading into a big game against Deni next week.

Awards: $100 Riverbank Cash - Vanessa Ward. Railway Hotel - Meg Denson. Mars Bar - Jemma Ryan.

B-grade: Strathmerton 70 d Blighty 23

A very rare sunny day at Blighty saw us come away with a solid 47-goal win. KB made her presence known all over the court. She picked off plenty of intercepts, ran her guts out and fed the goalers with pinpoint accuracy, earning herself $50 for her efforts.

Hope had another ripper game in defence, reading the play beautifully and having a hunt while back in goal keeper, with her ability to work in with all teammates and her talk on court fantastic, taking home a pub voucher for her troubles.

Millsy found herself back in the goal ring this weekend and relished the opportunity to put a few shots up, her accuracy at the post earning her the treat of a Mars Bar for the long drive home.

The versatility of this team is such a huge strength of ours and we look forward to testing ourselves against an undefeated Deni this coming weekend.

Awards: Future Fitness 24/7 $50 - Kasey Baker. Railway Hotel - Hope Lindhe. Mars Bar - Caitlin Mills.

C-grade: Strathmerton 53 d Blighty 24

Another great game. After a week off the girls came back fresh and all players contributed to an amazing game.

Awards: Supreme Meats - Kim Montgomery. Railway Hotel - Sarah McVeigh.

C-reserve: Strathmerton 44 d Blighty 14

After a bit of a slow start in the first quarter, the girls settled into the heat of the day, increasing their lead at each quarter.

There was some stellar play down both the attacking and defensive ends of the court. Coach Amy showed us what she is made of going into goal attack in the fourth quarter, running and sprinting up and down the court and impressing with her goals.

Coach Steph went into goals for the first time this year and added a bag of goals to the score.

The mother and daughter duo took out the awards this week, best-on-court (Railway Hotel award) going to Jodi Brooks, who never gave up all game, and the Mailbox Cafe award going to Sarah Brooks for her consistent goaling, non-stop leading and moving in the ring. Between these two there was always a Brooks as an option.

The C-reserve girls got it done with the win.

Under-17s: Strathmerton 26 lt Blighty 42

Under-15s: Strathmerton 17 lt Blighty 24

It was a disappointing loss on Saturday against Blighty for the 15s netballers. We had some good passages of play, but need to keep working on putting them together for a full game.

Well done to Giselle Wren on another great game, picking off intercepts and earning herself the Crestani Concrete $10 award.

Captain Mackenzie Duhring (Wingates Sports) and Brylie Barnes (Strathy Canteen) also received awards for their teamwork and positive attitudes.

Under-13s: Strathmerton 27 d Blighty 12

It was an intense game against Blighty. Everyone held their own, and played an amazing four quarters. The girls took what they learnt at training and really excelled on the weekend.

The $10 award went to Hayley Carson who had three strong quarters. Her timing was perfect and her spacing was incredible.

The canteen voucher went to Tamika Arundel who really stood up in the defensive end, attacking every ball and getting a few great taps in.

Adventure Awaits award went to Jess Laidlaw; her shooting was on-point and her movement really opened up the goal ring and made it easy to feed the ball.

Under-11s

We all looked a bit tired this week and although our defensive pressure all over the court was fantastic, we were a bit lazy with our offence, with getting in front and leading into space.

Lily, Sophie, Emma and Jaz were all amazing in defence, creating lots of turnovers. Let’s rest up this week and work on our offence at training, so we’re ready to take on Deni next game.

Awards: Canteen - Lily Humphreys-Spaul. Adventure Awaits - Sophie Hibberson. $5 cash - Emma Bourchier. The Lefty Baker - Jazmin Argus.