Round 4, Kalamunda V’ Melville at Ray Owen Oval
The Cougars would have been on-guard regarding this match, due to past tough encounters with Melville and their current position having beaten Thornlie and Carlisle and losing to second top side Swan Athletic by 26 points in round 2.
Coach Bolton realising that ANZAC day fell on a training day organised early training for the squad followed by a ‘Conference’ which was well attended.
This event proved to be beneficial as the Cougars were able to match the first quarter blitz Melville attempted to unleash, only to be repulsed by a very determined backline led by Ethan Faulds.
Their effort forced Melville to kick 2.5 for the quarter despite having the ball in their forward line for the best part of the quarter. The Cougars then responded by kicking 1.3 into a slight breeze to blunt Melville’s attack.
The second quarter commenced with an open forward line allowing Skipper Trent Pottinger, Leo lambert, Max Fasolo and Jack Jago to run into space through great ruck work by Cormac White to score 4.4 to lead by 10 points at half time.
It was becoming apparent in the third term that the Cougars fierce tackling over the first half was slowing Melville’s reaction time and tiring their big men.
They were unable to break free and play their running game as the Cougars harried their every move, forcing them to kick only 1.1 for the quarter with the aid of the breeze.
They were also forced to do a lot of chasing as the Cougars piled on 4.3 for the term with Josh Harris making a welcome return with 2 goals and Jackson Bowen and Cooper Boyd adding goals.
The last quarter saw the Cougars take complete charge of the game and boot 5.2 to Melville’s solitary point to run out winners by 59 points.
This was a first rate team effort with all members participating, making our supporters and coach Bolton very happy and looking forward to the future.
Final scores: Kalamunda: 14.9 – 93, Melville 4.10 – 34
Best players: Team effort
Goals: Trent Pottinger 4, Josh Harris 4, Leo Lambert 2, 1 each to Jackson Bowen, Joel Peters, Tyler Mouritz and Cooper Boyd.
Thanks to Ian Eldred for the great photos
C1 Coach Chris Bolton
A glorious day of football awaited the Cougars as they returned to the Mountain for our second home game of the year against a Melville side that is predicted to be a contender come the end fo the season. WIth some forced changes and the return of the travelling Josh Harris, the Cougars were set to field a strong side with an increased confidence on their game style as well as the cohesion continuing to grow.
Thanks to Rob Gordon and Rob Parker for stepping in for pre game duties whilst I tended to some family matters, it’s comforting to know the group are well placed for these unforeseen circumstances.
In what appears to be a consistent theme at the moment the Cougars were a little slow to engage in the contest, allowing Melville high possession and scoring opportunities during the first quarter. The group rallied well, forcing the Rams to take shots from low percentage areas whilst also managing to stay in touch at the first break, trailing by 8 points.
After some gentle reminders at the break about how we want to play, the Cougars demonstrated strength, fitness, discipline and adherence to the game plan. This began to demonstrate the ball movement we have been training for, as well as taking an ascendency at the contest. We also slowed Melville’s ball movement, forcing them to take long kicks which played into our strategy well. The Cougar men then piling on 4.3 for the quarter, with goals to Josh Harris, Jackson Bowen and Cooper Boyd setting the team up for what could become a big second half.
After a reset of our focus at half time, as well as some structural changes from a defensive perspective, we set the goal of stepping up the pressure and further executing our expansive ball movement on the bigger Ray Owen ground.
The team well and truly stepped up to this challenge with Trent Pottinger enjoying his relatively new role up fwd. He couldn’t seem to miss the goals, kicking 4 for the game in a best on ground display. The miserly defensive unit was on show, limiting the Rams to just two scoring shots for the quarter as the Cougars took a 5 goal advantage into three qtr. time.
Seeing an opportunity to be ruthless against a tiring opposition, the Cougars went to another level in the final quarter and as the game opened up even more. Their ball movement was something to behold as they dominated possession and found forwards at will. The defensive unit intercepted every entry with precision and kicked off our transition ball movement, exposing the corridor and far wing.
The offence from defence was a highlight of the day, with Ethan Faulds, Ethan Olsen and Ben Dupont regularly setting up our forward movement, finding the likes of Jago, Pottinger, Paduano at ease, who were then able to deliver the ball with precision to leading forwards.
This was the sort of game style we have been striving for and it was so pleasing to see it happen in a game. The Cougars kicked away in the final quarter, kicking a further 5.1 to Melville’s 0.1 and running our 59pt winners.
Better players on the day were Trent Pottinger, Cristiano Paduano, Jackson Bowen, Josh Harris, Ethan Faulds and Ethan Olsen with Jayden Wood being awarded the coveted Players Player for his endeavor and demonstration of Club values in his role on the wing.
Thanks again to all supporters, sponsors and volunteers. A big game against Mosman Park this weekend at the earlier start time of 1.10pm.
See you at the footy, Bolts
Colts bounce back …
With a key focus on keeping it simple and getting the basics right the Colts started the first quarter playing Cougars footy, keeping Melville scoreless!
The second quarter saw a lapse in focus and intensity with Melville creating four scoring opportunities.
After the main break the Cougars group came together and applied the pressure for the second half, coming home in the further quarter with a 5 goal term.
Some scrappy skill execution saw Melville with a few chances in the fourth quarter, Kalamunda however, were able to keep them goalless on the day.
Notable performances from Lys, De Gas and Ash through the middle, working hard back to intercept, whilst still being involved in chains in the forward half.
Up forward Kayel Ascoli provided a great forward target, getting a number of looks at goal and we welcomed Ram and Kingy in, who provided a heap of forward pressure in the front half.
The back six held strong all day, reflected by keeping the Rams goalless at full time.
We will go to work on skill execution and transition from A to D during the week, with a great test this weekend against Manning away. Cheers, Damo
Courageous win in Women’s Round 2 V’s Coolbellup …
‘The Wrap’
After a dominate win in round 1 our ladies were under no illusions that we would need to play even better against a talented Coolbellup side last Saturday.
The opposition with the help of a strong breeze, were a bit better hunting the ball, and had some strong skillful forwards, which meant the ball rarely made the Cougars forward 50m for the entire first stanza!
Our determined group of ladies then held on to limit Coolbellup to just one major score! The breeze died off and Coolbellup were still the better side for most of the second qtr.
At half time, we discussed the need to welcome these hard, arm wrestle type games, as that’s what finals look like and women’s footy has its own down to the wire consistency!
In the 3rd the tussle remained tight and we went into the last break still down…
BUT!!!! Our ladies never gave up, got harder around the ball, our backline defended like their lives depended on it, our ruck and mid’s went non stop, and our forwards helped lock the ball in our forward 50m to get us a couple of good chances.
With about 6 minutes to go, a captain’s goal from Grace Allison put us in front for the first time in the match and the girls courageously held on to win by 4 points!
This weeks awards:
Best on Ground: Holly Touchell
2nd Best: Juliet Clark
3rd Best: Tia Miller
4th Best: Channy Myburgh (And Players player)
Special thanks to Brayden Becker who took the girls training Thursday night while I was unwell and thank you to Jackson for being our runner.
Once again, I’m super proud of this group of ladies and excited for what can be possible in 2024 and beyond ! We will be working hard all week to make sure we prepare for a Scarborough team coming off a big win this weekend! Regards, Mathew Aitchison
Other results from round 4
B Reserves – Kalamunda: 10.8 – 68, Melville: 5.4 – 34
E2 All Stars – Kalamunda: 9.14 – 68, Bullcreek Leeming: 8.9 – 57
Cougar C1 Ladies – Kalamunda: 4.7 – 31, Forrestdale: 2.1 – 13
IDC Colts – Kalamunda: 10.11 – 71, Melville: 0.6 – 6
Stop Press: See the Alex Haight report for round 4 in This Weeks Topic
Next C1 game: Round 5, Saturday 4 May 2024, V’s Mosman Park at Tom Perrott Reserve. 01:10PM
This post is dedicated to, Mining & Hydraulic Supplies, proud sponsors of the Kalamunda ‘Cougars’ Football Club.
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