2022 Lions U17.5 Premiers!
Hay Lions Under 17s faced Ultima Kangaroos to fight for the premiership. After a blinder of a season, and having defeated the Roos twice earlier in the season, no doubt the Lions were confident, but playing for much higher stakes this time.
Getting first use of a strong wind, Lions kicked the first of the day through Dan Jamieson, but were a little wasteful early after that initial goal. The midfield was getting their hands on the footy, with Daniel Stewart and Jensen Hargraves both dangerous early, and Archie Houston on the move up forward.
While the Lions kicked four for the quarter, inaccuracy kept Ultima in the game and the Roos struck late to kick two goals into the wind.
While the Lions took a three-goal lead into the quarter time break and were in front on the scoreboard they knew they had a fight on their hands as they had not got full use of the wind.
The second quarter saw the Lions lift with the defence in particular rebounding numerous Ultima attacks.
Kenny Hargreaves and Tom McLean, the generals down back took numerous intercept possessions and kept Ultima at bay while both Will Sloan and Josh Gardiner had strong quarters getting their heads over the footy and fighting for every position in the back line.
Tom Davies forward of the footy worked hard to provide an option as did Bailey Caughey who both kept the Ultima defenders working overtime.
While the Lions were unable to kick a goal into the wind, they limited Ultimas scoring to just the one goal and kept themselves in front at half time with narrow two goal lead.
The third quarter, the premiership quarter, saw Ultima come out of the blocks hard and kick the first goal of the quarter into the wind putting the boy under the pump.
This shook the Lions leaders and they responded in emphatic fashion as they ran harder and got their hands on the footy and took control of the ball out of the centre and through the midfield.
Jack Tapper in the ruck began to dominate taps and around the ground. Isaac Gardiner was thrown forward and responded with a goal immediately to provide a great impetus for the team. Jacob Lund went back and had an impact along with Jacob Serukalou rebounding anything that threatened to move over halfway.
The midfield, led by Jack Headon gathered possessions at will and started to hit the scoreboard with Jack leading the way as he kicked three goals for the quarter including an 80-metre torpedo out of the square. Finn Cullenward and Lane Griffiths showed their experience and cleverness as they gathered numerous touches and found targets into the forward 50.
Up forward Brad Callaghan was proving a nightmare for the Roo defenders as he led strongly and marked with clean hands, while Max Hutchings and Henry Moloney both helped contain the ball in the Hay forward line and help the Lions hit the scoreboard as a result.
The three-quarter time score saw the Lions in the ascendancy, leading by 10 goals having put Ultima to the sword in the premiership quarter.
Last quarter saw Ultima respond with the first two goals, however they were unable to keep the momentum, as the Hay leaders took control of the match and prevented Ultima from getting their hands on the football.
While they didn’t score, Lions were able to hold position and territory for long periods of the last quarter.
The victory is an outstanding result for the boys and their coaches Brett Hargreaves and Brad Pocock, who have done a great job getting the best out of the boys.
The win was ultimately a dominant performance reflecting the strength of the team throughout the year.
Hay 12.20.92 defeated Ultima 6.7.43.
Goal kickers: Jack Headon 5, Daniel Stewart 2, Brad Callaghan, Tom Davies, Isaac Gardiner, Lane Griffiths, Dan Jamieson. Better players: Jack Tapper, Jensen Hargreaves, Jack Headon, Daniel Stewart, Brad Callaghan, Tom Davies.
