Match: Mens 4th Grade

SL1 – Round 3 – 9 April: The new and always improving Mens Fours have maintained some areas for development through the start of the 2022 season. A tough draw has seen us go up against favourites UTS and Ryde-twice in the first three weeks.

Unfortunately the Ryde 4B team were able to come out on top 3-1 through a slightly better calibrated mix of youthful pace up-front and experience in the midfield.

We had a slow start, with a lack of supervision during pre game, likely due to Club Captain emeritus Cuddles being away. In fact with a few of our anchor players unavailable, we were very happy to have the assistance of Ayden and Kenny. Both were excellent contributors through the half-line and up-front respectively.

We were kept in the game through the first half by a combination of excellent keeping from Cal (Best-on-ground) and some wayward efforts from our opponents. Ryde’s first goal came from a well-executed conversion after a turn-over as we sought to break up the play to get some time in the forward half.

By the third quarter we had upped our effort and intensity. We adapted our structure to break up Ryde’s classic W, with more pressure on the CH and better coverage of long line-balls that had been a key challenge in the first half. Ryde added two further goals later in the game, from turn-overs and break-aways. Our forward pressure also improved though, with strong near misses from Joe Visser. Ultimately, Phil Price made the breakthrough, making the most of a wayward PC injection sending down a Yorker that got under the keeper’s feet.

We will re-group over the Easter break, come back stronger with additional training, fitness and some of our core players returning. Thanks to those who contributed to other grades.