Bulldogs Away 2009

Saturday 22 August Round 18 Seniors v Bulldogs, Weather Balmy !!

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Ben Davies about to play his last H & A with YCW discusses team tactics with Max and the boys. After joining us in 1998 Ben put together 25 Senior and to date 90 reserve games playing in the 2005 Senior GF and the 2004 Reserves Flag

This time last year the Magoos, under Sean Lafontaine, were wallowing in self pity having missed out on the final four by only one game to Eady/Asp, having finished 11 and 7 after making the GF in 2007 to be knocked out by Bon Beach.

This year there was to be no repeat, as Schneider guided his scintillating Seconds to top spot on the H & A ladder with an 15.3 scoreline having only been beaten by 2 pts by Karingal in Rd 2, 3 pts by Eady/Asp in Rd 3 and a 15 pt loss to Seaford in Rd 15..Not a bad year at all and a great start for Nick Schneider in his first year at the helm.

Also congratulations must go to Michael Chaplin on a great years work in front of the sticks in winning the MPNFL Reserve Goal Kicking and Club  Awards with his 3 goals on Saturday taking him to 46 for the Season. Chappy has now won his Teams goal kicking for the last 4 years

Mornington Away 193Strico revs up the Boys prior to taking on the Dog Magoos

Playing 3rd placed Mornington who were only 4 pts adrift and a show to take 2nd spot on the ladder, a hard fought contest was expected by all the pundits but that was not the way things turned out. The Dogs started the first Q with the aid of a gale force wind behind them but the YCW backs proved just why they are the best backline in the comp and held them to a solitary goal while putting one on themselves  to go to the lemons 1 pt down.

With our forwards on fire and the boys using the wind to effect the second Q saw us pop on 7 goals to Morningtons 3 and break out to a lead of  32 pts at half time. Against the wind for the second time Bosward, Smith, Cowled and the rest of the backs kept The Dogs goalless while our forwards put on 2 themselves.

In the last Q, with the onballers, Tails, Sharkey and Coy in total command and providing unlimited ball to the forwards in Chappy (3gls), Borrie (3gls) and Bodley (4gls) the Fat Lady tuned up to have us go in to the showers the easiest of winners 17.4.106 to 3.5.23..

My best and perennial winner, Tails with a million kicks put to advantage, Bods yet again with another 4, Smith & Bosward up back and Sharkey again pressing for a senior spot

All that leads to a weeks break and a 2nd Semi Final appearance on the 5th Sept at Frankston Park against Seaford or Eady/Asp…straight after Mather’s Maulers….see U there !!

Mornington Away 347Great to have Maca back for the Finals here shown upending Kris Michelson

Bugs Battlers went out to play with 8th placed Mornington who where coming of an embarrassing 120 pt loss,  24.19.163 to 5.14.44 against Eady/Asp and a 111pt clubing by Seaford in Rd 14. Notwithstanding, the Doggy unit showed grit and determination to stay within 4 goals of YCW,  up until the Orange break, coming in 9.11.65 to 13.9.87.

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Maca as elusive as ever even after 10 weeks out of the game

In the first Q, YCW were able to keep the Dogs to 2 goals despite a strong wind and a winning midfield due to some solid defence by Andy K, Ducky and Dougy and were also able to put on 3 majors from Matty M, Jie  and Maca, returning for his first game since Rd 8

The 2nd Q saw us use the wind to better advantage putting on 6 goals to 2, thanks to 3 great majors from Benny Tellis and 2 goals of oppurtunity from Locky going in 9.4.58 to 4.6.30.

The third Q saw our intensity drop off allowing Mornington to come back in to the game with the wind and bridge the gap, kicking 5.5 to our 4.5, now 22 points down, with our smalls in Lester, Tellis and Roberts keeping things from getting nasty.

The last Q however, saw the wheels fall of the Bulldog machine as their defence and onballers had no answer to the final Q pressure put on by Lester, Tellis, Carrol, Stewart and Locky. Hackett with 3 for the Q, Wallace 2 and 5 others had a hand in putting on 10 goals for the final H& A Q of the year finishing The Dogs season in a blaze of ball 23.15.153 to 11.14.80 !!

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Benny Poole in attack.

My best, with one of his very best games of the year, picking up 3 goals and 35 touches for the day was Benny Tellis, closely followed by Andy Keily at full back, Tony Lester who also picked up 35, Ducky at his miserable mean best and Locky Wallace who gets my nod for his 4 great goals..Im excited !!

This Saturday we face Mt Eliza at the Pines Ground in the Qualifying Final. In Rd 1 we faced Mt Eliza at the Stonecave and were beaten by 7 pts, 12.8.80 to 13.9.87 after being level at 3/4 time. Players to show that day were the backs in Ducky, Andy, Dougy and BJ with BT, Ando, Hackett and Matt all getting 2 goals.

At the Hill we could do no better going down by 13 pts, 9.8.62 to 11.9.75 after leading at 1/2 time so its all to be done on Saturday..be there to see the fur fly !!

Congratulations to Bugs and the Boys getting us to 3rd spot and the double chance, an improvement on last years 4th spot.. Also big cu dos must go to our backs who once again have proved to be the best backline in the competition keeping the opposition to only 1294 pts for the season, 107 pts less than Mt Eliza, the next best.

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