University Football Club

Finals

A Colts v Collegians (Grand Final)

After what seemed an eternity the weekend finally approached and it was time to continue the great rivalry between University and Collegians A Colts. Collegians started better having the first two shots on goal only to result in two points. Uni slowly regained the ascendency and kick the first goal of the game via Alex Trombetta. That would remain the only goal of the first quarter as Uni could not convert their forward entry's into goals whilst a couple of rushed behinds made the score Uni 7, Collegians 4. This was the 5^th straight quarter we kept collegians goalless.

The second quarter remained a congested slog as both teams struggled on the bigger sized ground of Leederville Oval kicking one goal apiece for the majority of the quarter. However with five minutes to go two late goals to Uni via Alex Trombetta who kicked our first 3 goals and Jarryd Stewart's effort running into the open goal opened up a handy 15 point half time lead to Uni.

We came out very confident in the third quarter and had a large majority of possession but could not put on any scoreboard pressure. Collegians were dropping loose men back in defence and we could no longer hit any forward targets. However a horrific leg injury to Mitch Cattlins resulted in the boys understandably losing momentum, collegians capitalising kicking two goals to reduce the margin in less than a kick at the last change.

In an epic final quarter two ?questionable' umpiring decisions saw Collegians kick two goals form the top of the goal square and another from a mark after a ?questionable decision'. Both goals from the goal square the Collegians player kicked the ball over the fence at Leederville to waste time. With 9 minutes on the clock Robbie Delroy managed to kick a clever goal from the pack giving the Uni boys a sniff. With Sarge rucking all day, combining with the Cloone Dog Uni managed to start dominating the clearances and the Cloone Dog managed to sneak forward and kick a spectacular goal on the run with 5 minutes remaining. With collegians up by a point the ball entered our forward 50, and not for the first time this year Rory the Rocket ran onto the loose ball, took a bounce and slotted the goal on the run from twenty metres out and almost caused the grandstand to collapse. The last 2 minutes was frenetic with both teams out on their feet but our backline held strong and with Uni having a shot on goal in the final minute the clock ran down, followed by a stampede of supporters and Uni captured their 72^nd Premiership in another Grand Final Classic leaving Collegians to lament their time wasting antics....

Best Players: Corey Smith was awarded the Fish Taylor Medal, Dacry Thompson, Sarge, Cloone Dog, Josh Taylor, Alex Trombetta, Sam Moyle, Blake Dunkeld

E Reserve v CBC (Grand Final)

On Saturday the 12th of September 2009, the UFC E Reserves team, affectionately known as the Dingoes set out to make history. Playing in their fourth grand final in a row, the Dingoes were out to become the 5th University team ever and the first 4th grade University team to win three consecutive premierships. Adding to the hype, the Dingoes faced CBC for a third year in a row. Played at Ferndale Park in Lynwood, the game was subject to trying conditions, with heavy overnight rain making the track very heavy. A strong south westerly wind added to the difficult conditions, making skill execution and goal kicking very difficult.

The Dingoes started well, kicking with the aid of the breeze. Their work rate was high and they dominated possession, however they were unable to put it on the scoreboard. Inaccurate kicking took its toll, with the dingoes up 1.4 10 to 1.0 6 at quarter time. The second term was another arm wrestle, with the half time score 3.6 to 3.1. The wind seemed not to be a factor in the scoring, and the game was being played at a high level of intensity.

Unfortunately the 3rd term followed the lead of the first, with the Dingoes really struggling to put their field dominance on the scoreboard. By 3/4 time the dingoes held a three point lead, 4.10 to 5.1, with inaccurate kicking almost costing them the lead. The fourth quarter was a real spectacle, keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats. Two goals into the breeze and a dominant possession game through the midfield ensured the dingoes were in front by the final siren. The final score ended with the UFC 6.11 47 vs. CBC 6.2 38. A nine point victory to ensure their 3rd flag in a row.

A feature of the win was the even performance of entire 22 Dingoes players. Everyone played with real intensity and stood up to the occasion, which is a testimony to their ability and team work. Best on ground honours for the day were shared by Wooda and Philthy phil. Wooda also received the umpire's award for best on ground, while philthy Phil won the $8 medal for the best UFC player on the ground as judged by $8 himself. Other good players were Sammy the squid, the boom recruit, smokes, Eddie the boss, stralow and the stat man.

Celebrations lasted 3 days, with two of the three ground rules for the weekend broken. Luckily the only rule still intact is the famous Chas Gow policy of "no deaths". With everyone in one piece, it's onto season 2010 and a stint at 4 in a row!!!

A Colts v Collegians (Second Semi Final)

We had the luxury of the week off this week, so the coaches were apprehensive too see how the boys would respond as the week off and top spot was unfamiliar to any recent finals series for University A Colts. Collegians won the toss, and kicked with a strong wind and signalled the start of a very congested, physical and exhaustive game of football. Collegians failed to kick a goal in the fist quater due to our backline withstanding many forward attempts whilst the midfield under specific orders this week ran very defensive to help out. With minutes on the clock Uni, via the boot of Blake Dunkeld managed to kick the only first quarter goal and take the momentum into quarter time.

Kicking with the wind in the second quarter we managed to take control through the midfield and resulted in Uni kicking 4 goals whilst again keeping Collegians goalless. With the boys expecting Collegians to come out hungry, the third quarter was to be our most important for the game. To the boys credit we managed to again outscore Collegians into the wind, kicking 2 opportunistic goals and again keeping Collegians scoreless.

With a 7 goal lead in the last quarter the sting went out of the game and we were only able to kick 2 gaols with the wind and with some tense moments at the end managed to keep Collegians goalless for the match, a great effort by the entire backline. We are now into the grand final and await the winner of the Collegains v TA's this weekend. We hope to see our support on the day!

Best Players: Will Higham, Jack Lucas, Peter McGinnity, Nicholas Haslam, Blake Dunkeld, Brett Millman, Mitch Cattlins.

C Colts v Trinity Aquinas (Preliminary Final)

With a spot in the gf up for grabs it was always going to be a tough day at the office for the gulls. Things weren't looking good from the very start with a heavy downpour during the warm up a sign of things to come, and not a good sign for the gulls.

The game began at a fast pace but our inability to get first hands on the ball and the crucial clearance despite our domination in the ruck meant that we were soon on the back foot. The boys stood up to the early TA's attacks to hold onto a 1 goal to 4 behinds lead at qtr time. Somehow we managed to extend this lead due to a number of factors including TA's innaccuracies in front of the sticks. The half time break saw us leading by little more than a goal despite having played some of our worst footy for the season.

The second half saw TA's click into gear and begin to convert their opportunities and as a result punish us on the scoredboard taking a narrow lead into the 3 qtr time break. Despite the best efforts of the boys our season came to a premature end against a very focused and determined TA's side.

It was a dissapointing way to finish the season but this shouldn't take away from the way the boys played all year. The boys played well all year to finish 3rd at the end of the H&A rounds only to knock off NB in the first round of the finals. They then took it right up to a strong collegians outfit in the 2nd semi.

It's been great fun coaching all the boys this year and we look foward to seeing them all down at the illustriuos c-colts vote count.

E Reserve v North Fremantle (Second Semi Final)

Saturday saw the Dingoes first run in their "three-peat" finals campaign. The venue was a sunny Forster Park and the opposition was a pumped up North Fremantle. The first quarter was a bit of an arm wrestle with both sides coming out firing in attempt to stamp their ascendancy early on in the game. Goals were kicked at both ends of the ground, however the Dingoes kicking into a stiff breeze managed to kick two more than North Fremantle and went into the break with their heads held high.

The second quarter proved to be the toughest of the game as North Fremantle, sensing they might be over run, threw everything at the Dingoes. The Dingoes back six were put under a multitude of pressure, however as they have done all season, they held strong with the Dingoes midfielders pushing back hard to assist them. Two quick goals in succession from Swanny allowed the Dingoes to go into the half time break with their heads held high having managed to win both quarters.

In the third quarter the Dingoes forwards started to fire up. Wooda, who had been presenting hard all day, starting to assert his dominance on the game with the likes of Macca, Bully and Game Plan all getting their hands on a bit of the pill. Slats the stats man and Sammy the Squid were starting to become very influential through the middle, ably assisted by Bossy and Digger, the latter consistently putting his body on the line and taking some very hard hits. North Fremantle began to crumble all over the ground in a quarter which was by far the Dingoes best. One minor blemish was when Simmo got sent off in a moment of madness, that cost him fifteen long, lonely minutes on the bench.

The last quarter was a mere formality and when Smokes kicked a beautiful goal from fifty metres out the Dingoes knew their dreams of three grand finals in a row had come to fruition. To their credit they kept on battling hard, maintaining the pressure on a deflated North Fremantle, and piling on the goals. Best for the day were Georgie, Labrat, Philthy, Sticks, Cat, Gazelle, Swanny, Smokes, The Boss, Wooda, Gameplan, Boom, Hub, Bully, Macca, Stralow, Simmo, Digger, Squid, Clap, Stats and Lor. A great all round performance from a team that goes into the grand final full of confidence and determination.

UFC 14 10 94 North Freo 4 2 26

Goals = 3 Wooda, 2 Swannee, Slats & Bully, 1 Digger, Game Plan, Macca, Boss & Smokes

Votes: 5 Wooda 4 Squid 3 Stralow/Slats 2 Boss/Simmo 1 Swannee

C Colts vs Collegians (Second Semi Final)

The C-gulls played arch rivals Collegians for a spot in the grandy and a week off on Saturday. In a gallant effort the boys took the game right up to an undefeated collegians side only to go down 9.10 to 4.6. The difference being Collegians ability to score when they controlled the game in the first and last qtrs. For the UFC an impressive third qtr saw the margin reduced to 2.3 from a 4.6 deficit at the long break.

A very good team effort with great performances from all the usual suspects. This week we play TA's who knocked off North Beach to send them out in straight sets. With a spot in the gf on the line a cracking game can be expected down at Forster Park.

C Colts vs North Beach (Qualifying Final)

On Saturday the c-gulls traveled up to north beach for the first qualifying final. The game promised to be a close affair with the only comparable game during the season seeing the gulls run out winners by 17 points. The game began evenly with the first five minutes seeing the ball stay between the two 50m arcs with the attack on the ball and tackling by the c-colters seeing them steadily gain the ascendancy and the first two goals, both going to b-rock. Tommahawk made a brilliant impression upon the beach with his bump and tackle- followed by some genuine intimidation as he let out a long yeahhhhhhhhhhhh, got you now, yeahhhhhhhh. This riled up all the players on the ground and the game continued in this way fro most of the first half. With about 5 minutes left in the second qtr, nb stole two quick goals whilst we missed a golden opportunity in our goal square. This patch of play cost us a more siignificant lead at half time. The break saw the beach come in with their tails up and uni with a 7 point half time lead, less then what we deserved.

The second half begun in much the same way as the first, with uni eventually getting the first goal. the boys were able to hold off sustained attacks from nb to hold onto a 10 point lead at 3 qtr time. The final qtr saw nb and the c-colts trade blows as the boys managed to run out to a 18 point lead. This proved to be enough as we finished the game winners 44 to 32. There were many contributors across the day but mentions need to go to bails, maddog, vauxy, wes and brock.

The final score 6-8-44 to 5-2-32 suggests that we deserved to win by more with poor kicking by us compared to good kicking at goal from the beach keeping the score tighter. A big game this week against an undefeated collegians side at dalkeith oval. With uni the only side that has looked like beating this side all year (albeit in round 1) I'd encourage everyone to get down to daleith oval to see the c-gulls play for a spot in the grandy.