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February 18, 2006
Swans Lose Battle But Gain More From Match
Well it certainly wasn't the one-sidered slaughter that Paul Roos predicted, but it was a loss all the same. However in going down by 19 points to the Bombers in the Swans first competitive hit out on Australian soil since their premiership success against West Coast just over 4 months ago, they showed that even with 4 of the Premiership team lineing up that they will still be competitive this coming season and having solid relief in the junior ranks to boot.
The Swans pulled no punches in their line up save for the trial use of Luke Vogels at Full Back on Matthew Lloyd and Vogels did well body on body to suggest he could hold down this position in the future if ever required. Up forward for the Swans, Ted Richards was the stand-out against his former club, showing the way with 21 touches, three goals and solid marking that went someway to show that he might just become a valuable part of the Swans already well-stocked forward line.
Lewis Roberts-Thomson with 18 touches picked up from where he left off in the Grand Final playing strongly on Scott Lucas to suggest that he is now ready to match it with the big gun Centre Half Forwards of the competition.
In the midfield Jude Bolton played well as always and David Spriggs showed some form to suggest that he just might make more of an impact on the senior side this season (God help us). For me the news Nick Malceski performed strongly in the midfield, suggests I might be right in my thoughts that he is in for a big year and might be the brake out rookie/young kid of 2006.
Luke Ablett put the home side in front with the first goal before Lloyd snagged a major for the Bombers. Heath Grundy then showed why he was promoted from Sydney's rookie list with a solid mark and goal from 40 metres to give supporters hope of a competitive game. However the Bombers piled on the last three goals to take an 11-point lead into the first change.
Spriggs reduced the gap soon after the restart before the Bombers once again quashed any hopes of a close contest with four unanswered goals. It was then time for Ted Richards to make his impact on the game when he posted his first goal to get the crowd excited and although Lucas nailed his second, the Swans posted the final two goals to trail by three goals at the main break.
An uninspiring third term saw the Swans out-score the Bombers two goals to one, with Richards adding his third, to peg back the deficit to 13 points at the last change. Jobe Watson booted his second soon after the centre bounce before Sydney draftee Ryan Brabazon ensured the game would be a close finish. However Chris Heffernan and Ricky Dyson sealed the victory for the Bombers with a goal each. To make the result look even more repectable Swans rookie Paul Currie slotted through a beautiful curler from the boundary line to leave the final result being a Swans 19 point loss.
"The score was obviously a really pleasant surprise for us, and we are all really excited the way the kids played," Roos said."We played some great footy and the kids attacked the football and even the improvement from LA (last month) to now is just dramatic."
SYDNEY: 2.5, 6.5, 8.8, 10.11 (71)
ESSENDON: 4.4, 9.5, 10.9, 13.11 (89)
GOALS: Sydney: Richards 3, Currie 2, Ablett, Grundy, Spriggs, Thornton, Brabazon. Essendon: Lucas 2, Lloyd 2, Watson 2, Monfries, Dempsey, Welsh, Lovett-Murray, Ryder, Watson, Heffernan
BEST: Sydney: Richards, Roberts-Thomson, Spriggs, Bolton, Malceski, Vogels. Essendon: Bradley, Winderlich, Lucas, Welsh, Monfries
INJURIES: Sydney: nil Essendon: nil
REPORTS: nil
UMPIRES: Troy Pennell, Matthew Head, Mathew James
CROWD: 8461 at North Sydney Oval, Sydney
Posted by robbieando at February 18, 2006 06:07 PM