Prince Alfred College records statement win over Rostrevor in SAAS college footy round 10 2021
College footy powerhouse Prince Alfred has made a statement off the back of the Covid layoff thanks to a huge second half display. Read reports from division one here.
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Prince Alfred has shot to outright second spot in SAAS college footy over the weekend while Sacred Heart remained undefeated with a huge win over a struggling St Michael’s.
Here are the Messenger’s reports from Saturday’s division one matches:
PRINCE ALFRED 13.13 (91)
ROSTREVOR 9.9 (63)
Prince Alfred produced a strong performance out of the Covid layoff to send a message to the rest of the division one competition.
Second against fourth, Rostrevor started the better of the two in the headline clash of round ten.
Reds coach Matt Slade said a stern half-time talk gave his side the boost they needed to run away with the game.
“Guys just weren’t playing their role early and it’s also a credit to Rostrevor, they were outworking us and getting a bunch of goals on the rebound and out the back,” Slade said.
“At half-time I made the comment that we were relying on two Year 10s to keep us in a big game we desperately wanted to win.”
These Year 10s were forward Luca Slade and winger Loch Rawlinson – who was playing just his second game.
Slade managed to kick a bag of five for the game while Rawlinson contributed with fast and efficient ball movement.
By the final break, PAC had kicked away and they then managed to close out the win with relative ease in the fourth quarter.
“We worked much harder in the second half, winning the contest and using the ball well to give our guys upfront good looks,” coach Slade said.
“We played well with momentum and more aggressively, breaking tackles and disposing of it quickly.”
Slade and Rawlinson were the two standouts for the Reds, while Patrick Weckert and Charlie Adams contributed well.
SACRED HEART 32.16 (208)
ST MICHAEL’S 3.4 (22)
Hearts continued their impressive 2021 season with a 186-point drumming of St Michael’s.
The top side got off to a reasonably slow start and didn’t kick their first goal until the eight-minute-mark, but from then the floodgates opened.
Coach Jon Symonds was pleased to see his side kick into gear after their rusty start.
“Given we had a few weeks between games we weren’t too sure how we were going to go. St Michael’s controlled the game early but once we found our rhythm I was really happy with the way we ran hard, spread and used the ball,” Symonds said.
The side’s spread was key, with free-flowing movement and willingness to share the ball leading to 17 separate goalscorers.
Jacob Owens booted six, Luca Whitelam had five and Ashton Moir added four in dominant performances.
Jakob Ryan and Luke Dewhirst also produced strong displays defensively to prevent St Michael’s from making any inroads into Hearts’ big lead.
Symonds said the performance reflected a hunger within the team.
“We’ve got a fair bit of hunger here – we’ve only got a few games left together and the reality is we’ve got a few guys out of the side who would like to be in,” he said.
“It puts pressure on everyone to play at their best and to contribute to the team, so we’re in pretty good shape.”
SCOTCH 12.12 (84)
PEMBROKE 5.3 (33)
A strong first half performance saw Scotch through against traditional rivals Pembroke, the host side applying strong pressure throughout, going on to win by 51 points.
They kicked 10 goals to one in a near-perfect first two quarters, leaving coach Ben Nelson satisfied with how his team looks at the pointy end of the season.
“Our first two terms were excellent, the boys brought pressure and the ability to play and cover for themselves, which was really rewarding and pleasing to see,” Nelson said.
“Pembroke to their credit brought more pressure and got on top late but fortunately we got enough runs on the board in the first half.”
Harry Chaplin was a strong performer for Scotch, booting four goals upfront, while Archie Morgan and Jed Obst were fundamental in the side’s dominance in the contest.
“We always put a bit of onus on our midfield stoppage stuff and our ability to apply pressure in those situations,” Nelson said.
“As a coach, when you see your team executing in the areas we train, it’s rewarding.”
ST PETER’S 19.10 (124)
IMMANUEL 7.9 (51)
St Peter’s coach Sam Elliott said a big win was just what his side needed on Saturday as it brushed off a rusty start to comfortably beat Immanuel.
Saints were able to gain the ascendancy in the middle through players like Will Shepherd and Cormac Dwyer, and in turn give their forwards first use.
Talisman Morgan Ferres benefited most, recording seven majors in a dominant display.
“We were a bit slow out of the gate but I thought we had a real willingness to compete and that was a big factor in how we gained control from the second term onward,” Elliott said.
“We’ve been trying to get cleaner forward of centre and isolate our big boys like Morgan upfront so to be able to do that was great.”
Ferres took control of the game throughout the third and fourth quarters as a result of the clean usage from the Saints mids, with Immanuel struggling to stop the onslaught.
Elliott believed the form of his key forward and the rest of his side has it in good stead for the rest of the season, with a tough match-up against Westminster on the horizon this week.
“That game should top us off really nicely,” he said.
“Westminster is a tough, good side and we relish those tougher matches so it should be a great contest.”
TRINITY 11.10 (76)
WESTMINSTER 16.13 (109)
An astounding nine-goal performance from boarder Anthony Munkara secured Westminster a strong win, after the visitors fell behind early.
The Dragons lost key player Lucas Cooke to injury just two minutes in and found themselves behind at half-time before Munkara, a boarder from Tiwi Islands currently in his second term, took control.
Westminster coach Tim Weatherald said he was over the moon with his side’s fight and Munkara’s dazzling display.
“We knew it’d be a close game and it was really good to get back in the winner’s circle after a bit of a break,” Weatherald said.
“It’s a big move for Anthony to come down from Tiwi Islands and he’s probably still feeling his way through his footy here, but he’s got that X-factor and I thought our midfielders getting on top really allowed him to see a lot of the footy and show what he can do.”
Munkara played around the ground and in the ruck in the first half before being shifted into the forward line.
He slotted home six majors in the second half, a couple being mind-blowing efforts from difficult angles.
Weatherald said the positional strategy was put in place for Munkara to get his confidence up and it paid dividends.
“You can play him anywhere really, once he’s got his confidence up he’s an exciting talent who does a bit of everything,” he said.
“He’s got a beautiful jump, great hands and hopefully he can carry his confidence with him now – it would be big for us.”
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