Match Report
Round 9
4 June 2022
AJAX v Old Haileyburians
Our season sat at 4-3 and we were rewarded with match of the day status against a high quality Old Haileybury side. We returned home to Albert Park for the first time for the season and looked forward to the challenge. The conditions were cold and windy. Often in these conditions the side that plays the best football into the wind takes the points. This was to be the case for this contest. Old Haileybury’s excellent third quarter ultimately was the difference between the two sides.
The first quarter began with some terrific hard football from both sides. We kicked with the wind in the first quarter and hit the scoreboard early with a Kane Nissenbaum goal. Aaron Bryer was able to convert from a set shot from 40 metres to give us a handy break. Old Haileybury defended well into the breeze and were able to control the football for periods of the quarter and slow us down. A late goal from Jake Lew from the boundary extended our lead to 17 points at quarter time. We had completed a good first quarter but felt we should have been a little further in front to take advantage of the strong breeze.
We began the second quarter in reactive fashion and Old Haileybury were able to capitalise. They kicked two very quick goals from their midfield dominance and were right back in the game. They peppered the goals for most of the quarter and fortunately for us they were very inaccurate, registering ten behinds for the quarter. We were fortunate to kick two very important goals into the wind, one by Toby Sheezel and the other by Brandon Efron, to limit their lead to three points by the half time siren. Charles Hamilton was playing a terrific game in defence and Jordon Cohen was winning plenty of the ball around the ground.
The third quarter is known as the premiership quarter and Old Haileybury certainly displayed their premiership credentials. Kicking into a strong wind they kicked six goals extinguishing our chances of a win. They worked hard, were skilful and made the most of their opportunities in front of goal. Goals to Reece Israel and Kane Nissenbaum limited the damage however the 26-point ¾ time margin was always going to be a tough ask for our players. Richie Simon was playing strongly in defence and Corey Zielinski continued to make excellent decisions with the ball.
The final quarter was a great contest. Our opposition attacked hard with the knowledge they had the strong wind behind them. To our credit we kept trying to win the game and didn’t go into our shell. Pleasingly once the game was out of our reach we kept working hard and controlled a lot of the ball in the final fifteen minutes of the game. Hutch Davis was rewarded with a goal late in the game to keep the margin respectable. Nick Lewis also hit the scoreboard with a clever goal from the forward pocket. In the end the margin was 35 points. Old Haileybury were too good on the day and will be looking forward to a finals campaign. We have demonstrated that we can be very competitive with the top teams but we need to be competitive for longer.
We have a critical “mini season” coming between the Queen’s Birthday weekend and the double bye in July. A trip over the bridge to Williamstown followed by a home ground appointment with Old Carey. We sit in 5th position on the ladder with a 4-4 record. 4th spot is up for grabs.
Goals: Nissenbaum 2, Lewis, Sheezel, Davis, Bryer, Efron, Israel, Lew
Bests: Hamilton, Lincoln, Zielinski, Sheezel, Cohen, Simon
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
AJAX | 3.1-19 | 5.3-33 | 7.5-47 | 9.8-62 |
Old Haileybury | 0.2-2 | 4.12-36 | 10.13-73 | 13.19-97 |