Premier Division Reserves 
(PH 11.6.72 drew with St George 11.6.72)
           

Goal Kickers: S Zikman 2, A Murdoch 2, B Thompson 2, A Crisfield 1, J Moran 1, M Kunigiskis 1, B Hunt 1, J Le Lay 1
Best: M Collins, B Hunt, T Scoular, J Moran, A Murdoch, M Vile
Players Player: M Collins & A Murdoch

A strange way to sew up third spot and the double chance, and a fairly hollow feeling after we achieved what we wanted from the home and away season and to not be singing the song when we got to the rooms!

We opened with what could have been our best quarter of footy for the year, but for whatever reason we allowed St George back into the game straight away.

Taking nothing away from our opposition who worked harder in the second quarter, maybe we felt like we’d done enough.

The third quarter was fairly even and we turned for home with a 10 point lead.

They came hard at us in the last quarter and although we had enough opportunities and enough of the ball, we couldn’t quite get the job done, kicking 1.4 to 3.2 and the game finishing in a draw.

We went into the game thinking whoever won would get third spot and the double chance, we didn’t think about what a draw would do to our match ratio.

With the calculators out, we confirmed we had third spot and a date with North Shore in the Qualifying final.

Division 2 Women
(PH 2.1.13 defeated by Rams 4.7.31)

Thanks to all the players for supporting moving this game to Penrith to support Penrith’s mental Health round, which was missed earlier in the year due to washouts.

Penrith started better than us and jumped out of the gates with their ruck controlling the taps and their mids streaming out of the middle.  This resulted in 2 quick goals for Penrith before we knew it. 

The Mids and Backs then did a good job of adjusting to Penrith’s start and stopped their momentum.  We went into quarter time 2 goals down.

In the second quarter, we moved Sammy O into the Ruck and she did an outstanding job competing and negating Penrith’s impact. Brooke replaced Sammy in the backline and was very solid. The Mids led by Em C, Jesse and Tennis started to wrestle control of the contest and gave our forwards some opportunities at last. Ash scored a great goal and Jesse was rewarded for her extra running with a good goal. Jamie was having a great game in the Backs repelling Penrith and was well supported by Kelly and Steph.  We went into half time 5 point down but the game was pretty even.

The first part of the third quarter saw us continue to drive the ball forward, but due to some cruel bounces we were not able to convert these opportunities into goals. The game became an arm wrestle, but in the back half of the quarter Penrith lifted for 5 minutes to get loose and get some clearances which allowed them to score a couple of goals.  Unfortunately, Jamie received a hard hit in the back in a contest and had to leave the ground.

We went into the last quarter 3 goals down and Penrith’s strategy was to flood their backline.  This allowed us to control the ball and have lots of entries into the forwards, but the congestion made it difficult to create any opportunities to score.  So, we had a sobering loss of 18 points. Lots of learnings for us from this game but well done to the team for adjusting to the challenges in the game and competing to the end.

Mark Carroll -Head of Women’s program

Division 3 Men
(PH 4.14.38 defeated Magic 1.1.7)

Final Ladder Position: 8th

If ever there was a time to pull together and put on a show for our loyal supporters, today was the day! A brilliant sunny day at MKO greeted our squad and the top oval awaited these gladiators to don their battle garb and step out to make a statement against the team we defeated in R1 all those COVID-free months ago. As always, we had a strong side, although the late withdrawal of arguably one of our best players this season, Geir O’Rourke, was a speedbump we needed to get over. Michael Elsley jumped in, and we were all set.

The first quarter saw us keep our opponents to zero despite some hefty pressure in the opening exchanges. Our captain for the day, Chris Bloom, set an example early with some crucial marks and showed definitive leadership by guiding his backline to where they needed to be. The energetic Trent Summers-Levin was asked to play an unfamiliar role in the half forward line and to work in partnership with Jordan Rohr and a new wing pairing of Harry Plater and John McDiarmid (those inside our camp will get it!). It was new system delivered by the coaching group half an hour before the first bounce, but these boys took on the task and delivered superbly.

Despite our dominance of entries into the forward 50, we could not convert more goals in the 2^nd quarter as our opponents pressured our shots on goal. Sam Rice continued his impressive development by winning most ruck taps, and our opponents #7 threw his toys out of the pram when he was repeatedly pestered by any Demon who got near him.

Our forward line of Josh Mott, Oskar Raue and Hayden Mitchell offered more leads than Petbarn by a superior midfield including Josh Everett who ran through brick walls to make a contest. He is a nifty left footer who devastated his opponents and thrilled the bench with his right-foot sidestep. The most impressive feature of our mids, and the whole squad today was the use of the handball, not something we had been proficient with all season. After some words of wisdom from Prems maestro Ben Roberts on this subject, our boys adopted the plan and executed perfectly. How many times we saw Rashleigh pass to Elsley, to De Gorter (playing his last game before a sabbatical in Ole Blighty), and then a smooth stab-pass to the forwards was simply wonderful to watch.

Our defence today was tighter than a ducks, miserly to the point that our opponents appeared to have surrendered. Luke Bray and Matty Arcuili showed their usual pace, and Tim Acheson provided assurance and a calming aura around the paddock as every threat was turned away. Jack Watkins and Matty Miles (who somehow again ended up in the forward line before realising he’d left his passport at home) play wonderful footy together. Jacks’ tireless efforts and leadership proved invaluable as we stretched our lead and grew in confidence.

Sam Hill had an impressive week on the training track and executed his role brilliantly today in partnership with the effervescent Duckie Morris. Overall, if we managed to convert those behinds into goals, who knows what the final score might have been!

Make no mistake ladies and gentlemen, this is a wonderful group of men and I am confident they will continue to develop into players who proudly represent our club week-in, week-out.

As I sign-off, I want to thank those supporters and volunteers who witnessed our special season. From Mr & Mrs Bray, Liam Ward, Marley (Sam Hills much better half), TSL’s Mum, Henri De Gorter, Ivatt Mitchell, John Acheson, Ciara Murphy, Mr Raue, Rod Miles, Graham and Owen Baglin (and the entire Baglin clan), David Hogan, and lastly my wonderful supporting family who had to put up with my obsession of my players all season long – I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

As always, I will see you in the next one.    

Nigel Blow – Division 3 Men’s Coach

Division 3 Women
(PH 1.2.8 defeated by North Shore 9.6.60)

The Pennant Hills Women’s Div 3 played our last match for the year on Saturday against the top of the table North Shore Bombers who had only lost 2 games for the season – both against us. The team put in a valiant effort against a strong opponent who had seemingly had a facelift (apparently dropping a fair portion of their Division 1 side to secure the win).

Even so, the Penno girls played so well, the first quarter started off with an early flourish from the North Shore side. The Penno Defence held up, particularly Kate, Gurks and Ciara putting on dominant displays, but the midfield pressure was immense from the Bombers, ultimately despite some great rebounding efforts from Jemma and Jesse, the bombers came out of the first qtr up 16-0.

The second quarter saw Emma kick a goal by running onto a ball that came over the top and strolled into an open goal line. The pressure increased and we put on some big hits, particularly Jasmine who nearly ended one Bombers day early with a fair hip and shoulder that sent her flying and some great contested ball gets from Katie Wellfare. Rachel was also a force in the backline, winning several 1 vs 2’s against some strong players. Score during the big break was 28 – 7 to North Shore.

Unfortunately the bombers started to see blood in the 3rd as they came out firing, with their forwards securing several frees that were paid by a the North Shore Umpire/Team Manager. Despite this the girls kept their chins up, with plenty of heart shown by Louisa on the wing, getting physical and winning or equalising contests that she had no right to win. Credit as well to Kate Quads who played just about every position on the field before the end of the game and contributed in every area she went. 3/4 time score 54 – 8.

The final quarter was fierce, a real tussle between two teams who gave it everything, knowing it was our last quarter, the girls killed it in the last quarter, only allowing 1 more goal and finishing the game at 60-8, which is significantly better than the 77-1 defeat we handed them a few weeks back.

We finish the season with an 8-8 win-loss record which is a massive effort considering we started the season at 2-6. The team improved massively this season and performed well above our station in a season with several impressive teams in the comp. We were unlucky not to scrape into finals but that just leaves us with the hunger to go one better next season.

A big thankyou to the girls who played in my team this season, even the ones who only played 1 game, each of you made a contribution to the team and our success, particularly in the latter half of the season is thanks to your efforts.

Lastly, a big thanks from myself as I will not be coaching next year as I move overseas, a big thanks to all the girls that played in my teams over the last 4 years, it has been an absolute pleasure and I look forward to seeing how good you’ve all become when I get back. Enjoy the offseason – you’ve earned it!

Nick DeGorter– Division 3 Women’s Coach

Under 19’s
(PH 12.15.87 defeated St George 12.3.75)

The Under 19’s had their final game of the season on Saturday night.
 
Not much to play for from in relation to competition standard but we had been pumping this up as our Grand Final for the last few weeks. The last time we took on St George we probably played our best game of the season at Olds and went down by a goal. This time would be a different story
 
The boys started really well, pressure on the footy, selfless hand passing and dominating general play. However only 5 points could split the side at the main break with due to our poor kicking.
 
The 2nd quarter was a very similar story with us this time registering 2 goals 6 and taking a 4-point lead into the main break.
 
The 3rd quarter saw us have a handy 3 goal lead after a terrific first 15 minutes but a small mental lapse in concentration and discipline allowed another late charge by the saints keeping us with a 4-point buffer headed into the last
 
the final term saw plenty of drama with St George getting out to 8 points. in previous games that’s where we fell apart, not this time, not at the spiritual home of this great footy club. Kicking 5 unanswered goals to put us up 14 with 2 minutes to go. St George kicked a late goal to flatter their margin of 8 points.
 
Best believe we sang the song like we had won the flag. A tough season for all but we spoke pregame about letting it define our season and the boys played their hearts out and got the reward. Well done lads
 
Go Penno!
 
Joel Cousens – U19’s Coach

Masters
(PH 15.11.101 Defeated Balmain 2.4.16)

This week the Masters took on Balmain for the second time, this time on the bottom deck at MKO, after playing a very tight contest on the upper deck earlier in the season. The game took on a bigger than usual importance with Kieran Wright playing his 300th game for the club. An outstanding achievement from an exemplary Penno legend.

After starting our previous game a little sluggish, the call this week was to start the game strongly and the boys didn’t disappoint. We dominated the first quarter, moving the ball well, winning the midfield battle but only managed to score two goals as our eagerness for the ball resulted in a crowded forward line and a lack of efficiency in converting our dominance. The second quarter, and the remainder of the game, was a different story. We continued to play some outstanding football, moving the ball well and this time, finding our targets and then the goals. It was a great team effort, with the end result a resounding 101-16 victory. Pleasingly, the goals were again shared around the team with seven separate goal scorers with new boy Richard again scoring a couple of cracking goals and earning a spot in our best players for the week. This was really a great team effort and having to choose six players for the published best, did an injustice to the team as we had great efforts across the ground. Special mentions to Kingy, Looksy and Huggo who were outstanding as usual but the clear standout was Kiz who lived up to his billing as a living legend of Penno, who dominated in his 300th game for the club, even popping up in the forward line for a cameo and kicking three goals. It was a great way to finish what has been an enjoyable season. Bring on next year!

Peter Carey – Masters Coach

Finals Week 1 Fixtures

This week is the first week of finals for our teams. The men’s Premier Division Reserves and our Women’s Division 2 play in Qualifying Finals on Saturday 20^th August. Please get to the grounds and support them in their push for premierships.

To attend this weekends finals games you’ll be required to buy a ticket for each game from the link below for $10 (not team players and officials). Get your tickets now & make sure to get around the teams this weekend!
https://www.eventbrite.com/d/australia–sydney/afl-sydney/
 

Events

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

Saturday 24^th September – AFL Grand Final Function – Clubrooms
Sunday 30^th October – Presentation Day – Clubrooms
Monday 12^th December – Annual General Meeting