Round 7, Ballajura V’s Kalamunda at Kingfisher Park
The Cougars were determined to atone for their surprise loss against Mosman Park last week in round 6 and had made changes to their side through injury and sickness to meet the ‘Royals’ on their home ground.
The last time these sides met was back in 2022 in round 10, where the Cougars won by 5 points at Kingfisher Park in a ‘nail-biter’.
This game was significant as it marked Bret van Groningen’s 200th game for the club.
A special tribute to ‘Dutchie’s’ career can be found in Alex Haight’s report in This Weeks Topic in the menu section of this blog.
The Cougars started the first quarter well by kicking two goals through Kaiden Pisani and Tyler Mouritz before the Royals steadied and kicked their first through veteran Jayden Valenti.
The Cougars continued to use the ball accurately throughout the quarter to keep the Royals backs under pressure. This caused them to make mistakes when coming out of defence, allowing Blake Thomas, Trent Pottinger and Reg Jones to dominate around the centre and send the ball back into attack to lead by 26 points at the first break.
Coach Bolton would have been pleased with the team’s endeavour in this quarter as it became apparent early in the game, the Royals were going to ‘rough’ the Cougars up to put them off their game plan.
Jackson Bowen snapped a quick goal to start the second term which provided the lead the Cougars needed, to go on and kick another 6 goals through open run-on football. The Royals could only manage a single goal for the quarter and the ‘writing was on the wall’ regarding the outcome of this match,
In the third quarter it began to rain lightly making conditions slippery. Nevertheless, Cormac White was having an influence in the centre toss-ups allowing the Cougars to keep breaking away to score another 4 goals.
The Royals continued with their physical assault to score another 2 majors with the help of some very strange umpiring decisions,
In the final term the brilliance of Kaiden Pisani came to the fore with several telling marks with a wet football, and one of the 4 goals the Cougars scored to defy the Royals chance of making any headway to the score.
To their credit, the Cougars remained composed throughout this quarter and continued with a game plan that will serve them well in the future.
Final scores: Ballajura: 5.8 – 38, Kalamunda: 19.13 – 127
Best players: Reg Jones, Kaiden Pisani, Trent Pottinger, Tyler Mouritz.
Coaches award: Bret van Groningen, 200 games over 13 years!
Observers award: ‘Woody’- stout support and advice for umpires and opposing spectators.
Goals: Kaiden Pisani 4, Tyler Mouritz 3, Ben Holman 3, Jackson Bowen 2, I each to Lachlan Ballantine, Bret van Groningen, Utah John-Furnace, Michael DeGasperis, Cormac White and Reg Jones.
Special Mention: Cormac White, up against Mach Deng tallest ruckman in the C1 competition – great effort!
Other final round games:
C1 Reserves: Kalamunda: 12.17 – 89, Ballajura: 4.5 – 29.
C5 League: Kalamunda: 8.7 – 55, Dianella Morley: 5.5 – 35.
C5 Reserves: Kalamunda: 113.18 – 96, Dianella Morley: 3.2 – 20.
Colts: Kalamunda: 25.16 – 166, Ballajura: 5.2 – 32.
Ladies: Kalamunda: 9.9 – 63, Cockburn Cobras: 1.1 – 7.
We are still searching for reporters in the grades listed above.
This week’s Topic: A tribute to Bret van Groningen and club President Brenton Lucas in the Alex Haight Report,
Next week’s game: Round 8, Kalamunda V’s Thornlie 03:05 PM, Sat, 7 June at Ray Owen Reserve.
This page is dedicated to, ADD Business Group, proud sponsors of the Kalamunda ‘Cougars’ Football Club.
