It was another great weekend of footy for the junior teams this weekend as Olinda played across the valley in some fine autumn weather.
On Friday night at Upwey, the mighty U9 teams showed their enthusiasm for the game (and handstands and anything else that catches their fancy). Parents and supporters love the show these guys and girls put on each week as tomorrow’s legends find their feet.
The U10s came up against a hard-edged Healesville side Sunday morning with Coach Ben commenting on how they weathered some solid tackling and contested ball. Whilst there is no score kept in the U10s, Ben said that the kids would say there was probably only a goal in it and the kids can be proud of their efforts.
The mighty U11s continued on their game-winning ways with a thumping win over Gembrook. Olinda is cherishing their ‘Super Coach’ Stuart and is worried they may lose him to the AFL the way he is leading his band of young men.
The U12 girls had a great early morning hit-out against Upwey in a great contest. Upwey proved to be too strong, but the Olinda girls scored and celebrated. Coach Ruby was impressed with how the girls worked together and kept the game open with good kicking and passing.
The U13 boys had a breakthrough win against Seville with Coach Spida very happy to get the points. He commented that after a tough start to the season it was great to get the win, with the boys rallying around James Thornton kicking his first goal in a match, Jesse Desta booting a bag and Rio Neish dominating out of the middle.
The U15 boys also continued their dominant form with a thumping win over Healesville. Coach Scott can see areas for improvement but was also really happy with how the boys played the game. Charlie Hooper had a day out kicking a bag of 5 goals before kicking another bag in the U17s but it was the movement around the ground that generated forward entries that Healesville could not counter that gave Charlie his best opportunities.
The U16 girls continued to develop their game against Emerald away. Emerald has some great players that are hard to challenge, but the girls worked hard in an open and hard running contest. Scoring for our girls was difficult early but through the middle of the game, let by Nikayla Seamer and Grace Belloni, they found a way home with great running support by Kaesha Christie and Kiah Barry. Eventually, Emerald ran away with it – but Coach Gramercy was happy with their efforts all day.
The U17 boys had 11 outs due to a nasty flu spreading through the hills on top of injuries to key players. Just as well that Charlie Hooper turned up from the U15s to fill his boots with 4 goals. Both Lachies (Smith and Bates) provided hard running and intercepted marks throughout the day and were probably the edge between the two teams through the middle of the ground. First use was often generated by Luca Smith in the ruck, with clean ball usage from players such as Bon Sullivan and Tavish Aitken generating forward movement down the wings. It was a solid win with a depleted team.
