Sydney Uni have had a dream run to begin their 2017 NEAFL campaign starting off the season with four wins, the first time in the program’s history. The Students put together a strong performance to claim a 15.10 (100) to 11.10 (76) victory over the Aspley Hornets in Brisbane over the weekend. This impressive win marked another first for the side as they had not previously beaten Aspley on their home turf.
In what Coach Tom Morrison described as a “grinding win against a side that we have a great deal of respect for and have had a lot of success in the NEAFL competition,” Sydney Uni led the game at every break. Although a hard fought victory, they were able to control the tempo of the match from the beginning by creating and sustaining defensive pressure throughout. Young defenders Darcy Baron-Hay and Ryan Hebron were integral to this effort, continuing their great form to start the season. Aaron Day was also influential at the back, creating many counter attacks as a result of his dominance in aerial contests.
There were positive performances all over the field. Tom Young and Lewis Stevenson were effective across half back after replacing Will Sierakowski, who went down with a hamstring injury early in the game. Sam Tagliabue was prominent in the ruck and was well supported by Ned Reinhard and Alistair Gillespie who took some spectacular grabs in the contest. Jake Derickx dominated in both offence and defence and Damien Bonney had an energetic and influential second half to the match. Coach Morrison stated, this was “the best offensive performance from our deep forwards as they moved to dangerous positions and linked up well.”
Fitness has been a key factor for the Students as they produced another outstanding second half effort. Outscoring their opponents by 19 in the last two terms, Sydney Uni again showed their commitment in the preseason is paying off.
Morrison has high expectations for this talented group. Although happy with his team’s efforts over the weekend, he knows his team mustn’t show any signs of complacency as they still have room for improvement. “We are yet to see our best football from this group of players but we are not far away from a dominant performance from what is a very proud and exciting group of players.”
“There are a few areas of the game that we must improve on this coming week. In saying that, the boys are still finding out how to play with one another and are working really hard to ensure that we evolve as a side.”
“Our biggest test to date will come this Saturday when we play an in form Gold Coast Suns team,” he added.
Next Up
Sydney Uni look to continue their unbeaten run as they take on the Gold Coast Suns at Blacktown International Sportspark. Kick off is at 10:30am on Saturday the 29th April.
Livestats for the match can be found here: http://neafl.com.au/fixturesresults/
SYDNEY UNI: 4.2 6.5 11.8 15.10 (100)
ASPLEY: 2.3 5.6 8.9 11.10 (76)
GOALS
Sydney University: D. Bonney 3, Z. O’Brien 2, N. Reinhard 2, J. Derickx, J. Williams, J. Dimery, J. Potter, J. Hiscox, C. McFadden, M. Wilson, L. Kilpatrick
Aspley: N. Jackson 2, J. Nelis 2, J. Ives, T. Rudolph, B. Warren, M. Payne, R. Toye, G. Grose, F. McIvor
BEST
Sydney University: J. Derickx, S. Tagliabue, T. Young, Z. O’Brien, D. Baron-Hay
Aspley: W. Wolbers, J. Nelis, M. Hutchinson, G. Grose, E. Mallan, R. Holman