2016 ROUND 1 V MONASH BLUES

Teams	1st Q.	2nd Q.	3rd Q.	4th Q.
Beaumaris	0.5:5	6.7:43	9.11:65	12.21:93
Monash Blues	3.1:19	3.6:24	4.6:30	6.8:44
Goalkickers : Scott Braithwaite 4, Scott Gower 2, Jack Grange 2, Stephen Milne 1, Will Edmonds 1, Drew Kelly 1, Matt Petering 1

No	Player	No	Player	No	Player	No	Player
1	Liam Hiscock	2	Robert Cathcart	3	Matt Petering	7	Tom Dean
8	Josh Ward	11	Scott Braithwaite	12	Scott Gower	13	Will Murton
17	Anthony Carroll	18	Will Edmonds	23	Ben McLean	26	Michael De Fontenay
27	Jack Grange	28	Dylan Gabron-Uhe	30	Matt Williams	32	Dylan Gabron-Uhe
33	Stephen Milne	34	Richard Ryan	35	Luke Globan	41	Damian Johns
45	Drew Kelly	48	Matthew Lovejoy

Click on the icon to view the highlights.

Well, we finally made it. The season has started with a home game against last years 'C' Grade Grand Finalists.

The first quarter wasn't really inspiring football. Cathcart was getting a lot of the ball, finishing the quarter with 11 disposals (5 kicks, 6 handballs, 8 effective) and Carroll was getting the better of the Monash ruckman in both around the ground ball ups and boundary throw ins. However, for the Sharks 16 inside 50s weren't able to hurt Monash on the scoreboard and only managed to score 5 behinds. While Monash only went inside 50 on 7 occasions they were able to do it on turnovers when the Sharks had pushed hard up the ground and Monash were able to kick a couple easy goals. By the end of the quarter the Sharks had 5 behinds on the board while Monash had scored 3 goals 1 behind. The highlight of the quarter came from a Tommy Dean kick in that was a long kick down the centre of the ground and was marked by McLean who played on quickly, he then passed the ball to Petering who also played on quickly to spot up Cathcart who in turn was able to fire is a 'worm burner' to a leading Grange. Unfortunately the result was a minor score. It was only the first quarter but with Monash going into their 50 less than half the number of times the Sharks did to score three goals it could have been a long afternoon.

The first 5 minutes of the second quarter looked like Monash were going to run away with the game. Monash went inside their forward 50 four time to the Sharks zero. Fortunately for the Sharks Monash couldn't score any goals. As he did in the first quarter Tommy Dean went straight 'down the guts' but an unrealistic attempt at a mark by a Monash player resulted in a free kick to McLean, playing the advantage Johns picked up the ball and took off along through the wing. A long kick into the forward just went over the top of the leading pack to see Kelly read the ball off the back of the pack and slot through the Sharks first goal for the game. The Sharks first inside 50 for the quarter resulted in a goal. The game was about to change. A few minutes later Petering reading the play beautifully, picked off a Monash handball and running at full tilt, pumped the ball back into the Sharks forward line. The ball spilled from the marking contest and Kelly was there to again mop up and with a quick kick on his left put the ball out in front of Milne who was infringed against and was able to kick his first goal. The Sharks were now starting to get on top. A miss kick by Monash in their forward line ended up with Murton who with only one kick in the first quarter was now starting to have an influence on the game. He passed off to Dean who had nothing on down the ground went back to McLean who went long across the backline to Jack Gabron-Uhe who took a strong mark with some extreme pressure from two fast approaching Monash players. From there a long kick to Ryan on the wing who released the ball immediately to a running Lovejoy. Confronted by two Monash players Lovejoy managed to find the other Gabron-Uhe, Dylan, who hit up a leading Grange who then weighted a perfect pass for Braithwaite to lead deep into the pocket in front of the clubrooms. Braithwaite kicks truly and the Sharks had another major on the board and things are starting to not look so good for Monash. It then became an arm wrestle as the ball moved quickly from end to end for the next few minutes. Then a Hiscock pickup from the backline found a fast leading Grange who wasted no time in handballing to Dean who ran on and passed to Globan who turned quickly and hit up a leading Gower. He played on and sent the ball deep into our forward line where a pack formed and quick hands by Braithwaite put the ball near Petering who did his best impression of 'Lionel Messi' to kick the ball out of the air and we had another goal. The game was starting to slip away from Monash. The quarter finished with Grange kicking his first qoal for the game.

The third quarter started with the Sharks dominating. In the first 5 minutes Monash couldn't get their hands on the football, literally. They touched the ball 4 times while the Sharks had scored two goals to both Gower and Braithwaite. As the quarter progressed Monash started to finally touch the football but found it hard to get inside their forward 50, only managing to go in 5 times and effectively on only 3 occasions. The Sharks backline was holding fast. The Gabron-Uhe brothers weren't letting anything past them and Hiscock, Defontenay, Murton, Dean and McLean weren't letting their opponents 'get a sniff' of the ball. With the mid-field on top Monash did not score a goal until the 28 minute mark of the third quarter (their first since the early parts of the first quarter). The Sharks first goal started with Carroll winning the ruck contest inside the Monash 50 tapping it straight down to Petering, who with quick hands was able to find Cathcart who spotted up a fast leading Gower on the wing. From there we went inboard back to Cathcart who passed to Grange who was able to find Braithwaite who in turn hit Gower on another lead who duly went back and kicked the first goal for the quarter. Gower had gone from a fast lead on the wing in front of the coaches box to get back to the goal square in time to provide a lead for Braithwaite in the far side pocket. An impressive piece of hard running. Their second goal for the quarter came when Petering, front and square to a boundary throw in, quickly kicked the ball to the front of the square for Braithwaite who brought the ball to ground, mopped it up and snapped his second goal. Unfortunately a few minutes later Gower applying a tackle, hit his head on the ground and was out for the rest of the game. Our next goal for the quarter came from a Kelly interception in the middle of the ground. A quick handball to a hard running Globan who then passed to Ryan just outside 50 who in turn passed to a leading Braithwaite who kicked his third goal.

The last quarter started with the Sharks holding a 35 point lead and pretty much being in control of the game. With 92 effective disposals in the quarter to 46 for Monash the margin at the end of the game should have been a lot bigger. Some wayward kicking and a few shots on goal that probably should have been centred to the top of the goal square meant it was only a 47 point margin at the end, an increase of only 12 points from three quarter time. Probably not a big enough return when the Sharks had double the number of effective disposals for the quarter than Monash. The last quarter saw goals to Braithwaite, Edmonds and Grange and 10 behinds scored. Major ball winners for the day were Petering with 35 disposals (30 effective), Cathcart with 39 (29 effective) and Dean with 25 (20 effective). It is only round one and the Sharks are off to a good start. Next up the first of the local Derby's. Bring on the Vultures. Isn't it great to have the footy back.

Go sharks.