We are now at the business end of the season where one poor quarter can make the difference between making the Grand Final or not!
The Qualifying final looms between undefeated Garville and resilient Matrics. Both teams have talent, Garville in particular are laden with state and Australian representatives and young guns. Matrics have their share but not to the same extent! This promised to be a ‘humdinger’ of a clash and indeed, it was! Experienced and astute coaches Jake Taylor for Garville and Matthew Harrison for Matrics, well supported by Judy Greenwood and Sheree Wingard/Luke Diamond, tactically much lay in the heads of these two sets of coaches.
From the outset the pressure was huge. Fast, crisp driving attack supported by tight man on man defense, the pace was hot!
Both teams had attacking moves that were silky to watch and got the large crowd on the edge of their seats! Tom Cross Matrics wing attack and young Will O’ Callaghan at centre found space and set up shooter Alec Davis to score. Likewise, the creative interchange between Aalen Davis Garville wing and the brilliant silky smooth attacking moves of centre Saxon Hay, opened up Garville’s attack third and Ben Clarke at goal attack for Garville was an easy target.
There was no quarter asked as both teams mounted defensive pressure on the ball and on space making. Players were having to work overtime to find space. As it went goal for goal and the speed of the game increased despite the heat, young gun Kruz Wilson at goal attack for Garville began to find his mojo in combination with Ben Clarke and Matrics worked hard to stem the flow.
The super tight tussle ended the first quarter with Matrics one goal up,
Matrics 15 to Garville 14.
Both coaches made positional changes to start the second quarter. Saxon Hay was having a huge impact defensively, closing down Matrics driving attack and creating opportunities to turnovers. Aalen Davis and Jordy Deutrom began to open up Garville’s attack third using the width of the court to create driving moves onto the goal circle and bullet passes to creative Ben Clarke. This had Matrics on the back foot and they were down by 3 at the 7 minute break. Will O’Callaghan continued to work hard and found space in attack and on the goal circle but was occasionally overlooked when he provided the safest option. Consequently Garville’s defensive pressure was forcing Matrics to pass back and reset and this in turn played into Garville’s hands, much due to the brilliance of Saxon Hay. Garville began to stamp their authority and won the second quarter 15 to Matrics 9.
Half time scores were:
Garville 29. Matrics 24
The third quarter commenced with Matrics finding it hard to penetrate in attack again because of Hay and the super tight marking of Tyler Ward. William Sampson needed to draw his defender away from the contest to open up space for Alec Davis who was under pressure from Ben Ryan Garville’s keeper. Both teams began to have passages of patchy play as the pace quickened and the defensive pressure built. As the quarter drew to a close, Matrics began to rediscover their timing and use of space and got back into the quarter.
A close tussle marked by dogged uncompromising defense and a number of positional changes for both teams. In fact, Matrics won the quarter by 1 goal, 15 to Garville 14.
Third quarter scores were:
Garville 43. Matrics 39
Nothing in it as the final quarter got under way! It went goal for goal even though Matrics circle defense were often caught out with heads down and or slow feet or giving goalers too much back space. However they hung in their particularly Liam Cornish whose pressure and aerial interceptions turned a number of Garville attacks. As the pressure mounted across all positions Matrics were seriously challenging Garville and this was added to by the questionable penalty count Ben Ryan was drawing at keeper. At the half way mark of the quarter Matrics had got to within one goal (50 to 49), and this had the huge crowd on the edge of their seats. Garville rallied with Ward and Hay creating problems for Matrics attack and Ben Clarke using the fade/drop to undefended space and his scoring efforts steadied Garville. As the match drew to a close the play was frenetic however, Garville proved to be the steadiest and won the quarter by 1 goal 15 to Matrics 14.
Credit must go to both teams for the wonderful spectacle this contest proved to be. It was a match marked by powerful defensive pressure, creative attacking play and given the volume of positional changes by both teams through the contest, it is a real indicator of the depth both teams have and the fact that they are well drilled and confident with each other. That in turn reflects quality coaching. It was a match where the outcome could have gone either way and as Garville now goes straight through to the Grand Final Matrics now have to regroup and prepare for next Monday’s Preliminary Final against Contax who defeated South Adelaide in their elimination final.
The final scores were:
Garville 58. Matrics 53
