Matchday 3 – Match Report

Matchday 3 saw UWSH make the trip in from Richmond and the Colts hosting a Blue Mountains side at Roseville for our first home game of the season.

The day started really well with a good win for the Colts against a solid Blue Mountains side.

From Greg Lee:

Just in case any of my boys missed the 3-2-1s for the game against the mountains here they are again and by the way Congrats for your third straight win, let’s keep the momentum going we’ve got a big one this weekend.

3pts – Charles Kilby – solid performance from first to last whistle, causing havoc at every breakdown, forced the opposition to make mistakes, ubiquitous presence, outstanding leadership.

2pts – Connor Stead – constant spoiling, aggressively contesting for the ball at the breakdown, huge work rate, excellent support & reading of play.

1pt – Matt Cullen – elusive running, excellent metres gained, always breaking first tackles, good hands, smart play & excellent set up for next phase.

1pt – Alex Lavermicocca – immediate impact, hard straight running lines with the ocassional big hit [BoooYah], superior ball retention, good ball security.

Full match report

Well we found ourselves in a real contest a very tight close game last Saturday. it was always going to be a tough game against the Mountains and a very physical contest it was. The first half was a wrestling match with a nil all scoreline at half time and the possession and territory shared.

Our scrum impressed taking many tight head wins, even with waiting the eternity it took for their half back to feed the ball, well done up front guys! The timings on the lineouts were generally very good but we could do some more work on this area and options once the ball is secured. However all in all we muscled up in the forwards and this allowed us some freedom in the backs.

The defence across the park and through the game was very good. Todd inspired by an early knee to the head was sure not to let anyone past him and came up hard in defence. Some outstanding crunching sandwich tackles, and some inspiring one on one hits from the likes of Alex Lava, and two new and very welcome players; Joel Brooks (I can still hear the wind leaving that blokes lungs) and Nick Pasqualini.

We stepped up after half time and had the better of play and territory for the whole second half. It still however took some time for any points to come.

It was a tough and tight game in the forwards and our pick and drive platform was exceptional setting a good base for the backs to launch from or allowing us the option of a loose forward running. In fact it was a barnstorming run from Adam Seage playing like a breakaway, which put Mountains on the back foot in their own 22 and lead to their defences being stretched for the first try scored on the other side of the park. As the backline attacked Tyler was completely unselfish with a wide pass seeing Matt Cullen score towards Roseville Corner. The conversion was unsuccessful and the score; seven to nil.

The pass timing in the backline was great at stages; Joel’s pass to Tyler who again unselfishly linked up with Wuli who touched down out wide on the other wing gave us a 10 to nil lead. Again Joel showed his class infront of the tryline when a clever step and change of direction saw him slide through a hole that wasn’t there to score under the posts and with Stueys conversion we were up 17 to nil.

We saw several more opportunities to attack and definite chances but with the half shortened we just didn’t find that elusive fourth try for the bonus point. And the scoreline remained 17 to nil, one note to Charles it is customary when cheering the opposition through the tunnel to get their name right, we are playing Hills this coming Saturday!

One outstanding player on the day for mine was Nathan Timbrell, his defence was awesome and on many occasions he tackled their big man one on one and took him down with ease. His use of options and ball delivery are instrumental in the teams success, how this guys ever thought he wasn’t a halfback is beyond me, he has made the position his own and plays there with style and class.

Many thanks must go, as always, to our fresh reserves, many who did not get a run this week and the likes of Tom, Mark Toma, Rodez and Luke should be congratulated on their patience and team spirit as they unselfishly took it in their stride. On this note many boys did hang back and have a run in fourths and even higher grades. Tom, Mark, Rodez and Connor all played part of the fourths narrow victory and had a taste of how different ‘old man’ football is. The pace is off and the structure of the game can be very different, there is much more time allowing younger, fitter players to shine. If anyone is interested in having a go in the higher grades where possible, don’t hold back, you are capable and if things transpire you could very well see yourself representing the club in multiple finals series at the end of the year.

Just another word on Blue Mountains these guys will come looking for us when we next play them, having had a lot of experience up at Lapstone Oval let me tell you it is very different playing these boys at home. We will have to step up again!

The coach congratulates you on your third straight win and urges that the momentum continue but he warns against complacency “we’ve got the big one this weekend”. Yep it is certainly ahead of us, we have a big step up this week for Hills, we saw the brand of footy they play in the trials and we will need to lift to take these guys on at home, a victory would give us great momentum going into the second round. Let’s train hard on Thursday and be more than ready for the big test!

Zumba Zumba Zey,
Colts Cultural Attache
Se-nor Brannan
Ole

Next Fixture
vs Hills
Venue; Yattenden Oval, John or Torrs Street Baulkham Hills
There is a left turn immeadiately after the exit from the freewayinto Torrs Street which leads to a carpark at the back of the field
Time; 10:45am Be there dressed by 10am! Not joking this week! Playing away we need to know we’ve got the troops ready!

Fourth Grade

Next up was a first win for the season for our fourth grade with a number of new faces in the line up, and a couple of more experienced gentlemen. They overcame UWSH by a narrow 16-14 margin. Seanie Brannan and Matt Callaghan popping up with the tries.

Player points:
3: Rodger Shanahan
2: Matt Callaghan
1: Matty G

Third Grade

The third game of the day saw another excellent win for third grade making it two from two. This result was a bit more emphatic with Brothers running out deserved 31-0 winners. Opie top scored with a brace of tries and Karl, Matt and Lucas also popped up for a try apiece. Excellent result all round for third grade.

Player points:
3: Opie
2: Davo
1: Mick Nicol

Second grade scored another good win to maintain their 100% record so far. A 4-0 try count helped them to a 20-3 win. Chris, Vula Rarawa, Club Captain Fantastic, and Matty Mc contributed a try apiece.

Second grade
Player points:
3: Enda
1: Wes
1: Vula
1: Hans

Lastly, a great finish to the day with a 38-11 win for the first grade side. Tries from Maikeli, Vili, Wadey, Vinny, Daz Kapene and Lenny gave first grade a comfortable win.

Player points:
3: Clarky
2: Lenny
1: Daz Firmin

This rounded up a great day all round and the first time since the 1970s that Brothers Rugby won all five grades in one day.

This puts us top of the club championship but more importantly gives us momentum for an extremely tough challenge this weekend against a physical and talented Blacktown squad. Getting to training in numbers is key to having everyone well drilled for this tough test.