Week 15

vs Norths (First Grade)
vs Ulladulla (Reserve Grade)

A weekend where the efforts on the weekend were unfulfilled with missed opportunities in Reserve Grade and unrewarded effort in First Grade leaving the scoreboard not telling the full story. A beautiful day dawned on Saturday with an opportunity for Reserve Grade to continue some good performances and First Grade to have a chance to knock off one of the sides above it to solidify fourth spot.

Reserve Grade played Ulladulla at Tom Smith for the first time this year and hoped to show the form that had led to an away win over the Dockers earlier in the year. From the first bounce it was clear that the younger players from Ulladulla would relish the extra space at Tom Smith and the experienced Demon lineup had their work cut out to contain their younger and faster opponents. The close score at quarter time was indicative of our efforts to play our style of game and use the footy when we had it. In the second quarter we had a lot of the footy but did not capitalise on the scoreboard and efficient counter attacks from the Dockers proved the difference. Mark Kinnear, Scott McCurdy, Matt Webb and Luke Penglow were performing well for the Demons but despite having more scoring opportunities than our opponents in the second quarter we were adrift by 16 points at the main break. A tight third quarter followed with the Dockers pulling a further goal away from us despite the best efforts of Jace Southwell and young Jessie Hepplewhite and going into the final quarter we had the task ahead of us. Coach Ty Goodman asked for a red hot go from his chargers for the last quarter, and when we pulled to within 10 points with time to go it looked like a comeback victory was on the cards, but the Dockers steadied and held us off to finish ahead by 16 points in the end. Best performed are mentioned above with Dave Whitehead, Chris Weller and Troy Nicoll also deserving mention.

First Grade were looking to atone for the last time North's ventured to Tom Smith when the boys from the northern beaches came away with a tight victory. Knowing that fourth place may be in jeopardy it was imperative to get a good start against the Tigers. That didn't happen as Norths came out full of run and got the jump on us with a lightning quick start. It took a while for the boys to get used to the speed of the game and when the tempo was more to our liking we were much more competitive. Excellent play in the second and third quarters saw a very tight contest evolve (if not so much on the scoreboard). Tim Green, Brett Kelly and Scott Clarke were excellent in the backline with Jace Southwell, Simon Levy and Jonathon Wilson working hard in the centre. Dale Richardson was providing a target all around the ground and Chris Weller was dangerous when given the opportunity. In the last quarter, with a number of players backing up and a few injuries on top of that, we fought valiantly to the end but ended up on the wrong side of an unforgiving scoreboard. Other good performers on the day were Damien Wallace, Will Calvert, Phil Henshaw, Jake Gordon and Greg Wallace.

Next week we are at Bomaderry, as the other Tigers celebrate their 40th Anniversary. Let's get some good numbers to training and the game and try to make it a day to remember ... for us. Training on Thursday will be run by the players, get in touch with BK to have some input.

Scores:

Reserve Grade:

Demons 2.1 4.7 7.9 10.13 73
Ulladulla 2.4 7.5 11.7 13.11 89

Goals: C. Weller 3, T. Nicoll 3, M. Webb 2, P. Henshaw, S. McCurdy
Best: J. Southwell, J. Hepplewhite, L. Penglow, S. McCurdy, M. Kinnear, M. Webb

Awards:

Coach's Cup: Matt Webb
Player's Player: Jace Southwell
Aussie Hotel: Dave Whitehead
Sportscene: Luke Penglow

First Grade:

Demons 1.1 1.2 2.3 2.3 15
Norths 8.6 10.10 13.13. 19.21 135

Goals:
Best: S. Levy, T. Green, S. Clarke

Awards:

Coach's Cup: Brett Kelly
Player's Player: Simon Levy
Aussie Hotel: Tim Green
Husky Pub: Scott 'Cranky' Clarke
Trevi Fountain: Daniel