CLUB NEWS, Qualifying Final, 1st September 2001
Skipton Reserves versus Carngham Linton @ Avoca
"Red and White Ramblings"JUNIOR FOOTBALL REPORT
With the counting of the Best & Fairest votes and the presentation of the awards by former AFL coach Tom Hafey last Thursday night, our Junior footballer's season has come to an end. With only six wins the team has failed to make the finals for the first time in three years. Although disappointing for the team there is a need to understand what the situation is. Junior Football has a tendency to work in cycles where after a couple of years the older boys move on leaving a young and developing group to carry on. This has certainly been the case this Season.
At the beginning of the season it was apparent that there was going to be a shortage of numbers and that there was a desperate need to recruit players. On several occasions we were only able to field 12 - 15 players and it was necessary to use players from the opposition Clubs to make up the numbers. To the credit of our Junior Chairperson, Tony Slater, their Manager, Michael Sturgeon and in particular their Coach Dean Sheridan players were recruited and by the end of the Season we were able to field a full team. In fact 22 players represented our Club this year with the average just under 15.
Throughout the Season there has been an obvious development and improvement in the players. As their confidence grew grew so did the team's performance. In the second half they were defeating teams that they lost to early in the year. On a number of occasions they were more than competitive against sides that were higher on the ladder that had beaten them by large margins in the first rounds. Dean Sheridan as Coach certainly deserves a great deal of credit for this along with the players who remained committed and kept on doing their best week after week.
Although volunteers were few it is important to thank those who did assist the Club during the Season. We extend our appreciation to Michael Sturgeon (Runner), Greg Meek (Central Umpire), Paddy Kavanagh (Goal Umpire), Jeff Martin (Time Keeper), Tony Slater (Trainer), and Allan Heywood (Water Carrier) and to all the other people who assisted in some way.
The Junior Section plays a very important role and is an important part in the future of our Club. Of the sixty-two players who played in either the Senior side or in the Reserves in 2001, twenty-eight have played Juniors with Skipton. In the past two years six of our 1999 Junior Runners-Up team have been selected in our Senior team, including Dane Court and Adam Slater who played in their first Season out of the Juniors this year. The others are Bill Molloy, Scott Fletcher, Joseph Kavanagh and Michael Browning.
Scott Davis, Andrew Dowling, Craig Irving, David Martin and David Tayler all move onto Senior football next year. We wish them all the best and will be watching their careers closely.
The following were the Award winners for the Season:
* Best & Fairest: Ben Slater
* Best & Fairest Runner-Up: Daniel Grist
* Best First Year: Scott Bradshaw
* Most Improved: David Martin
* Most Dedicated: Michael Kavanagh
* Most Consistent: Ben Slater
* Coach's Award: Stephen Lodge
* Club Award: Michael Slater & Sam Dowling
It is very important to recognise Tony Slater and Michael Sturgeon for their commitment throughout the Season. Sometimes working under very difficult circumstances they were determined that Junior football at our Club was not neglected. As we said at the beginning the Junior's runs in cycles and we hope that their efforts are rewarded in 2002.
Finally a special thanks to all the Junior players who assisted the Club by running the boundary for our games during the Season. By accepting this responsibility it made the presentation of the games each week a lot easier and we certainly appreciated the efforts made by the boys.
PRESENTATION NIGHT: Presentation Night for the Senior football and netball teams will be held on Friday, 5th October. More details will be announced shortly.
SENIOR FOOTBALL: Our Seniors play Carngham Linton in the Second Semi-Final at Rokewood next Saturday.
RESERVES FOOTBALL: Skipton 8 - 8 - 56 were defeated by Carngham Linton 9 - 11 - 65
Despite being lead for most of the game our Reserves had every opportunity in the final quarter to win the Qualifying Final against Carngham Linton at Avoca last Saturday.
The first two quarters were even although Skipton was allowing the opposition to gain a break at the beginning of each quarter and then having to work hard to make the difference.
A disappointing third quarter saw them down by twenty-two points at three-quarter time. Desperate play saw them able to take the lead midway through the last quarter. A number of opportunities to increase the lead were lost with poor kicking at goal. Two quick goals in the last few minutes of the game saw Carngham regain the lead and they were able to hold on until the final siren.
Luke Milenkovic led the way with desperate play throughout the game. He was well supported by Gavan Corbett at centre half-back along with Grant Carmody and Scott Fletcher who continually ran the ball into attack. Chris Shelton was strong in the ruck and he was well supported by Bill Molloy.
The loss means that the Reserves will now play in the First Semi-Final at Natte Bealiba next Sunday.
Goalkickers: S. Fletcher 3, J. Gibson 3, J. Milenkovic 1, M. Smith 1
SENIOR NETBALL Seniors will play in the Second Semi-Final at Rokewood next Saturday.
RESERVES NETBALL Skipton 28 defeated Ararat Eagles 21
In their best performance of the Season our Reserves netball team won their way into the Second Semi-Final to be played at Rokewood next Saturday.
Playing against the Ararat Eagles who had defeated them twice during the Season the girls lifted under the pressure of the finals and lead throughout the game to run out winners 28 goals to 21. Next week they will play the top team Lexton who they drew with in the first round of the Season and lost to by six goals in the second round.
JUNIOR NETBALL
Under 17's: Skipton 7 lost to Carngham Linton 18
Our Under 17 girls unfortunately struggled against a stronger Carngham Linton and were defeated 18 goals to 7. All is not lost as they have another opportunity next Sunday in the First-Semi at Natte Bealiba.
Under 14's: Skipton 17 lost to Carngham Linton 20
In a very exciting game in which the lead continually changed in the first three quarters, our Under 14 Netballers were finally defeated by three goals. The final scores were 17 to 20.
This loss means that the Season is over for the girls but the improvement they have shown throughout the year is a credit to them all and to Katherine Gillespie their Coach.
ELIMINATION FINAL RESULTS at Skipton
FOOTBALL RESULTS - Sunday 2.9.2001
Seniors: Rokewood Corindhap 17-10-112 def Illabarook 13 - 11 -89
Reserves: Lexton 15-11-101 def Illabarook 9-7-61
Under 16's: Navarre 16-5-101 def Illabarook 8-8-56
NETBALL RESULTS - Sunday 2.9.2001
Seniors: Natte Bealiba 45 def Lexton 42
Reserves: Carngham Linton 40 def Natte Bealiba 26
Under 17's: Illabarook 29 def Lexton 16
Under 14's: Skipton 17 lost to Illabarook 20
"The Roving Rambler'
