Round three saw the closure once again of Greygums Oval with the council unable to complete the cutting of the field and the potential danger of snakes, lions and tigers lurking beneath the jungle, it was a Friday afternoon decision to pack up the trucks and head to Kelso Oval at Panania to complete the five games over two days as scheduled.
First grade were to be the most affected by an unsettled squad with a rising injury list and other unavailable players in their match against Illawarra Lions. Of the 22 man team, three players were to back up on the day with Justin Eckford and Pat Pope from the 19’s and Jamie Edwards from the Div 5 match, Jamie and Justin making their first grade debuts. In coach Barry Denton’s absence, currently recruiting in Ireland, Andy Roberts and Michael Walker took over the running of the team.
On a heavy track, Illawarra dominated the first half but inaccurate kicking saw the Rams with a chance of pulling back the half time deficit of 30 points. For the second week in succession, Penrith were unable to post a major in the first half, both against relegated 2013 Premier Division teams. However they matched it with their opponents in the second half, going down by 31 points.
Jake Pianta shone out in the match with superb handling and decision making. Josh Shephard and Malen Watson, two of the smallest players but fittest on the field ran all day whilst Max McNamara and Mitch Renehan stood up to the giant Lions pack. Michael Denton was outstanding in the first half but a horrendous body clash saw him stretchered from the field and required hospital attention. Thankfully, no serious damage occurred and he was released later in the evening.
Josh Anasis (2 goals) and Adam Sharp were the goal scorers.
It’s a week off for the side who return to the paddock against Macquarie University on April 26
Div 1 – Penrith Rams 3.3-21 def by Illawarra Lions 5.22-52
Third Grade were to play the previous match at Kelso with a strong side named despite coach and leading league goal scorer Kevin “Captain” Kirk finding himself in Vegas and unable to make it back to the game, Reserves coach John Rix and Ramettes coach, Jason Bradley were to take the reins. They locked horns against Moorebank Magpies, a spirited team of experienced players. After a record 2-0 start to the season, the Rams started well and had a handy eight goal lead at the long break. They went on with the job in the final two quarters in posting a big 108 point win to make it three on the trot.
Tayt Corless went OK in the midfield, occasionally wandering up forward and claimed nine for the match, taking over the leading kicker spot. Coach Kirk relayed via satellite from the MGM Grand that Corless with be a key back man for the side on his return. Dane “Fingers” Fysh proved the hard man of the side with a great display and with the absence of Jason “Parrot” Makin, no shower incidents were reported. Jamie Edwards played a pivotal role before being dragged in the second half and ordered to back up in the ones match whilst Ryan Sipple stood out in his third AFL match, Tim Hutton dominated the ruck and a sprightly Rick Allen recorded his second win of the day after his 19’s team earlier belted out the song with a strong display up front to keep the thirsty thirds unbeaten record intact.
Along with the well-bred Corless’ 9 goals, league recruit Steve Jenkins booted four, Fysh found the radar with three whilst Gav Kirk chimed in with a double as the Rams multiple scorers.
Div 5 Penrith Rams 22.15-147 def Moorebank Magpies 5.9-39
Under 19’s struggled for numbers but with the help of St Clair Crows juniors, quality players were able to fill the void in their match against Moorebank Magpies. Coach Rick Allen reports:
RAMS U19s Match Report 12 April 2014 vs Moorebank Magpies at Kelso Oval
After another rain affected week which left the Greygums International Sports Stadium partially under water, the Rams home games were shifted to Kelso Oval, Panania. Given the weekend also signalled the start of the Easter period it was not surprising that we had a number of players away. We were again very fortunate to receive great support from the ST Clair Junior Club who provided several U/17 players to help fill the void along with first grader Pa t Pope who put his hand up to play for us in the early game despite having to line up later in the day for first grade. So a big thankyou to ST Clair and Popey, their support enabled us to field 18 players on the day.
Without any interchange and facing an opposition fielding a full compliment of players we knew we would be in for a hard game in what were reasonably heavy conditions with a wet, heavy and slippery ball. Although in general play the first quarter appeared quite even the young Rams made better use of their scoring opportunities to take a handy 11 point lead into the first break.
From there it was a very close and hard fought affair with the difference in scores being no more than a goal for the majority of the next three quarters. In spite of the slippery conditions both sides had displayed some great skills and passages of play throughout the game. But it was the Rams who showed greater composure at the end of the game to come up with the match winning goal with 4 minutes remaining on the clock. That goal was set up by a clever off the ground cross from deep in the left forward pocket by Patrick Pope which was slammed through for a goal off the ground by young St Clair under 17 goal sneak Michael Papageorgiou, ( in a play that was reminiscent of a Man United Van Percy cross to Wayne Rooney). Those last 4 minutes were tense but handled with great maturity by the Rams who bottled play up on the opposition’s half forward line for the final few minutes.
Having lead for most of the game it was a well-deserved victory made even the more courageous and meritorious by the fact we had no interchange. A big thankyou to rover Dylan Nelson, who bravely played out the final quarter of the match in the forward line, after sustaining a leg injury. On a day when there were truly 18 players that all contributed incredible four quarter efforts, Connor Owen-Auburn, Nick Green and Nathaniel Brew stood out through the midfield, Zac Pianta and Justin Eckford were strong all day changing between defence and midfield, whilst Jeremy Rix became a key factor in the ruck providing first use of the footy to our midfield. Pat Pope was pivotal in setting up a number of attacks including that game sealer at the end and Immanuel Papageorgiou played a great game sweeping across half back.
Thank you to Jeff Ryan, Dave Nolan, Greg Corless, the water runners and anyone else I’ve neglected to mention for their help and support. And a special thanks to Alison Claxton for a great piece of coaching advice – it worked a treat!
With no game on this weekend due to the Easter break training will continue as normal on Wednesday night 6:30 – 8pm. Please make the effort to get there if you can, as we still have plenty of work to do in preparation for our away game against MacquarieUniversity the following week.
Penrith Rams
Goal Kickers: M. Papageorgiou 2, D. Nelson 2, N. Brew , E. Calear-King , P. Pope
Best Players: C. Owen-Auburn, P. Pope, J. Rix, N. Green, I. Papageorgiou, N. Brew
A brighter day on Sunday greeted us at our new home ground, the pitch holding up well after the previous days play, but a strong wind from the south was to make the northern end the scoring end. The Ramettes, after a scratchy first up win over Auburn Giants the previous week, were to take on league newcomers, Gosford Wildcats. With a full squad of 24 players, the girls came out of the gates impressively, conjuring up two quick goals with the wind in the opening minutes against a very athletic but inexperienced Gosford outfit. At the first quarter ending siren, it was the Ramettes holding a 29 point lead. The Gosford girls showed character in the second term, scoring an opening point and negating some good moves by Penrith. They managing to keep the two flags attached to the goalposts, with the Ramettes only able to increase their lead by a single point with two minor scores. However, with the strengthening wind at their backs in the third quarter, the home team added another four goals and a final session 2 goal haul saw them run out convincing 71 points winner to jump to the top of the league ladder.
Highlights of the day were the slick handballs, accurate chips and ferocious shepharding. Gosford look likely to develop into a very good outfit in future and did themselves proud.
Nikki “Killer” Perrett (1 goal) stood out with a brilliant display in the midfield with great decision-making and evasive skills along with fellow blondes Stephanie “The Stephanator” Kostic (1 goal) with her huge hits and pack busting prowess and Bryony “I don’t know a Tayt” Corless (1 goal) up front who played her best game to date and was the recipient of the OD’s Dinner. Justine “Juzzy” Vella played her usual outstanding game whilst Ash Grosas (1 goal) came back strongly after being “coat-hangered” in a tackle to be amongst the thick of things with Simone Halse proving valuable in the win. A special mention to former St Clair Crows junior, Jessie Burnham, who revelled up front in scoring a Ramettes record haul of five majors which sees her just one goal short of the top league goal-scorers. The other goal scorer was Lauren Hazell, who was later to watch her father, Dave, play his first game for the Rams before they took the long trip home to Dubbo.
With a week off, the team resumes at Trumper Park on April 26 when they play the strong UTS Shamrocks, who will be intent on turning the tables on their finals loss last year in extra time to the Ramettes
Penrith Ramettes 10.12-72 def Gosford Wildcats 0.1-1
It was up to the Reserve Grade to finish the weekend on a high when they faced up against their 2012 Div 4 grand final combatants, Gosford. With 10 different players from last week’s team running onto the park, it was going to be the team’s toughest match after winning their previous two. Gosford were without their captain (injured) and two key players from their 2012 grand final loss, but still produced a quality side.
With the wind at their back in the first stanza of play, the Rams were disappointing despite many opportunities, able to only post a single goal (7 behinds) to their opponents equally frustrating four single pointers. They commenced the second term better with two quick goals into the wind, but the Wildcats weren’t to be denied and dominated with four quick replies to hold a 2 point lead at the long break.
Penrith came out with better use of the wind in the third quarter, amassing five, whilst a Gosford goal saw their hopes very much alive, needing 26 points to catch up in the final 22 minutes, a task that was easily gettable with the conditions. However, their big pack was to tire, adding just 1.1 whilst the Rams chimed in with two to take the match by 34 and sing the song for the third time in the three matches played.
Mitch Reinhard made a strong return after missing last week’s match, Dan Smyth again brilliant and in line for a first grade spot along with Ben “Where’s my boots mum” Mayer. Alex Tonkin, matt Cummins and Nato Wright also performed well. Dave Hazell made it a double for the family, coming in off the bench and showing good skills in his Rams debut, but a bit less pace than his drive from Dubbo the previous day. Dane Fysh and Jarrod Dowton both backed up from the previous day and were impressive. Nato Wright, Mitch Stevens, Rick Ooms and an accurate (cough, cough) were the multiple scorers with two apiece.
Div 3 - Penrith Rams 10.17-77 def Gosford Wildcats 6.7-43
Last Modified on 15/09/2014 08:38