Saturday 20th April saw four home games at Greygums Oval, rain (both overnight and during game day) not affecting the now superb Greygums Oval surface. The day saw honours even for the Rams, with two wins and two losses.
Undoubtedly the highlight of the day was the first official competition win by the Rampaging Ramettes, after coming so close late last season with a draw.
The other win was to Reserve Grade, their first of the season, while Seniors suffered a nail-biting 2 point loss and the Thirds went down to competition front-runners Camden.
The only side to have to travel were the Under 18s, having their first hitout of the season against Manly-Warringah at Weldon. Unfortunately the ground was only closed when the Rams players and officials were well on their way to the ground, causing them major inconvenience. A very disappointing situation.
All games at Greygums Oval, except the Under 18s (Weldon Oval). All games played on Saturday, April 20.
Seniors (Div 1)
North Shore 10.9 (69) d Penrith 10.7 (67)
A North Shore goal with two minutes to go in the final term put them 10 points in front and seemingly with the game won. However the Rams took the ball straight from the resultant centre bounce and kicked a goal in response. In the final minute Penrith had two more shots on goal but behinds resulted on both occasions.
Earlier, it had been a game where both sides had extended periods of domination. On a wet ground (due to overnight rain and more rain on the day) a breeze of verying strength favoured the northern end of the ground all day. And this was where the majority of the scoring was done. First by North Shore in the opening term (resulting in a 21 point lead) and then by the Rams in the second term (where they has regained the lead by less than a kick).
The third term decided the match. North Shore kicked 5 goals, with the Rams goal coming just before the three-quarter time siren, reducing the deficit to 22 points going into the decider. Despite having all the play, the Rams could not quite bridge the gap, resulting in a heartbreaking loss.
The Rams' best were two of their younget, Patrick Pope and George Paneras, while Mick Ross kicked three goals from limited opportunities at full-forward.
Reserves (Div 3)
Penrith 11.3 (69) d Randwick City Saints 2.6 (18)
From the coach's desk:
After two successive defeats on the road it was a welcomed return to Greygums for “Old Boys Day”. The reserve grade team showed a lot of promise in the last quarter of their last game against Southern Power and were seeking to take that effort onto the field for 4 quarters.
The game started with some heavy rain and the RAMS were determined to make a positive start to the game and started full of running. There were some great wet weather skills on display by both teams with accurate kicking from the RAMS giving them the lead at quarter time. The second quarter started at a fast pace, the RAMS running players (Gatt, Doyle, Wilson, Jerzyna,Lewis & Co) were making an impression against the wind and the team really started to move the ball around efficiently. The ruck work by Geeves and Butler was very strong and proving difficult for the Saints to contain. The Saints used the wind to their advantage but some great scrambling by the RAMS back 6 led by Cummins & Kean saw a pretty even score line eventuate with 1 major a piece added for both teams.
The team was very focussed at half time and needed a big 3rd quarter to put the Saints under pressure. The rain had eased and the RAMS dominated this quarter. There was some great link play out of the back line through Triffit & Anasis with one of their combinations seeing Josh Anasis go from Centre Half Back, linking with midfielders and kicking a wonderful goal from right on the 50. This lifted the side who went on to kick 3 goals 2 behinds and kept the Saints scoreless for the quarter whilst doing so.
The last quarter saw the RAMS continue their good form and really dominated the last quarter with their run. The team finished the quarter with some great goals including another good finish by Josh “Solarium” Anasis to put the game well and truly out of reach for the Saints. The RAMS went on to kick 4 majors for the quarter whilst only conceding one point in defence. The forward trio of Jackson, Shelley & Collimore also showed lots of promise as they worked well to share the goals around (7 in total) and work hard for each other. Special mention goes to the back six Randall, Keane, Priest, Manuel, Cummins & Triffit for excellent work throughout the game. The Best on Ground for the day was Nathan Gatt who was outstanding, his second, third & fourth efforts were repeated all day and he was leading the way for others to follow. Harry Doyle was a close second. Harry showed his pace, positioning and disposal around the ground and had another positive impact for the team.
And from the team manager's department:
Saints thrown to the Penrith lion hearted
The first two weeks of the competition were disappointing for Penrith Division 3 team as they proved competitive but a lack of fitness and teamwork meant we didn’t match up against our rivals
This week though the Rams were back to their thundering best that left the Saints battered and bruised by strong contests all around the ground. The Saints kicked the first goal that was countered by Shelley in the middle stages of the quarter and then two quick goals to Jacko and Anasis in the last three minutes gave us a small lead 18 -8.
The second quarter was a tough struggle but with the Saints having the advantage of a decent breeze the Rams backline led by Cummins, Randall and Priest was able to repel many forward thrusts. The midfield was starting to look for each other and there were some good signs of improvement from previous weeks. A goal to Collimore cancelled out the Randwick goal and at half time the scores were in our favour 25 to 17 and the game still in the balance.
After half-time the true Rams spirit was on display as the team never took a backward step and every time the Saints players took possession they were hunted down and the pressure began to tell. Collimore continued to be on the end of some good passages of play and added two more while Anasis added another one. The Saints were kept scoreless and the lead had extended to 28 with Rams 45 to Saints 17.
The Rams knew that it was important to keep the momentum going and if anything the team’s efforts at the contest became even stronger with no Saints player able to get clear possession. The midfield led by Sultana, Gatt, Lewis and Doyle were running rings around their opponents and this led to the ball constantly being pushed into our forward 50. Two goals to Anasis and singles to Jackson and Collimore and only a single behind to the Saints saw us run out convincing winners 11.3. 69 to 2.6.18
A couple of incidents in the last quarter demonstrated the toughness of the Penrith players on the day. A hip and shoulder from Lucas Jerzyna could be felt all the way back in Randwick, in a contest for a mark Harry Doyle stood his ground against a bigger opponent and came off second best and poor Braydon Wilson was king hit and had most of his ear lobe detached from the rest of his ear. All these showed the difference the level of commitment makes in the end result
Goal kickers: Anasis 4, Collimore 4, Jackson 2, Shelley 1
Best: Gatt, Doyle, Cummins, Jerzyna, Lewis, Sultana
Thirds (Div 5)
Camden 10.14 (74) d Penrith 1.4 (10)
Overnight rain, and rain during the game, made life difficult for the players in the opening game of the day.
The Rams had use of what turned out to be the scoring end all day and whilst not able to secure an advantage on the scoreboard certainly had enough of the general play to go into the break only nine points down.
Their highly fancied opponents were able to boot three goals to the Rams' one in the second term, with the trend of a very even match continuing. Nevertheless the deficit had been extended to 23 points at half-time, a decisive break in the conditions.
An arm wrestle in the third term saw only the one goal scored, but Camden went into the final term with a comfortable 30 point lead and the use of the scoring end to come.
Unfortunately for Penrith, Camden were able to blow the game open with five unanswered last quarter goals, resulting in a somewhat deceptive final 64 point margin.
Dane Fysh slotted the Rams' only major, while best players were Nathan Rowley, former Under 18 Martin Pope, new players Jamie Edwards and Shane Scott, with Michael Brown and the experienced Jason Scala also performing well.
Ramettes (Sydney AFL Women)
Penrith 7.3 (45) d Randwick City Angels 0.3 (3)
On a cold and wet day, the Ramettes had their greatest hour in their short lived history. The game started in and finished in heavy rainfall, which did not dampen their determination at any stage of the game.
In a very consistent team performance where every single player performed well, there were many heroes. Jess Burnham shivering at full forward with the flu to kick 3 goals, a cold Andrea Deighton at fullback keeping the opposition goalless (who when thrown forward to warm up kicked a goal) and Nikki McNeill playing with extremely tender ribs.
The leadership shown by Kate Easthope to continue driving the Ramettes to their first win was another step in her growing reputation. In the absence of star midfielder Nat Camilleri, Nikki Perret starred in the middle, ably supported by the two wingers - if there was a Women’s Dreamtime April Green would be a first round pick. On the opposite wing first gamer Katie Jones didn’t stop running all day and should be unstoppable in the dry. In the backline Megan Vella took a lead from her sister’s effort last week, playing some hard physical football and managing to pick up the ball in wet conditions and run it out of defence, setting up many of our forward efforts, outstanding for her second ever game.
Finally, the onballers were fantastic in the harsh conditions helping to continually lock the ball in our forward half allowing the team to kick 7 goals 3 behinds in an all-round team effort. The song sung in the changes rooms was a very passionate effort, thoughts went out to those that could not be there to enjoy, due to visa restrictions, injury, work and for one lucky wet duck, holidays.
PS Thanks to those who helped run water, messages, physio, boundary and goal umpired in the torrential downpour. And well done and thanks to Randwick, who provided tough opposition in only their second official competition game.
Under 18s (Sydney AFL Div 2)
Weldon Oval unavailable due to rain
Further information re rescheduling to be advised
Last Modified on 06/05/2013 06:50