Matchday 7 – Match Reports

Colts
Brothers 12 – 3 Hornsby

TRYSCORERS
Charles Kilby
Joel Brooks
1 Conversion Nathan Timbrell

Well after two weeks off the boys came back a little rusty to take on Hornsby and this showed in the final scoreline.
The forwards came up against a more composed and aggressive forward pack and their backs put the pressure on our boys.
In summary they played to their strengths and so did we!
Patches of good form hit us throughout the first half seeing some great interchange play with the ball shifting hands several times in the one movement.
However failure to capitalise on our chances cost us the chance of building a scoreline against these guys.
Charles again burrowed over for the first try and Joel showed strength and agility to score with an evasive run from outside their 22.
After a good talk at halftime the huddle seemed to be a place of confidence that we should put things back on track, if anything the second half was more frustrating than the first.
With a glut of possession and territory on our side we failed to convert several opportunities and really gave Hornsby every reason to feel they were in with a chance.
Loose passing and poor ball security by all throughout the half made scoring again difficult and the frustration culminated in Connors yellow card in the second half.

The way Coach Lee saw it and The B & F points;
“It wasn’t a very pretty game to watch but it was a win nonetheless, so you should be congratulated on the ladder points.
The table is tight for the No.1 position and our loss to the Hills puts them a point in front.
We can certainly make this up and we are still a chance of taking out the minor premiership but only if we beat them in the next round and maintain a stronger for and against.
We certainly have the talent and the ability, we just need them to be on the field at the same time along with your determination to put it together on the day.
Congratulations to the following players who secured this week’s coach’s points – they were all from the engine room:

3pts – Jayde Gray – high work rate in both attack and defence, played a textbook tight forward’s game, Hard straight ball running, great lineout security and caused the opposition much havoc
2pts – Justin Gates – Intelligent reading of the game remaining tight when required and made an impact in open play, happily defended around the rucks with vigour
1pt – Adam Seage & Nate Eddy – Both tireless in every aspect of tight play and set piece, excellent demolition of opposition scrum, effective defence and good metres gained with ball in hand [special mention to Adam Seage for his 40m break”

Well that’s about it lads; a wins a win but I’m sure we want to win in a more enjoyable and less frustrating fashion in the future.
Well done on the victory lads but there seems little need to suggest that we all have 100 things to work on……….. see you at training.

4th Grade
Brothers 28 – 0 Merrylands

As Merrylands couldn’t field a side a forfeit was awarded to Brothers.

3rd Grade
Brothers 39 – 5 Merrylands

A tough day at the office for the Brothers boys. Merrylands struggled with numbers all day, so were forced to play some of their first and second graders against our third grade side.
We went well in the first half keeping the pressure on and getting up in their faces in defence, but the superior physical strength started to pay off in the second half.
They started getting their big runners across the gain line, and as we struggled to nail them in the first hit they were getting offloads away which gave them a numbner of opporunities.
All in all, a lot of lessons to be learned if we’re going to be serious about finals rugby in third or fourth grade.
We need to work harder on the defensive line and not allow them ten meters of hard running before engaging them in a tackle, and we need to learn to get those tackles low and drive through.
Tackling big fellas at the neck line is just begging to be fended off or just ran over.
Serious improvement needed, although Dom North did contribute a nice try that had some work from a number of players including Tim.

Player points:
3: Niall: not sure what game Moose was watching! Although, 6/7/8 this week means he’s played @ 6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15… all badly!
2: Slutty: has great hands and got the backs going with the small amount of ball he had, got some good service from Dean as well.
1: Matty Gibbs: made more tackles than most and put the body on the line to stop some big runners.

2nd Grade
Brothers – Merrylands

A good win for a Brothers side against, what was, let’s be honest not a vintage Merrylands side.
They struggled for numbers all day, and a good portion of their second graders had been softenend up by third grade!
Still though, you can only beat what’s in front of you, and Brothers made a great start with some great pod work.
The forward platform that was being carved out again allowed the backs to run the training ground patterns.
The best example of this was after a number of forward drives Jeff drifted left, had a nice piece of interplay with Kit @ 12, then Matt took a fantastic inside line from the wing to take the inside ball from Geoff and finish off a great team move.
All in all a good team performance in which we pretty much dominated from start to finish, there will be sterner challenges ahead, especially against teams away from home who have a full complement of players in each grade.

Wes, Matt, Paulie, Brendan and Hansie all scored one try apiece, with Matt’s the pick of the bunch.

Player points:
3: Joel: A nuisance on the pitch, good service, controlled the game and good communication, bossed the forwards around.
2: Kit: Strong straight running, and really developing a great understanding with Geoff @ 10. Punched some huge holes in the Merrylands defence. Excellent game from the 12.
1: Kitchen: Great to see him back in second grade playing good footie, agressive in posession and solid in defence. A fantastic option at 15 for this grade.

1st Grade
An extremely comfortable win against a deflated and tired Merrylands side.
It’s hard for a club to put a competitive first grade side on the pitch when most of the guys have already played.
But let that take nothing away from the manner and attitude we had in winning this game.
Despite the fact that one Merrylands lad spent the whole game trying to get at John Nichols… of all people… we put them away with aplomb and without getting involved in any silly stuff.
Some of the best attacking football seen so far this year from a Brothers side ended in a massively emphatic victory against our old bogey team.
To also keep Merrylands scoreless really shows the determination and will to win in this team this year.
Matty McIntyre scored what can probably be described as the try of the season so far, with a big step in traffic, he was suddenly in heaps of space, then beat two or three with a nice angled run, before opening up and beating the cover defence for pace. He can still play a bit for an auld fella.

Lenny, Buckets, Vinny, Chirish, Blacky and Shaka got a try apiece. Matty, Vuli and The Mo all got a brace each in a 12 try thrashing. We’re still waiting on Clarky to get one of the three tries needed this season to avoid the big bet.

Player points:
3: Charlie: Broke the line almost at will and played the entire game with a smile on his face.
2: The Flying Mo: Some fantastic line running, pikced some fantastic holes, and broke tackles all over the place. Merrylands couldn’t stop the pace and power this week.
1: Shaka: Put in some huge hits, and physically dominated the midfield. Shaka looks really on form these last couple of weeks.