A huge thank you to all our club members for purchasing raffle tickets and making generous donations. In total we raised a massive $5240 for Gotcha4 Life!!! An incredible effort. These funds will go towards sponsoring mental fitness programs like Tomorrow Man and Woman which we had the benefit of experiencing this year.

Congrats to all our prize winners especially Nick Richards who won the TV kindly donated by BING LEE.

A huge thankyou to all of the following for their generous raffle donations:

We could not have had such a great day without the socks in Gotcha colours kindly supplied by PKF Flooring who has also subsidised all our welfare programs in 2022. Thanks to the Player Welfare Committee and especially Amie and Alex for their co-ordination of the day.

Melissa Adams – Club Welfare Manager

Premier Division Men with thanks to Pennant Hills Toyota
(PH 11.11.77 defeated Sydney Uni 12.4.76)

This week’s game saw 3^rd placed Syd Uni make the trek out to Cherrybrook to take on the 6^th placed Demons in a game that could decide our finals hopes.

The ground looked in good nick, but as play started it proved that keeping your feet would be tricky.

Uni kicked to the carpark end, and after Penno opened the scoring with a behind Uni worked the ball down their end to get the 1^st goal of the game.

Harry then picked off a short Uni kick around the 50 and hit up Theo to register our 1^st goal. End to end footy with another goal each, and we were 1 point down at qtr time.

The 2^nd started with Skriv kicking a good goal from a forward stoppage, then Webster snuck down from the backline and slotted a great left-foot goal from 50.

We had the better of play, but Uni kicked the next 2. We then missed a few opportunities and were over using the footy by hand, and the Students then kicked another with little time left in the qtr to lead at halftime by under a goal.

After the main break, Uni kick the first goal straight from the centre bounce and had 3 inside the first 6 minutes.

Theo, off 2 steps out of the contest, kicked a great check side goal from the boundary for our 1^st of the qtr. Skriv then applied a great forward tackle to bring the ball out of Uni hands, and Sam found Theo 15 metres out to kick our 2nd. Uni answered with 2 quick goals to give them a 22-point lead.

Jackson Potter then roved a forward contest to kick a great goal. From the centre bounce, Uni went fwd and quickly kicked another major.

Theo had his 4^th late in the qtr, and in a qtr where 10 goals were kicked, we trailed by 14 points at 3/4 time.

The first half of the last was played between the 2 50s but after a great inside 50 smoother by Wray, Ben Mathews won a free kick at the stoppage and kicked truly, 2 mins later Theo had kicked his 5th.

Mikey Carrol then took a hanger on the far wing and when Pottsy hit Theo with a pass for his 6^th of the game, we lead by 7 points.

The next few minutes saw Uni throw everything at us an​d eventually kicked a goal to make the margin 1 point.

From the centre bounce Uni drove it deep into their fwd line and when a deliberate out of bounds was paid against us Uni were having a shot 25 to 30 meters out on the boundary with next to no time left on the clock. The kick sprayed across the front of the goals and Mikey took a big contested grab in the opposite pocket. He kicked long down the line to a pack but from the crumbs Uni drove it back in but Wray punched it out of bounds with what proved to be the last play of the game and we got home by the barest of margins.

Donald Ollington – Premier Division Men’s Assistant Coach

Premier Division Women
(PH 3.7.25 defeated Sydney Uni 2.7.19)

After winning 2 of our last 4, and just losing to East Coast by 4 points, we wanted to stick it back to Sydney Uni who we’d previously lost to by just 3 points. The game came down to one scoring shot again. This time, we were on the right end of it.

Our great strengths this season have been our starts, which was as good as usual, and we fired in 2 goals to finish the first quarter up 14-1. The game stayed steady for the next 2 quarters as both teams missed some goal opportunities and found ourselves kicking back and forth among some strong pressure efforts. We finished the 3rd quarter up 19-17.

The final quarter saw us fight to stay ahead as we kicked the final goal of the game, with Bri Wade kicking 2 great goals and Eliza Harvey pushing into open space to secure our 3rd goal. Ella Morris had a blinder of a last quarter winning so much ball out of the centres for us.

All of our forwards I thought also played strong defensive games and did as much as they could to prevent Sydney Uni from making a comeback. Kaitlin Quinlan and Eleanor Rugg were also great in the back line, with Kaitlin also providing some much-needed tagging in our forward line too. Onto next week against Macquarie Uni, and our attempt at continuing to finish the season off with a high.

Daniel Fiedler – Premier Division Women’s Coach

Premier Division Reserves 
(PH 6.8.44 loss to Sydney Uni 7.7.49)

Qtr by Qtr	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Pennant Hills	1.3 – 9	1.6 – 12	4.8 – 32	6.8 – 44
Sydney Uni	2.1 – 13	3.4 – 22	3.5 – 23	7.7 – 49

Goal Kickers: J Hamilton 2, S Zikman 1, J Gunstone 1, J Moran 1, A Murdoch 1
Best: H Rivers, K Coaldrake, M Browne, J Hamilton, R Pinker, M Kunigiskis
Players Player: K Coaldrake, J Hamilton, B Hunt

It was good to back be at MKO, albeit for an early start, to take on the unbeaten, top-of-the-table Sydney Uni.

We started well, and seemed to have most of the play in each of the first two quarters, but with the same number of scoring shots as our opposition, we went into the long break 10 points behind.

An excellent third quarter saw us score 3.2 to one behind to turn for home with a 9 point lead.

Not only did we play good footy, but our pressure was at a level I don’t think Sydney Uni have seen this year or even what we thought we could bring.

We kicked the first goal of the last quarter to go ahead by 15 points, but allowed Sydney Uni to kick the next three, one from a dubious free kick which was inconsistent with what had been paid all day and from what was about to go against us.

After getting one back we then allowed Sydney Uni another and they lead by 4 points.

Most of the last six minutes was played in our forward half with some tremendous efforts by our boys. We just couldn’t get on the scoreboard when we needed to.

As much as this hurts, I think the belief we now have will be invaluable as we look ahead to our final three home-and-away matches after the bye and then finals.

Where we finish is in our own hands, but a top three finish is well within our grasp.

If we bring this high and sustained pressure game after the bye, I wouldn’t want be Easts!

David Pinker – Premier Division Reserves Coach

Division 2 Women
(PH 3.5.23 defeated UNSW-ES 0.7.7)

An early match on Saturday morning meant the wet and slippery conditions would make the game difficult to start with.

We began the game dominating out of the ruck, with Tamika Sutton winning all hit outs convincingly, but the slippery ball made it difficult for our midfielders to get first use. Despite this, we managed to get the ball into our forward line and put some pressure on their defence and kick a goal to lead at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter remained congested, and we were under pressure in our backline. Credit to the back 5 especially Steph Martin, Kelly Chapman, Sam Oyston and Dani Cahill who put immense pressure on UNSW and made chances at goal very difficult. We were threatening in the quarter looking to use the middle of the ground but couldn’t convert in front of goals. We led at the half 9-4.

In the third quarter when it started to dry up, we managed to begin our spread and use the ball better. Emily Phelps and Brighid Tielman’s tackle pressure was non-stop and then great ball use from Emily Carroll gave us good use going forward. Bela Nash was a dangerous forward and managed to kick a few goals. Again our defence made it difficult for UNSW to score and we managed to give ourselves a nice lead at the break. Leading 17-5.

In the final quarter we managed more of the same and kicked the final goal of the game and win 23-7. Overall it was a bit of a scrappy game for the first half but as the game continued we managed to get into the gameplay that we like to utilise and managed to get the result against a tough UNSW team.

Jed Corbett – Division 2 Women’s Coach

Division 3 Men 
(PH 15.10.40 defeated UTS 4.6.30) results thanks to our sponsors Security & Data Systems

Today we celebrated the 150th game for Nick de Gorter, who along with years of service as a player, also coaches our Women’s Division 3 side. Together with his wonderful Dad Henri, who has been involved with the club in multiple capacities over many years, the de Gorter contributions to our great club are greatly appreciated and we were privileged to celebrate Nick’s achievement today.

We welcomed UTS to MKO only a few short weeks after a loss at their Waverley home, so today was a day for redemption as the run home gets serious. We had another solid side selected and started confidently under the guidance of Warren Atwell, who was taking control as the regular coach recovers from illness. In damp and slippery conditions on the top deck, Luke Bray set the standard scooping up a loose ball one-handed and dishing off a slick handball in our first attack. At the other end of the field, Matt Miles and Chris Bloom welcomed back Rod “the truck” Vowell, with Bloom in particular punching any high balls clear and easing pressure. Mott kicked truly an early goal after UTS put one over and sides were level at 8-all at the first change.

Josh Ward doesn’t just co-ordinate quality mental health support to our club, he is a ruthless and relentless ball of energy both in attack and defence. Today Josh was on fire, just as the poor unfortunate UTS mid who felt the full force of Ward’s aggression and attack on the ball. He lead a wonderful move with 4 repeat efforts, a break from midfield and a delivery to the rejuvenated Sam Hill operating at CHF. The UTS defence was scrambling, the pressure culminating in a moment of the season. Crowd favourite Bray lead strongly from the top of the square, marked cleanly 35m our and slotted home. The celebration was something special and the crowd joined Luke’s moment with wild enthusiasm. When the cheering subsided, Luke was almost throwing up on the bench after his excitement, but who cares. Luke went back on to land another before half time and we lead 23 to 9 at the main break.

Sam Rice struggled to gain the ascendancy in the first half, against a strong and mobile ruck opponent (he was diagnosed later in the day with COVID, so no wonder Sam was buggered) but showed his grit and determination to perform strongly in the 3rd quarter, battling hard through the middle and helping down back when it’s pressed. Nathan Breen, Jack Watkins, Mick Elsley and Trent Summers-Levin constricted the UTS midfield with some intelligent play and an improved structure making match-ups difficult for UTS. However, a couple of swift goals from UTS put our opponents back in the contest and we went to the last break just 2 points up and everything to play for.

It’s times like these you need all players, not just the leaders, to stand up and be counted. Josh Everett, Tommy Pellizzon and Jack Newton (playing perhaps his final game for the year before he jets off to Europe) were instrumental in our display, pushing back every attack and starting every offensive movement for our forwards of Jordan Rohr, Morgan Hide and Conor Hogan to feed off. Some wonderful skill from Matt Rashleigh lead to Ward marking at the top of the 50 with 4 minutes to spare as we lead by 3 points. Josh told the umpire to step aside and he lined up for goal. Everyone except UTS knew Josh was never going to make the distance, and god only knows what Jack Watkins was doing in the goal square, but he managed to take a screamer on the goal-line. He unselfishly handballed over to Hogan who belted home the winning goal. What a way to seal victory with a wonderful team goal from a wonderful team.

Much work is still to be done to even make finals, so we’re taking it one game at a time and preparing as best as we can. With this special group, anything is possible.

I will see you in the next one.

Nigel Blow – Division 3 Men’s Coach

Division 3 Women
(PH 11.11.77 defeated North Shore 0.1.1)

Div 3 women played North Shore at Gore Hill at the wonderful time of 7.20pm.  It was surprisingly not as cold as expected.  North Shore were sitting second on the ladder so this was expected to be a tough fight.

Alyce started us off well with a great tap to the midfield who cleared immediately into the forward line. This set the tone for the evening with Alyce winning almost every tap and our mid-field of Maddy MD, Lucy , Katie, Em Lewis and Em C and Jordie carving it up with numerous clearances.  Jazz was a great target at Centre Half Forward and our small forwards of Jodie and Emma were having a field day with lots of space to run, gather and shoot on goal.  Maddie GM had a blinder of a first qtr with 2 excellent opportunistic goals.  The few times the ball went into defence our backs were up to the task to clear and give more ball for the forwards.

In the second qtr,  North Shore Mids became more aggressive at the contest,  but our mids tackling led by Lou Lou was exceptional and shut down any drive forward.  With this pressure, the mids continued to give the forwards chances with Kate Welfare and Maddie Gm snagging goals.  The Backs kept a clean sheet for the half with strong contests.

Emma and Jodie in the forward line were too quick for their opponents and their pace and anticipation led to goals on the run. North Shore were trying to dig deep around the contest and did get the ball forward a number of times but Intern with Kate C, Jamie and Gurks dominated the Nth Shore half forward line.  The few times that North Shore did get within scoring Ciara and Rachel’s pace stopped any sneaky goals.  The forwards continued to run amok with more goals to Lucy, Jodie and Emma and Maddie GM.

Well done for a great win.

Mark Carroll – Head of Women’s Program

Masters
(PH 9.4.58 defeated St George 8.6.54)

For the third week in a row, we were up against one of the best teams in the comp, with this week seeing us take on the undefeated St George Dragons who had been the team to beat all season.

As we were coming off two losses, the Dragons would go into the game as deserved favourites but we were confident that we could give them a good contest and push them to the final siren.

In less-than-ideal circumstances, our game was moved last minute, due to wet weather, from a neutral venue to facing the Dragons on their home deck. The game started off as a great contest but the Dragons had the upper hand early and were able to push into their forward line but with Seb the general patrolling the backline, we were able to repel attack after attack.

In a theme seen across the first three quarters, we worked ourselves back into the game, gaining the upper hand and finished the quarter strongly outscoring the Dragons by 3 goals. The next two quarters ebbed and flowed but we gained the edge in the game and were two goals up at three quarter time. The final quarter started strongly as we kicked the first goals to lead by 17 points. The Dragons however were not finished, moving their best player forward from the half backline where he single handedly changed the game as St George kicked the next three goals to move into the lead by a point with five minutes to go.

The Demons however, refused to lay down, refused to surrender and worked hard at each contest allowing the ever present Kingy to smash into a contest and kick long into an open forward line where we were able to kick truly and move back into the lead. The next few minutes we were able to shut down the contest and not allow the Dragons any chance to regain the lead, eventually winning by four points.

Each and every Demon can be proud of their efforts in a very tight and fierce battle but special mentions to Big Waz and Looksy who were great all day whilst Kingy and Seb again showed their ever-present quality.

Peter Carey – Master’s Coach

Round 15 Fixtures

This week sees our Premier Men, Reserves and Under19 Division 1 enjoy a hard earned rest as they ready bodies for the finals run. We host only Men’s Division 1 at home and the remainder are on the road.

Times & grounds are likely to change due to wet weather closures, please keep an eye out on Team App for confirmation.

Events

The following is our calendar of confirmed events for Season 2022:

Rd 15 – 23rd July – 50^th Anniversary Celebration (The Epping Club)
Rd 16 – 30th July – Partner’s Day – Buy your tickets here
Rd 17 – 6th August – Demon Disco (The Underground – UTS) – Buy your tickets here