Premier Division Women
(PH 4.4.32 defeated UNSW 4.2.26)

We didn’t have a finals spot to play for, but knew we could overtake UNSW on the ladder and take back the win from last time we played them (a 7 point loss with more scoring shots). UNSW are well known for their strong switch game style, to which we planned to shut down from the start.

The first quarter again saw us start perfectly, with strong centre clearances from Tayla Duguid and Ella Morris who didn’t stop running all game. Eleanor Rugg led from the back line again with some smart target hitting, and Kaity Noble was as good as ever at sticking her marks.

The third quarter saw UNSW fight back and claim a couple of quick goals which saw them tie the game up 25-all. It was back to the drawing board and the last quarter was all that mattered as this point.

Grace Painting took some excellent marks in the last half to push the ball into a key attacking position, that led to players like Bri Wade and Laura Donohoe to kick goals. Alex Wade had her second blinder in a row, taking 10 marks on the half forward flank, and finishing the season on a huge high with 2 goals for the game.

We finish the season 7th, after winning 5 of our last 7 games, and I could not be happier at how far we’ve come since the start of the season. There are a lot of positives to build on for next year, where we can hopefully make a run for the finals.

Daniel Fiedler – Premier Division Women’s Coach

Premier Division Men with thanks to Pennant Hills Toyota
(PH 8.6.54 defeated by UNSW 9.11.65)

Coming off the bye last weekend, Round 16 saw the Demons taking on the top of the table UNSW-ES Bulldogs. With the clash shaping as a real test for the Demons and our top 4 aspirations.

The first quarter started off at a frantic pace, with finals like footy pressure applied by both sides. Pennant Hills had clearly come to play and at every contest were putting the Bulldogs under pressure and looking dangerous when moving the ball forward. Unfortunately, the first quarter had a long break, with a Bulldogs player going down with a head injury resulting in the game being stopped for the ambulance to come. Both teams went back into the sheds and composed themselves whilst waiting for the delay to end and the game to resume. Once the game recommenced, the Demons took off where they had started. The midfield was getting on top around the clearances, with Jackson Potter prominent early and the forwards kicking straight to have the Demons in front at the first change 26 – 15.

The second quarter commenced, and the Demons took off where they started from the first quarter. Mitchell Blow was starting to dominate in the ruck and was brilliant around the ground with chase-down tackles and contested marks. The backline was holding strong, and the Demon’s pressure was a standout, causing the Bulldogs to continue to make mistakes and constantly feel under pressure every time they got the ball. With the Demons outscoring the Bulldogs by 1 goal for the quarter and taking an impressive lead over the top of the table Bulldogs at the half 46 – 23.

With the Demons on top for the first half, the question was going to be could they continue the momentum and pressure in the third quarter. Injuries started to take a toll on the demons, with Zac Elliot and Josh Boag going down and the Demon’s resilience and rotations being tested with only 2 men on the bench for the rest of the game. The lack of rotations started to take a toll and the Bulldogs started to take full advantage, moving the ball quickly from the backline and looking to come through the corridor at all costs. Copper Lee continued his good form down back, repelling entry’s from the bulldogs and setting up the Demon’s defence which was constantly under pressure. It was the Bulldogs’ quarter though, kicking 3 goals to 1 goal and cutting the margin back to 7 points at the three quarter time break 52 – 45.

With the last quarter set up for a huge contest, the game started to open up. The Demons continued to tackle, pressure and harass the Bulldogs but it was evident after such a courageous performance all day, the Demons were running out of legs. The last quarter didn’t go the Demons’ way, the Bulldogs showed why they are the top team and scored 3 goals to nil in the final quarter. Eventually getting over the valiant Demons with the final score being 65 – 54.

The Demons will take a lot of confidence from the performance, pushing the top side all the way to the very end with an undermanned bench. The Demons were well represented all day, with the best players being named as Mitchell Blow, Ben Matthews, Sam Eynaud, Christian Webster, Cooper Lee and Jackson Potter.

Next week sees the Demons take on Manly, a must-win in order for the Demons to play in finals and to hopefully grab a top 4 spot come the end of the year.

Ben Roberts – Premier Division Men’s Coach

Premier Division Reserves 
(PH 7.6.48 defeated UNSW 4.6.30)            

Qtr by Qtr	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Pennant Hills	3.3 – 21	3.5 – 23	3.6 – 24	7.6 – 48
UNSW/ES	0.2 – 2	1.3 – 9	3.5 – 23	4.6 – 30

Goal Kickers: B Thompson 2, J Gunstone 1, J Moran 1, A Murdoch 1, T Angel 1, N Sparks 1
Best: M Browne, J Moran, M Kunigiskis, M Trenaman, J Gunstone, N Sparks
Players Player: M Kunigiskis

After the bye last week, which ended up being a washout for the rest of the Reserves comp, we had the opportunity to continue our push for a top 3 spot and to knock out our opponents from finals contention.

After a good start, where we should have been further ahead at quarter time, the game turned into an arm wrestle for the next two quarters.

Although we seemed to have enough of the play during this time, we just couldn’t get on the scoreboard and turned for home with just a one point lead.

They scored first with a behind after about three minutes to level the scores.

It took us another 5 minutes after some solid defence to go forward where Bomber Thompson marked and goaled from the goal square to put us six points up.

Another goal from Nick Sparks another 5 minutes later had us looking in good shape.

A clearance from them and a quick goal had them right back in the game and still with plenty of time to play.

After some desperate defence again and a sensational tackle for Harry Elbourne from which he played on and hit Jonno Moran just inside 50, Jonno scored the goal to put us 12 points in front.

They, once again, won the clearance from the restart, but could only manage a behind.

We defended stoutly again before a sensational passage of play ended with the ball safely on the chest of Tommy Angel who kicked the sealer.

It was great to see Turbo back playing footy and the boys certainly loved having you back.

David Pinker – Premier Division Men’s Coach

Division 2 Women
(PH 3.2.20 defeated by UNSW 3.10.28)

Playing UNSW for the 3rd time in 6 weeks, we knew that it was going to be a tough contest as they make a late push to be in finals contention.

The first quarter we were slow out of the gate and UNSW had setup very well around the contest and were getting a lot of ball into the forward line. Credit to our back 5 that managed to hold down the fort and stop them kicking a lot of goals early. Natalie Morrow managed to kick a good goal against the run of play, and we led at qtr time 7-2.

Second quarter again was more of the same and UNSW were streaming forward taking multiple shots on goal. Thankfully inaccurate kicking kept us in the game and at the half we were only down by 2 goals.

Second half saw our intensity and attack at ball lift and we were right in the game. Amy Court kicked a fantastic goal and was dominant at attacking the ball. The tackle intensity from Emily Phelps, Emily Lewis and Jesse Smith shifted the momentum and we were down by only a goal at 3 qtr time.

Final quarter we again started to charge home and had opportunities to win the game. UNSW kicked a goal off a turnover to ultimately seal the game, but it was a great fightback by the girls. Unfortunately we lost by 8 points in the end in a tight contest.

Jed Corbett – Division 2 Women’s Coach

Division 3 Men
(PH 5.4.34 defeated by UNSW 10.11.71)

This was your classic ‘must win’ game to reach the finals, and we set out with a strong side more than capable of matching a UNSW team who beat us in the reverse fixture, and who had strung together a good sequence of results in the back half of the season.

The return of Nick and Mike Baglin added some guile and experience to our side, and Nick converted early with a beautifully weighted snap after his best Ginnivan impression earning a free 35m out. This countered the good start by UNSW who also grabbed a couple of early goals in Q1 by swarming past our mids, creating pressure on our backline who was missing Jack Watkins, a late withdrawal after being bitten by the bat.

Geir O’Rourke is one of the stories of the season. His skills and influence around the ground have grown immeasurably and his teammates are reaping the benefits of all his hard work on the training track. Overhead marks, hard-ball-gets and contested possession numbers are all up, but more pleasing is the partnerships and trust he has built with those around him such as Chris Bloom, Luke Bray, Sam Rice and Tim Acheson.

At half time we were right in it, just 9 points behind thanks to goals from the returning Todd Ripps (who unfortunately suffered a calf injury in Q3 and was unable to really return), and a growing influence of Tommy Pellizzon who, despite sporting a very attractive new hairdo (lovely ginger braids) was playing like a seasoned professional, not a 1st season player as he is – this kid has a great future.

The best piece of interplay this coach has seen in some time was delivered by Trent Summers-Levin, passing accurately to Luke Bray who swung on his right to hit Hayden Mitchell on the wing, who turned and hit Mike Baglin on the chest. It was clean, professional and a joy to watch these men produce such effective ball use at this level of football. So proud of these lads!

In truth, despite the stellar performances of every player, not least Josh Everett (concussion), Mitch Yabsley (shoulder), Alex Rashleigh, and Ryan Pascoe (C19), we simply ran out of steam in the 2nd half. We held on long enough to see another N. Baglin goal and a cramp-dance from him which resembled a walk from a night club at 4am after a few too many vodkas (drink wisely folks!).

As usual, the effort, spirit and togetherness of this group ensure we can be proud of these men every time they represent our club. They are the heart and soul of this place and we all hope they have a long future wearing the red & blue.

A final thank you to all the parents, friends and partners who supported us, and also Hugh, our physio who did a great job as always.

I will see you in the next one.

Nigel Blow – Division 3 Men’s Coach

Division 3 Women
(PH 9.9.63 defeated Newtown 0.0.0)

Great start from the mids which continued for the whole quarter, with Alyce and Jazz providing the first touch to Katie, Maddy MD, Lucy and Jesse, who dominated the clearances. Stocky was on fire on the Half Forward Flank and was so quick that her hot boots burnt off any remaining dew left on the ground.  This led to lots of opportunities for Ash Grubba who snagged 3 goals in the first quarter.  It sure looked like she had another goal but the Goal Ump saw it differently. 

Newtown’s second quarter was much improved with more aggressive attack on the ball.  Our backline, however, was superb and snuffed out any push forward from Newtown. Excellent anticipation from Intern, Gurks, Kate C and Ciara saw the ball rebounding to our Mids. Unfortunately, we were not able to turn this into any goals.

The Third quarter was more like the first with the mids exerting their dominance again.  Jazz and Stocky were providing strong targets and this resulted in Gabbi, Jazz, and Ash ( again ) cashing in on some good goals. Stocky’s goal was just rewards for the huge impact she was having on the game.

The last quarter continued like the third as Newtown started to run out of legs.  Our Mids were able to run freely and Jesse and Katie racked out lots of possessions.  Phelps was also taking the ball forward on lots of occasions and finished this off with a goal of her own.  Ash finished off an outstanding day with another to end up with five goals for the day. 

Well done all.

Mark Carroll – Women’s Football Manager

Under 19’s
(PH 1.2.8 defeated by UNSW 15.13.103)

Under 19s took on the number 1 side in the comp UNSW who haven’t lost a game all season.

We knew it would be a tough task, and they absolutely showed why they are such a good team from the first bounce. The positive sign for us is that through the 2nd quarter, our tackle pressure on the ball was first class. Restricting UNSW to no score up until the 2 minutes of the quarter.

Coach believes that the week off really hurt the tidiness of our skills against the most skilful side in the comp. Matthew Gillbee continues to impress winning plenty of ball, Michael Weathers was exceptional off half back and Tait was by far the cleanest of our players and really stood out on the day.

We take on Manly this week and will look to ruin their season.

Joel Cousens – Under 19’s Coach 

Masters
(PH 11.10.76 defeated Sydney Uni 2.3.15)

This week the Masters took on Sydney University in another good challenge as we looked to reclaim third spot from them after recent results saw us fall behind on a match ratio basis.

In a first for the team, we played on the St Paul’s ground at Sydney University which would have to be the smallest ground in the competition, narrowed even further to avoid the bog-like outer wings.

Having beaten Sydney Uni earlier in the year by nine goals, there was some danger we would head into the game with some complacency, and although we were ready, warmed up well and looked ready for the game, we did start the game a little sluggish. Sydney Uni, however, were fired up and started the game well, winning the contested possession early and getting the first goal.

After the initial battle, we started working our way into the game, managing to move the ball well out of the backline and moved ahead at the first break three goals to two. Whilst Sydney Uni had some very good players, our depth across the ground shone over the remainder of the game as we comfortable ran out nine goal winners.

Pleasingly, the goals were shared around the team with seven separate goal scorers with new boy Richard scoring a couple of cracking goals for his first goals for the club. Our backline, played to form, restricting Sydney Uni to a miserly two points in the final three quarters of the game. Astro, Seb and Kingy patrolled the backline with class, marking cleanly and distributing smartly helping our midfielders dominate the middle of the ground with Big Waz and Looksy influential.

It was a cracking game with everyone contributing to the result and although we ran out easy winners it was a battle throughout the game and certainly not a walkover. We’ve had an amazing run into the end of the season with our efforts across all the games worthy of the red and the blue. Congrats to all.

Peter Carey – Masters Coach 

Round 17 Fixtures

The Demons are on the road again as our senior grades take on the Manly Wolves on their territory at Weldon. We will be looking for some big wins to keep our finals hopes alive and set the tone for our run to finals. With only 2 home and away rounds left coaches will be wanting to see our game is solid and players are executing the plan with skill. This weekend is our chance to demonstrate this.

Unfortunately, this week was our Premier Division Women’s last round. Such a great finish to their season. Can’t wait to see what they bring in 2023 after a full pre-season. 

Events

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

Rd 17 – 6th August – Demon Disco (The Underground – UTS) – Buy your tickets here