Reserves go down fighting
After the ordinary weather of the previous week, the Reserves warmed up in bright sunshine to a building crowd.
What a difference a week makes.
After the ordinary weather of the previous week, the Reserves warmed up in bright sunshine to a building crowd.
Pre-game began with a warmup under the watch of newly re-retired assistant coach Kevin Taylor, having decided to ‘pull the pin’ on Reserves and Veterans football to focus on his newly acquired coaching gig! Look out.
New ruckman Saxon May teamed with other Reserves newbies for 2023 – the returning Will Taylor-Eagles, Leon Matthews (2021 Under 18s) and Cooper Wagner.
Up from the 18s Tama Nihver-Tenali giving the team a new look.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the opposition got the jump on the boys, scoring the first couple of goals for the game.
Settling a little, Tully Dickie resumed from where he left off last week, combining well with Ben Taylor and the Bulldogs found themselves down by 15 at the first change.
The second turned into an arm-wrestle, with the ball pinging from end to end in the perfect conditions.
An early goal to the Sea Eagles stretched the lead, until Dylan Susic stepped up to put the Doggies on the board.
The Bulldogs were able to pull the game back to an eight-point margin at the big break.
Not sure what happened at half time, but the game completely turned.
The Bulldogs clearly decided that in the sun perhaps surfing was a better option, with the Sea Eagles piling on five goals.
Tom Niven and Damien Holmes led the defensive effort against the tide, but the Bulldogs entered the last nearly seven goals behind.
The last quarter was reserves footy at its best!
Both teams moved the ball with occasional precision, interspersed with movement that was not quite as precise.
The sun and the warm temperatures tool took their toll, with only two goals for the quarter.
U18s Tama excelled and was one of the more impressive players to assist the Bulldogs pull back some ground against the tide.
In the end, the Sea Eagles were able to cruise to a 74-37 victory.
Scores:
Phillip Island: 1.1.7, 3.3.21, 3.5.23, 5.7.37.
Inverloch-Kongwak: 3.4.22, 4.5.29, 9.8.62, 10.14.74.
Goals:
Phillip Island: Matthew Jones 2, Dylan Susic 2, Will Taylor-Eagles, 1.
Inverloch-Kongwak: James Scott, Jamieson Soumilas, Dylan Taylor, Andre Toussaint, 2.
Best Players:
Phillip Island: Tully Dickie, Matthew Jones, Damien Holmes, Thomas Niven, Tama Nihver-Tenali, Darcy Saw.
Inverloch-Kongwak: Tyler Leonard, Lucas Harmer, Dylan Taylor, Lachlan Crook, Jamieson Soumilas, Xavier Hughes.
