Souths Juniors round eight: Full wrap, results, photo gallery and talking points from the weekend
With eight rounds of the Souths Juniors down, we look at what made headlines from a bumper weekend of play. PLUS check out our 30+ photo gallery from round eight action.
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These are the key talking points from round eight of the Souths Juniors competition.
BELIEF IS THERE AT YARRA
We’ve seen glimpses of La Perouse’s best football throughout the season so far, but finally we saw it for an extended period at the weekend.
In front of a home crowd at Yarra, the Panthers looked brilliant against Matraville to hand them their first loss for the season.
Aaron Grech and their outside backs were particularly outstanding, and they showed why they are one of the more exciting teams in the comp when letting the ball flow.
A MERE SLIP IN THE ROAD
While the unbeaten season aspirations are over, it’s certainly not paic stations at Matraville.
They lost the battle out wide to La Perouse, but can take some pride in their forwards again turning up and taking the fight to their opponents.
They will get the opportunity to bounce back when taking on Mascot this weekend.
YOUNG DRAGON LINKS WITH REDFERN
We saw the skills Joven Gyemore possesses when having an impressive season for the St George Dragons at SG Ball Cup level.
Now he’s bringing that ability to A-grade, and that is a huge plus for the Redfern All Blacks.
The classy outside back finished with four tries in just his second game with the club, and we dare say he will be right in the race for the competition’s leading scorer.
ART OF WINNING GRITTY
The Coogee Dolphins have found themselves on the wrong end of some narrow scorelines throughout the season.
Which is why they’ll be most delighted to have edged out South Eastern at the weekend in a very crucial game.
With the race on for spots in the top-three, these are the contests they need to be winning, with players set to return.
POINTS FLOW AROUND THE GROUNDS
We’ve seen plenty of lower scoring games for A-grade football throughout the year, but this weekend wasn’t one of them.
La Perouse and Matraville combined for 50 points, while Redfern and Mascot put on 62 points in a 12-try showdown.
The tight tussles are enjoyable, but park footy fans love to see the tries and entertainment flow.
ROUND EIGHT WRAP
The halfway point of the Souths Juniors season is here.
Catch up on all the happenings plus a photo gallery from round eight action across the league.
LA PEROUSE ENDS THE STREAK
La Perouse has become the first team to defeat Matraville in 2023, turning on their attacking flair in a 36-14 win in front of a solid crowd at Yarra Oval.
They started strongly with Brayden Irons getting them on the board early, setting an early tempo that saw them head to the sheds up 16-6.
That momentum was carried on into the second half, with the likes of fullback Evan Manning, and outside backs Cody King-Pittman and Andrew Willis making big inroads to cause the upset.
“The boys finally wanted to turn up and put two complete halves together,” second rower Che Hyslop said.
“We lost our way over the last 10 minutes but for 60 minutes of football we played excellent.
“We’ve tried to play a power game through the middle for the first seven weeks. We kept trying to go through the middle, but we found our go (out wide).”
Hyslop was stoked his team could put on a show in front of their home faithful, and said consistency is key if they want to make a run at a title.
“There’s nothing better than playing in front of a La Pa home crowd. It’s turning up for the community. There’s nothing better than it,” he said.
“The belief is still there and has been there since day one of the pre-season, we just need to back it up with our performances and consistency.”
DOLPHINS CLIMB TO OUTRIGHT FOURTH
In a battle for fourth spot, the Coogee Dolphins overcame South Eastern 20-14 in a grinding affair at Kensington Oval.
With both sides sitting at three wins, a strong start from the Dolphins saw them score the opening three tries to take a handy 12-0 lead.
A double to Tyrese Tuwairua-Brown kept the Seagulls within a converted try with 10 minutes to play, but they were unable to land a late blow.
“We’re really happy with that performance,” coach Michael Golden said.
“We’re in an injury stage with a few good players out. We’ve worked hard this pre-season to have these young guys pushing through.
“South Eastern are a good side and they kept pushing back. It was an arm wrestle the whole way through and we had to fight until the end.”
Golden was full of praise for the young guns in his side, particularly out wide and the impact they had.
“Rowan McIntosh is a young 19-year-old in his first season against the men,” he said.
“He keeps going from strength to strength and had to play the majority of the second half at fullback. He made a few clean line breaks.
“I’d be amazed if Souths don’t pick him up for Jersey Flegg next year.
“Jeremy Halert is a Dolphins junior who made his debut. He’s been at the club since U6s and came on in the centres with some brilliant defence.”
With the side sitting fourth with seven rounds remaining, Golden believes they’re poised to be there at the business end of the season.
“We’re well placed at this stage,” he said.
“There’s not much between the sides and we’d like to secure a top-three finish.
“We’re a young side that is improving every week and finding out who we are, and starting to scratch these narrow wins out.”
REDFERN DOWNS JETS IN HIGH SCORING CLASH
The Redfern All Blacks made it back-to-back wins with a 42-20 defeat of Mascot at Mascot Oval.
Coming into the contest after a good win over the Panthers, RAB started strongest and raced out to a 16-6 lead early on.
The Jets hit back though, scoring on either side of the break to level things up. Just as they looked poised to take their first lead, some individual brilliance swung the momentum.
“They got an easy penalty out of their own end, but Joven Gyemore batted the ball back (from the kick for touch) to his centre,” RAB official Bradley Anderson said.
“James Frazer got the ball and combined with Joven to streak away for a 60m try.”
Redfern went on to score four more tries to complete the win, their fifth of the season.
“James was on debut for the club and was one of our best,” Anderson said.
“He scored three tries and helped set up another three or four for his winger.
“Joven was good again in his second appearance for the club, scoring four tries.”
It leaves them in second spot on points differential, as they look to get some key troops back over the coming weeks.
“We’re travelling well with a few niggling injuries and come up against a tough South Eastern side this week at their home,” he said.
“The long weekend will be a good chance for our boys to rest up and get those niggles right for the run home.”
RESERVE GRADE
In a battle of the unbeaten sides at Coogee Oval, La Perouse prevailed 20-6 in a physical encounter over South Eastern.
Redfern ended Mascot’s four-game winning streak with a narrow 20-14 success at Mascot Oval.
Moore Park secured its second win of the year with a 32-14 win over Marrickville, while Alexandria took the points over Matraville by forfeit.
PHOTO GALLERY
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