The Beecroft Brag

Welcome to fourth division… At least now we have an idea what to expect.

Although the score blew out, this was by no means an easy game where the result reflected the difference in ability of the two teams. Briars had some size in the forwards, and a couple of lively outside backs, who show they could be dangerous in attack but were well-contained.

The game started well for us .We maintained the ball and scored a good early try to get our tails up. Briars looked to be running out of fitness early, and they did what all big, unfit teams do and slowed the play down. They spoiled well and forced us in to set plays. We obliged them and probably lost a little focus on what we do well. Instaed of running them off their feet ,we responded to their trench warfare in kind.

Skill levels are good, our catch and pass is alright for this time of year, and our defence was accurate and aggressive.

The backs moved the ball well and became more familiar with each other as the game progressed. With no less than 7 debutantes that was a positive sign for the season. Jason’s try in the first half was a pearler, along with another couple of long range breaks. It’s a joy to watch teams being split open with ball-in-hand play. Another couple of tries to the forwards sent us to the break 36-0 up.

After the break Briars played with purpose and held back the floodwaters by bogging us down. It took a good burst by Carro (7 out of 8 conversions, plus a penalty. Wish I had him in my Fantasy team) to get the scoreboard ticking over again, and it was pretty much a coast home from there.

When I say “coast home” I don’t mean the effort didn’t have to go in. The forwards made sure that the opposition only got bad ball, and halted all their tight progress, and although Briars had quite a lot of ball, one converted try was their only reward.

Congratulations to the team for the spirit in which they played, and the leeway given to the ref when it may have been easy to question a few calls. Unfortunately we are not going to get the best officials but I thought our guy on Saturday was at least balanced.

Daffy lead from the front, always putting pressure on the ball and making life hard for anybody near it.

I see this season as a great opportunity to work on basic skills and game management, with the target being not only to win but also play with style.

Next week we have our first home game vs Mac Uni who had a first up win against the Convicts, so train well on Thursday and good luck on Saturday.

Grey Man

Reserve Grade scored a credible win against a much bigger and very willing Briars last Saturday, ten nil.

Although giving away a huge weight advantage on the day, the lads took it to them, and came out on top across all facets of the game. The line outs in particular were a standout, as were the scrums, when the ref would allow them to go the distance before blowing them up and giving Briars the penalty (never did find out why, I thought the ascending pack was usually given the free).

Our backs are potentially the most talented backs I have had the pleasure to watch in many years and will score some tries that will be worth the price of admission alone. We just have to get the finishing touches worked out and the points will flow. The back row were outstanding, dragging down anything that moved and providing a rock solid defence, plus willing support when required. With the amount of ball we had a greater score could have been expected but it’s early days and some players were still introducing themselves on the day. Be patient, our best is going to be worth the wait.

Scorers: tries – T Berkhout, K Gunaratne.

Points: 3 – L Ramsey, 2 – A Robertson, 1 – M Pasternatsky.

Rousey

A beautiful day greeted the start of the Beecroft season down in Concord.  The pitch was even finer than the weather, apart from the “gentle” slope up to the cricket pitch, as noted by Guesto prior to kick off.

After a good pre-season, and much shuffling around after the Colts competition was canned, the 3rd Grade side looked to be a decent side, with a smattering of quality and experience, allied to some talented newcomers and youthful vigour.  Now I can’t remember anything else except that we scored 3 tries and they scored 1. And that the stupid Doc at Concord hospital thought I was Benny Ashwood’s Dad!!! WTF!!!

Actually I can remember a bit.  In the first 15 or 20  the pack worked hard to establish some decent ball and worked through the structures that had been worked on so hard during pre-season.  This provided Junior, Ronnie and Boobs enough possession to create some space and cause the home side problems.  Twice Junior ghosted through to create a scoring pass for Dane at fullback.  He seemed to be cruising into space at 3/4 pace but when asked later he said he couldn’t run any faster.Junior converted the 2nd of these tries.

We maybe relaxed a bit after this start, and perhaps attacked from deep a bit too regularly, without establishing a platform in the right areas. As a result the big boys of Briars had a bit of a spell of possession and territory if not exactly pressure.  One Briars attack fell to earth as the fullback burst clear, only to forget about the slope down off the pitch, mistimed his run and fell to earth dramatically over about 15 metres while flailing like a windmill trying to keep his balance with not a defender near him.  Even so defence held firm and the odd rapier attack regained lost ground untilRonnie broke the shackles, busting through the middle, then outflanking the cover to get on the board. So 17-0 at half time.

With a MASSIVE bench, the like of which has not been seen for several seasons, changes were rung. About 22 replacements were used in all I think, but Briars used about 26.   Following the break the BBoBs managed to hold onto the ball a bit more and unsurprisingly reverted to some route one football and tried to smash their big boys up the middle. Even with all this disruption and ending up with a pretty lightweight pack and Nic, Tom, Jack, Dane(?) and others getting a first run in the green and gold this was a pretty tidy defensive effort throughout the second half to keep them down to one try… And now I really can’t remember anything else!  Well done boys – a good start.

1 pt Boobs, 2 pts Junior, 3pts Tom Wright for a top effort throughout the game while changes throughout the pack threatened to disrupt the glorious start to the season.

H / Benny’s Dad