Match Report
Round 16
13 August 2022
AJAX v De La Salle
Our season sat at 6-7 and we looked forward to welcoming De La Salle to Albert Park for a must win clash. The conditions were perfect for football, with very little breeze, allowing for attacking football at both ends of the field. De La Salle got the better of the opening few minutes and were able to capitalise with two early goals. They played extra defenders in the back half and used them to advantage by creating overlap run through the midfield. We evened up the contest by sending our half backs to our forward line and were able to get the game back on our terms. Dan Cohen kicked a great set shot from the boundary to register our first goal. We attacked for most of the rest of the quarter however failed to put on scoreboard pressure. De La Salle took a four point lead in to the first break.
The second quarter was one of our best for the season. We balanced our attacking play with solid defence and were rewarded on the scoreboard. Toby Lipton and Hutch Davis were playing strong games in the backline and Reece Israel was finding the ball on the lakeside wing. Goals to Jordan Cohen and Brandon Efron lifted the side and when Reece Israel kicked a clever snap we’d taken control of the game. We enjoyed a 17 point advantage at the half time break.
The third quarter needed to be a big quarter as we knew our opponent would come at us hard. Lightning and thunder in the distance was an ominous warning. De La Salle started well and were able to score quickly to erase their deficit. We were able to gain some control of the game however were unable to take advantage of our scoring opportunities. Other than a 50 metre goal from Jordan Cohen, De La dominated the scoring for the quarter and took a handy 14 point lead in to the final change.
A fast start is what was required and a fast start is what we achieved. Early goals to Remy Spicer and Reece Israel had us right back in to the game. Unfortunately, De La Salle were able to steady and keep us from threatening again until very late in the quarter. Brandan Joel and Richie Simon kicked late goals to give us a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, the siren sounded soon after the restart of play and we found ourselves four points in arrears. So close but so far. We now need to win both games and rely on a lot to happen out of our control for us to play finals. We look forward to our visit to Princes Park for our clash with Old Haileybury on Saturday.
Goals: Israel 2, J Cohen 2, Simon, Efron, D Cohen, Joel , Spicer, Berkowitz, A Caplan
Bests:
THE SCORE QUARTER BY QUARTER:
Teams |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
AJAX |
1.4.10 |
5.4.34 |
6.7.43 |
11.8.74 |
De La Salle |
2.2.14 |
2.5.17 |
8.9.57 |
11.12.78 |