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Round 13 - Match report vs Moonee Valley

Sunday 18th July 2010

Moonee Valley  - scoreboard of no consequence - Taylors Lakes       
Best Players: D. Tennant, Z. Lambevski, J. Meson, J. Manahardt, Y. Khanna, A. Cerasiotis, M Northrop

Before the game, I told the players that the scoreboard was of no consequence today and I would not look at it. The reason for this was to continue to develop players in different positions. We won the toss and chose to start with a significant breeze behind us. We started with a totally new midfield in the first quarter mainly from players that have spent a lot of time across half forward or half back. At quarter time, I asked some of the players what they learned from their experience in the midfield and the reply was “You have to run hard”. Some players had their first taste of the backline and also learnt about the trap of being drawn to the contest in front of you while your opponent peels off behind you creating a loose man in the forward line.

We could also learn from the opposition during the game. Particularly how disciplined they were in following their game plan. On most occasions they went forward, they looked to centre the ball to a free player at about 20 metres from goal. This then enabled the player to have a set shot from a good position.

Our learning curve continues and I will experiment again in the last game of the season. Another great effort this week

Training This week
Training on Tuesday 20 July 2010 will be held at Recreation Health Club in Caroline Springs at 6:30 pm. Final training session is Friday 23 July 2010 at 5pm.

Mick Stephens - Coach

Round 11 - Match report vs Hadfield

Sunday 4th July 2010

Hadfield                8.8-56 def. Taylors Lakes        1.2-8

Best Players: S. Lumsden, N. Muscat, K. Celiker, A. Stephens, C. Asciak, W. Blackberry, J. Pandos, J. Cuda, J. Hart, J. Manahardt, M. Brincat, M. Merlino, S. Clark
Goals: J. Van der Poel

We started the first quarter well and possession was quite even. Both the goals we conceded in the quarter came from defence pushing to high up the field and we got caught on the rebound with four attacking players on our only defender who stayed back. The highlight of the quarter was Sean’s run through the centre from our defensive 50 to our attacking 50.

We were sound asleep at the start of the second quarter and bang two goals in two minutes. For the rest of that quarter we were competitive. The third quarter started the same as the second conceding two goals in the first two minutes. We were then competitive again and Jacob scored our only goal with a long  bouncing kick that was unselfishly guarded through the goals by two forwards alone in the goal square. When presented with that choice again, be selfish, pick up the ball and make sure that the team scores a goal.

The players came to the three quarter time huddle frustrated and lacking focus. In football, the only aspect of the game we have control over is how we play, run, tackle, chase, make position. If we put our energy and emotion into these things which we can control rather than issues that we can not control then we will automatically play better football.
This game was another learning experience for the team and as we head to next week’s game we should congratulate ourselves for the things that we did well during the game.

Training this week
Training this week will be on Tuesday 6/7 at 5:00pm and Friday 9/7 at 5:00pm

Mick Stephens - Coach

Round 10 - Match report vs Roxburgh Park

Sunday 27th June 2010

Roxburgh Park       2.9-21 def. Taylors Lakes        0.1-1

Best Players: S. Lumsden, A. Erden, D. Tennant, H. Malouf, J. Bellchambers, J. Borelli, J. Cuda, J. Hart, J. Manahardt, M. DaCampo, M. Brincat, M. Merlino, S. Clark

Prior to the game, I set the players a challenge to show themselves how much they had improved since the first time we played Roxburgh Park.

We started well and continually pushed the ball forward without reward on the scoreboard. Our defence once again stood tall and spoiled and repelled the opposition attack. We went to the break down by 4 points.
Our effort continued through the second quarter and we went into the main break down by 6 points. The third quarter was won by both teams defence with a scoreless quarter.

We started the last quarter down by 6 points against a team that had beaten us by 9 goals at the start of the year. Roxburgh Park scored a couple of late goals to win by 20 points, thus showing that we had improved by nearly 6 goals. If we spend the rest of the season working on our use of the football and decision making then I know that we can continue that improvement.

Highlights of the match were Sean’s spekky that was not paid a mark, Jonno’s pack mark, Jake B’s effort against an opponent that was bigger than most of the coaching staff and our tackling. You can always tell how hard the tackling is by how slowly the player tackled gets up.

A great effort by the team and its fantastic that you could see how much you have improved due to all the hard work and practice each player has done so far this year.

Training this week
Training this week will be on Tuesday 29/6 at 5:00pm and Friday 2/7 at 5:00pm

Mick Stephens - Coach

Round 9 - Match report vs Westmeadows

Sunday 20th June 2010

Taylors Lakes        4.6-30 def. Westmeadows       4.2-26

Best Players: Team effort
Goals: J. Van der Poel, Z. Lambevski, C. Asciak, J. Pandos

We won the toss and started the first quarter well continually pushing forward. Our first two shots at goal were both touched on the line before Jacob did one of his familiar runs to snap our first goal. Westmeadows only went forward once for the quarter and scored a goal.

The second quarter was more even and we went in at half time behind by 1 point.

The third quarter was again a struggle and both sides managed to score 1.1. Zac scored a goal after a good mark and then a well taken set shot and we went into the last quarter again trailing by a point.

We dominated the centre clearances in the last quarter and pushed the ball forward without much reward. Then Corey broke away from a pack and snapped a great goal and we were back in front. The boys celebrated the goal with gusto and carried Corey on their shoulders back to his position at half forward. After pushing forward again another pack formed. Jake P broke away with the clearance and scored another goal from a snap. Up by 10 points with four minutes left on the clock. Westmeadows pushed forward and got a goal, 4 points up with 1 minute to go. We managed to win the centre clearance and bottle up play for the last minute. When the siren went there was jubilation all round with the bench racing on to the ground to celebrate as a team. The five players who were on the bench in the last quarter were fantastic with their cheering and encouragement of the 18 that were on the ground.

Special mention goes to Michael Northrop who played by far his best game for Taylors Lakes taking in excess of 10 marks across half forward.

A great effort by the team and its fantastic that you rewarded yourself for all the hard work you have done so far this year.

Training this week
Training this week will be on Tuesday 22/6 at 4:30pm and Friday 25/6 at 5:00pm

Mick Stephens - Coach

Round 8 - Match Report vs Sydenham-Hillside

Sunday 6th June 2010

Sydenham-Hillside 15.12-102 def. Taylors Lakes        0.0-0

Best Players: A. Stephens, J. Van der Poel, S. Clark, S. Lumsden, J. Meson, M. Merlino, D. Giusti, M. Brincat, J. Bellchambers, J. Hart

We travelled to Hillside Reserve to take on the best performed side in Division 5. The team started very well and got the first centre clearance and pushed forward for the first five minutes of the game. The Sharks eventually managed to break out of our forward line and we limited them to just four goals in the first quarter.

Our effort and defensive pressure continued in the second quarter and we went in at half time having only conceded a further three goals. We stepped up the defensive pressure in the third quarter and kept the Sharks to just two goals, one of which was kicked after the siren. Our defensive efforts were so good that we had kept the best side in Division 5 to just 9 goals up until 3qtr time.

In the last quarter, we took the opportunity to allow some players to learn about playing in positions that they had not yet experienced. Our effort during the last quarter was once again fantastic and we should all be proud of how we performed against a side that has not lost a game for two years.

Changed training venue

Wed 2 June 2010

Due to closure of the main oval, training will be conducted on the back oval commencing at 4:30pm this Friday 4 June 2010.

Mick Stephens - Coach

Round 7 - Match Report vs Glenroy

Sunday 30th May 2010

Glenroy    8.12-60 def. Taylors Lakes    0.1-1

Best Players: H. Malouf, K. Celiker, J. Meson, J. Cuda, J. Van der Poel, A. Erden, C. Asciak, W. Blackberry

Another great effort by the team against yet another strong opponent. After a slow start in the first quarter, we went forward on numerous occasions in the second quarter without the justified reward on the scoreboard.

At training we must work very hard on our kicking skills over the next few weeks so that we can take advantage of the amount of possession and forward movement the team is now generating.

The backline worked very hard all game and limited Glenroy to just two behinds in the last quarter. Of particular note during the game were Henry’s efforts at full back taking on three and four opponents single handed to stop certain goals and cause a ball up or rushed behind.
Your effort and enthusiasm each week is a credit to each and every player.

Training this week
Training this week will be on Tuesday 1/6 at 5:30pm and Friday 4/6 at 5pm. Check the website for any change in location or time.

Mick Stephens - Coach

Round 6 - Match Report vs Maribyrnong Park

Sunday 23rd May 2010

Taylors Lakes 0.2-2 def. by Maribyrnong Park  7.10-5

Best Players: Z. Lambevski, N. Muscat, M. Busuttil, N. Howitt, D. Tennant, W. Blackberry

Our hard work on the training track started to show during the game where we were able to dominate play for parts of each quarter. Players are now starting to think about their positioning and on some occasions we were building an impenetrable wall across the centre. On one occasion we locked the ball in our forward line for about five minutes and were unlucky that we did not see greater reward on the scoreboard.
The midfield ran hard this week and we started introducing the concept of rotations which will continue for the remainder of the season.
Each week aspects of our game are improving and if we keep practising our skills and game plans, the rewards will come.

Training this week
Training this week will be on Tuesday 25/5 and Thursday 27/5 at 5pm.

Mick Stephens - Coach

Round 4 - Match Report vs Moonee Valley

Sunday 9th May 2010

Moonee Valley        19.9-123 def. Taylors Lakes        0.1-1

Best Players: S. Lumsden, M. Northop, J. Meson, K. Celiker, J. Manahardt, D. Tennant.

We came up against a side that was far more advanced in skill level and game sense than our current development level. This gap translated to the scoreboard and we went in at half time down by 11 goals.

In the second half, our tackling, attack on the ball and intensity were much improved and it showed on the scoreboard where we reduced the amount of goals Moonee Valley could score and generally made it more difficult for them to run the ball.

We all have to keep practising both at training and outside of training to develop our skills and game sense.

A great effort to come out in the second half and play as hard as we did.

Training this week will be on Tuesday 11/5 and Friday 14/5 at 5pm.

Mick Stephens - Coach

Round 3 - Match Report - Airport West

2-May-2010

Taylors Lakes        1.5-11 def. by Airport West        4.3-27

Goal Kickers: J. Borelli
Best Players: J. Hart, D. Giusti, S. Lumsden, H. Malouf, M. Brincat, J. Borrelli

We won our first toss for the season and started the first quarter better than in previous weeks with Jake Borelli scoring a goal and only conceding one goal to Airport West.  In the second quarter, Airport West got another goal with the wind and went in to the half time break down by 7 points.

In the third quarter, we continued putting the ball forward but didn’t get reward for our efforts scoring 5 behinds for the quarter. In the last quarter, despite us dominating possession, Airport West went deep forward on three occasions for two goals.

Our learning curve continues and we will work on drills this week at training to learn and improve on what you do when the ball is not in your hands.

A great effort to get as much possession as we did during the game.

Training this week
Training this week will be on Tuesday 4/5 and Friday 7/5 at 5pm.

Mick Stephens - Coach

Round 2 - Match Report - Hadfield

25-April-2010

Hadfield                5.3-33
Taylors Lakes        4.1-25

Goal Kickers: J. Bellchambers 2, J. Van der Poel, Z. Lambevski
Best Players: J. Van der Poel, J. Bellchambers, A. Stephens, N. Muscat, W. Blackberry, J. Cuda

We lost the toss again and gave away an early goal in the first quarter.  In the second quarter, we improved and Zac scored our first goal of the game. The goal was setup by James Cuda putting his head over the ball and gaining a free kick after being buried in a tackle. Josh also had to leav the field in that quarter due to head high contact.

The third quarter, we continued putting our head over the ball despite the attack on the man from our opposition. We went into the final quarter down by three goals.

Our midfield of Jacob, Zac, Jake and Waylon got on top and the ball started to go forward with purpose.  Jack lined up at CHF and got our first goal of the quarter. The half back line also got on top and Alec kept gathering the ball across the centre and sending it back into our forward line. Jacob then pulled off the play of the day gathering the ball at half forward, taking on three tackles, had a bounce, took on two more tackles and then kicked truly to put us 8 points down. Hadfield then got a goal but we didn’t stop and Jack got another goal to put us again within 8 points.

A great effort to come back like we did in the last quarter and every player should be proud of their contribution during the game!

Training this week
Training this week will be on Tuesday 27/4 and Thursday 29/4 at 5pm.

Mick Stephens - Coach

Round 1 - Match Report - Roxburgh Park
18th April 2010

Goal Kickers: S. Clark
Best Players: Z. Lambevski, J. Pandos, C. Asciak, M. Merlino, S. Clark, J. Van der Poel

A challenging match first up in windy conditions. We lost the toss and gave away a couple of goals early in the first quarter while we settled. In the second quarter, we improved and scored our only goal of the game, winning the quarter by keeping the opposition to two points. The third quarter, in my opinion, was our best quarter of football even though we had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.

We made Roxburgh Park earn their goals and we got the football into scoring positions on our forward line against the wind. We also had some passages of play where we moved the ball through good running and passing. They had the better of the last quarter and now we look forward to next week’s challenge.

I was most impressed by the ferocity of our tackling which is a very important part of the game.

Mick Stephens - Coach

Jumper Presentation

13-April-2010

Jumper Presentation and training this Thursday 15 April 2010

There will be no training on Friday 16 April 2010

Training nights

7-Apr-2010

Unless otherwise advised, training will be at Lionheart Reserve on:

• Tuesdays    5pm till 6pm
• Fridays       5pm till 6pm