Two close seniors matches on Saturday resulted in narrow losses to the Rams when they played UTS Bats with the Reserves going down by 21 points and the Firsts by an agonising 5 points. The 18's continued their dominant form over second placed Southern Power with a resounding 119 point win to keep their unbeaten status alive.
Under 18's V Southern Power at Greygums Oval
The 18's continued their winning form on Saturday when they played 2008/2009 Grand Finalists, Southern Power at Greygums.
Southern Power had forfeited in their first round match and were only able to provide 17 players on Saturday which meant a bigger bench for the Rams. A late change of jersey to the 2009 "black" version was decided on minutes before the game with Southern Power having a similar strip.
Penrith won the toss an elected to run with the wind at their back and dominated the quarter with a 5.5 term whilst able to keep the Power scoreless. Running into the wind in the second term, the Rams continued their dominance with another four majors (5 behinds) whilst conceding their opponents seven points, which turned out to be the best quarter for the southern beaches squad.
Penrith were able to add a further 8.11 in the second half whilst the defence stood tall only allowing their second placed opponents to boot three behinds in the remaining forty minutes to record a convincing 119 point win and keep their unbeaten status intact after round 12 of the Sydney AFL competition.
Matthew Payne again showed his outstanding class and poise in taking out the "IceBreak" cash award with cohort Adam Sharp again being outstanding all over the paddock. The two former Emu Plains/Glenmore Park Lions juniors have been the backbone of the very talented squad this year. Another former Lion, big Shaun Stevens, also used his size to continually dominate his opposite number along with captain and former Swans junior Daniel Schroot. Blue Mountains duo James Colquhoun and first year 18's Campbell Hislop were also very effective. Ben McGovern again had the radar working with five goals whilst Nathan Walker became this week's goal sneak with three. John Spicer added two and passed on a couple more along with Daniel Schroot with two as the other multiple goalscorer.
Penrith Rams 18.21-129 def Southern Power 1.4-10
Goals: Ben McGovern (5) Nathan Walker (3) Daniel Schroot (2) John Spicer (2) James Colquhoun (1) Campbell Hislop (1) Rick Ooms (1) Jack Ponton (1) Ben Priest (1) Luke Simmons (1)
Reserve Grade V UTS Bats at Greygums Oval
The first game of the season against the Bats provided an intriguing match as both teams were looking for a finals spot in the congested leaderboard.
UTS started the match with the wind at their backs and despite constant raids into the Rams fifty, were innacurate with the boot as they kicked 1.8 whilst the Rams added a goal courtesy of Nic Edwards to go to the break with an unconvincing seven point lead.
With the wind assistance, Penrith took the initiative in the second term and goals by Under 18's players Ben Priest and a double to Gordon Howell along with a Makin six pointer saw the teams retire to the sheds with the Rams having a two goal lead.
However, the fitter UTS took the initiative in the second half and controlled the match, constantly breaking the Rams defence to stack on another six goals whilst the Rams could only add another 1.1 to their total with the final result in favour of the Bats by 21 points.
Justin Weller and Christian Triffitt were the mainstays for the Rams whilst Jason Ware again gave his all. Seltene Yohannes continues his skills improvement and again made some electrifrying runs whilst Grady Tapping and his 18's teamate Gordie Howell both performed well. It was probably a mix of fitness and lacking skills that saw the team suffer a defeat. The numbers at training have dropped off in the last month and to be any chance of a finals berth, attendance at training is essential.
The team now drops to fifth spot and faces a hard task against third placed Mac Uni on the weekend.
Penrith Rams 6.4-40 def by UTS Bats 8.13-61
Goals: Gordon Howell (2) Ben Priest (1) Nic Edwards (1) Jason Makin (1) Mark Jackson (1)
First Grade V UTS Bats at Greygums Oval
First Grade returned to Greygums on Saturday in an attempt to overturn their round 4 10 goal loss to UTS at Trumper Park.
With the withdrawals of staunch defenders Max McNamara and Sam Lockhart as well as Brad Pathius, Penrith bought up tireless fullback Nathan White and new recruit Nathan Rowley from reserve grade to fill the void. It was a milestone game for brilliant full forward Dave Cummings who was playing his 200th game.
After winning the toss and electing to go with a stiff breeze at their backs, the Rams didn't get the full advantage of the wind and the 3.4 start was negated by a 2.1 quarter by the Bats.
The second quarter saw a tough battle by both sides as the ball went from end to end. UTS quickly scored but the young Penrith side kept on the attack to post three goals into the strengthening wind. The Rams had done a magnificent job to go to the sheds on par with the Bats at 41 points apiece.
Both sides went tit for tat in the third term with again Penrith being unable to capiltalise fully with the wind. As the third quarter siren sounded, the home side had only managed to creep to a three point lead and their hopes of victory looked slim.
The final quarter saw a barrage of attacking play by UTS who were becoming desperate to clinch the match. With a massive 9 one pointers and just a single goal, it was Penrith who went on the attack in the final minutes but were unable to post the straight kick to win the match and as the siren sounded in the brutal encounter, it was another win by UTS by just five points.
With a nine goal improvement from their last encounter, finals are still well and truly on the agenda despite slippping to third spot with the loss. The team were magnifcent in defeat and certainly see it as a "we'll get you next time" scenario.
Nathan Allison was outstanding and the recipient of the "IGA Signature" Award whilst Dave "Nurse" Bradley again put in a magnificent performance in taking home the "Red Cow Inn" Award. Captain Lachie Smith and his Vice-Captain John Keane were inspirational whilst Mark "Woody" Woodford shrugged off his ever increasing injury concerns to put up a truly committed display. Twenty Year Old Nathan Rowley, playing his debut first grade game after just run in reserves after a five year layoff proved he will be a handful as the serious part of the season gets into swing with a great display of footy. 200 gamer, Dave Cummings, shared the goalkicking honours with Blake Roberts, Ben Robinson and Woody with two each whilst Reece Johnson scored the Rams other six pointer.
Next Saturday is a "must win" match against Mac Uni to stay in touch with the final four.
Penrith Rams 9.9-63 def by UTS Bats 9.14-68
Goals: Dave Cummings (2) Mark Woodford (2) Ben Robinson (2) Blake Roberts (2) Reece Johnson (1)
Last Modified on 11/07/2010 17:32