Monbulk junior football

WITH close to 140 registrations, Monbulk Junior Football Club was proud to field seven teams for the first round of the Dandenong Ranges Junior Football League.
New coaches for under-9s (Tim Aldridge), under-12s (Mick Downey), under-13s (Dave Sands) and under-14s (Peter Green) bought some fresh eyes to our coaching panel and are already popular with the players.
The seven teams played at Emerald (under-11s and under-13s) and Gembrook (under-9s, under-10s, under-12s, under-14s and under-16s) on a lovely autumn day.
The under-9s and under-10s played against Gembrook and made their parents proud.
A big thrill for the under-9s playing their first footy game, which saw them show some really good pace and skills with some early signs of some special players.
Great teamwork and sportsmanship already, which is great to see.
The under-10s were adjusting to a bigger ground and had their coach Steve impressed with how they moved the ball and marvelled at their improvement after one season.
The under-11s had an early Sunday morning start at Emerald and they jumped out of the blocks with a big first quarter to set up the win.
In the game of the day, the under-12 team had a thrilling two-point win against Gembrook.
Free-flowing and exciting football had the crowd entertained from the first bounce to the siren.
Ben Grimes led the way for the team in a dominant display.
The under-13s played Emerald and a dominant first half of football allowed the team a good win on the day.
Under-14s had some end-of-week injuries to cover and were outclassed by a stronger Gembrook outfit.
The Chris Hughson philosophy and games style was on display against Gembrook and the quick movement, game structure showed as the under-16 team with a dominant forward line proved too strong for Gembrook.
RESULTS
U9 v Gembrook-Cockatoo: no score kept. Awards: Indie Bowering, Jade Farmer, Charlie Hooper, Jules Kowlewyn.
U10 v Gembrook-Cockatoo: no score kept. Awards: Tommy McBride, Noah Rutherford, Jameson Wrigley, Bryn MacDonald, Jack Pengily.
U11 v Emerald: Emerald 2.4 (16) v Monbulk 3.5 (23). Goals: C. Barge, J. Bolton, J. Davis. Awards: J. Davis, D. Komiazyk, A. MacDonald, J. Bolton.
U12 v Gembrook-Cockatoo: Monbulk 5.4 (34) v Gembrook-Cockatoo 5.2 (32). Goals: Jake Niclasen (3), Ben Hughson, Tully Ford. Awards: B. Grimes, T. Ford, P. Blandthorn, B. Sander.
U13 v Emerald: Monbulk 9.3 (57) v Emerald 3.3 (21). Goals: Hepworth (2), Fleischer (2), Dennison, Goldberg, Grimes, Ross, Woolridge. Awards: J. McLachlan, D. Goldberg, R. de Haan, S. Farmer.
U14 v Gembrook-Cockatoo: Gembrook-Cockatoo 9.9 (63) v Monbulk 5.3 (33). Goals: H. Finlay (3), Laura McClelland, Brendan te Boekhorst. Awards: C. Stiff, K. Linde, L. McClelland, A. Richardson.
U16 v Gembrook-Cockatoo: Gembrook-Cockatoo 4.7 (31) v Monbulk 14.13 (97). Goals: Cleary (5), Badgery (3), Lange (2), Emmett, Hawker, Hill, Hubbard. Awards: Daniel Cleary, Patrick Barge, Travis Wills, Jayden Ducrow.