Difficult conditions greeted our six Yarra Magpies Academy teams that played across four venues in Melbourne last Wednesday night in Round 1 of the AFL Victoria Metropolitan Junior Development Series.
Under 15 Girls – Division 1
South Metro Junior Football League 1.4 (10) def Yarra Junior Football League 0.0 (0)
Goals: Nil
Best: Rianna Thiele, Lou Podmore, Ava Jordan, Grace Osborne, Jorja Jackson, Tannah Hurst
The SMJFL were stronger around the contest early and were able to record the opening goal with a kick off the ground during the first quarter. The Yarra Magpies showed signs of improvement during the second quarter but still struggled to find scoring opportunities. Unfortunately the match ended early into the third quarter when a SMJFL player went down with injury and required an ambulance to attend. The good news is the player has been released from hospital and we wish her a speedy recovery.
Under 15 Girls – Division 2
Yarra JFL 6.8 (44) def Eastern FL 6.4 (40)
Goals: Erin Taylor 2, Catia Cococcia 2, Ava Leonard 2
Best: Phoebe Nelson, Catia Cococcia, Magdalena D’Amico, Isabella Italiano, Mimi Chun, Petra Edwards
On a very cold and wet night, the Yarra Magpies fought hard to win. The Yarra girls started strongly kicking four goals straight to take a convincing lead going into the second quarter. In the second and third quarters the Eastern Girls adjusted and we lost some of our momentum, which saw Eastern peg back the scoreline. Going into the final quarter the girls knew they had to lift and they did! While Eastern took the lead during the quarter, the Yarra Girls kicked a goal in the final few minutes, which put us four points ahead and we managed to hold off a strong attack by Eastern to win the match. Player of match was Phoebe Nelson.
Under 15 Boys – Division 1
Yarra Junior Football League 10.9 (69) def South Metro Junior Football League 7.5 (47)
Goals: Matthew Jefferson 2, Zane Harrington 2, Marcel Haj 2, Andrew Sinclair 1, Darcy Laurie 1, Joshua Hamilton 1, Yu Ashwin 1
Best: Zane Harrington, Hugo Birks, Jacob Naismith, Jack Spalding, Marcel Haj, Harry Butterworth
A 22 point victory for the Division 1 Yarra Magpies was set up with a four goal opening quarter. With Matthew Jefferson, Zane Harrington and Marcel Haj all kicking two goals and an even contribution across the ground, the boys demonstrated the style of footy they’ve been training to play over the last two months.
Under 15 Boys – Division 2
Yarra Junior Football League 12.3 (75) def South Metro Junior Football League 7.6 (48)
Goals: Daniel Cotter 3, Hayden Moulder 2, Ben Lindeman 2, George Thodis 1, Jake Trembath 1, Finn Peake 1, Finlay Park 1, Charlie Quartel 1
Best: Charlie Quartel, Joshua Fell, Ben Lindeman, Hugo Byron, Noah Hill, Daniel Cotter
In a highly entertaining, skillful affair in trying conditions SMJFL made the early running leading us by one point at half time. Our ability to link up with hands and run with the ball was a highlight and enabled us to get back into the contest. With Charlie Quartel giving us first use in the ruck and captain Josh Fell winning clearances, YMA came out after half time with a stronger presence. A team orientated second half of football playing to the conditions capped off by some classy finishing by our forwards, especially Daniel Cotter enabled YMA to run away with the victory. A really impressive performance by YMA given the conditions and the opposition being of very high standard.
Under 14 Boys – Division 1
Yarra Junior Football League 9.14 (68) def South Metro Junior Football League 0.0 (0)
Goals: Will Lorenz 3, Adam Rizzo 2, Joel Savy 2, Oliver Purcell 1, William Tsitsis 1
Best: Adam Rizzo, Isaac Barry, William Lorenz, Lachlan Guymer, Brayden Guymer, Sam Phillips
The Yarra boys had South Metro on the back foot from the outset in wet conditions at McKinnon Reserve on Wednesday night. Despite the conditions, the Yarra Magpies attack on the footy and skills in the wet stood out. Inaccurate kicking for goal in the first three quarters meant the margin didn’t reflect our dominance on the game. In the first quarter we kicked 1 goal 5 behinds with the aid of a strong breeze. The boys commitment, endeavour and determination was fantastic and we took this into the 2nd quarter kicking another two goals into the wind. Our defence was solid, our mids were in and under and our forwards were creative. After half time we continued to dominate the play putting on more goals on the scoreboard. A five goal last quarter saw the Yarra Magpies run away with a 68 point win. Adam Rizzo (Balwyn) was chosen as best on ground by the coaching staff and won the medal.
Under 14 Boys – Division 2
South Metro Junior Football League 6.11 (47) def Yarra Junior Football League 1.10 (16)
Goals: Cooper Trembath 1
Best: Henry Lasscock, Benjamin Oppy, Phoenix Gonis, Rohan McKenzie, Nicholas De Silva, Sebastian Pegoraro
The Yarra Magpies kicked the first goal of the match through Cooper Trembath, but it was our only goal for the night as South Metro JFL went on to record a 31 point win. The boys started the game well but after quarter time our opponents handled the difficult conditions better. The Yarra Magpies will have learnt a lot from the game and move into next weekend ready for their match at home against Eastern FL. Ashburton’s Henry Lasscock stood up in the backline, taking a number of marks and using the ball well on the rebound to be named best on ground for the Yarra Magpies team.
