U12-2 Brown 2017

Rnd 11 Match Report - Lions 1 v. Lions 2

Ramsden St. Oval, 1pm 16 July 2017

Fitzroy Lions 1 3.5-23 drew with Fitzroy Lions 2 3.5-23

50 Games banner photos > 

Photos from Round 11 > 

Rnd 10 Match Report - Kew Rovers v. Lions

Kew Rovers forfeited due to not being able to field a team.

BBQ breakfast and training run was held instead! Followed by watching the Lions 1 v. Balwyn match, which the Lions won very convincingly.

Photos from Round 10 >

Rnd 9 Match Report - Glen Iris N v. Lions

Righetti Oval, 1pm, 25 June 2017

Glen Iris N 6.12-48 defeated Fitzroy Lions 4.5-29

Photos from Round 9 >

Rnd 8 Match Report - Lions v. Greythorn

Ramsden St. Oval, 10am, 18 June 2017

Fitzroy Lions 3.5-23 defeated by Greythorn 9.7-61

Photos from Round 8 > 

Leading into the much anticipated re-match against our nemesis Greythorn, I was reasonably confident we’d closed the gap and would put up a strong performance against one of the best teams in the comp. Our ‘good’ is as good as anyone on their day. A week’s break to recharge, a solid training run under the belt, a good warm up, and crowd favourite Jack, playing his 50th match in an unbroken run since R1 in U9’s.

It was a beautiful day, sun out, barely a breath of wind… We won the toss and chose the scoring end. All looking good!

and then the siren went….

searching for a way to describe the match, I came up with this…

lacklustre

ˈlaklʌstə/

adjective

adjective: lacklustre; adjective: lackluster; adjective: lack-lustre; adjective: lack-luster

1. lacking in vitality, force, or conviction; uninspired or uninspiring.

“no excuses were made for the team’s lacklustre performance”

synonyms:

uninspired, uninspiring, unimaginative, dull, humdrum, colourless, characterless, bland, insipid, vapid, flat, dry, lifeless, listless, tame, tired, prosaic, mundane, run-of-the-mill, commonplace, spiritless, lustreless, apathetic, torpid, unanimated;

We had plenty of the footy early, but unfortunately the elusive efficiency we are striving for wasn’t there. And once Greythron got the jump on us, the energy went out of the game from our point of view. A few did the heavy lifting, but the majority were trailing the ball for much of the day. A lift in intensity was called for at the long break.

A brief fight-back in the 3rd quarter and we were only 20 points down at the final change. Not an impossible task – but it wasn’t to be. best to put that one behind us…

The good news is there’s always next week! Loving a challenge, there’s more good news, undefeated Glen Iris await!

Our goal is to play 4 quarter footy, from the first contest to the last. And the boys have pledged to give it a red hot crack this week.

Go Roys!

The final scores were Greythorn 9.7.61 defeated Fitzroy 3.5.23

Well done to our Captains Satchmo and Daniel. Great effort under tough conditions.

50 Games Milestone this Sunday

Congratulations to Lachlan and Rueben who will be celebrating their 50th games this Sunday against Glen Iris N. Well done boys, fantastic achievement.

Rnd 7 Match Report - Beverley Hills v. Lions

Zerbes Reserve, 4 June 2017

Beverley Hill Lions 10.7-67 defeated Fitzroy Lions 3.6-24

Photos from Round 7 > 

Like the title of the 1971 Clint Eastwood Psychological Thriller “Play Misty for Me” the hills of East Doncaster were shrouded in fog as the recently promoted Roy Boys arrived for another tough assignment in Brown Division. Ominous signs during the warm up were noted by the coaching team as the players lacked their customary crispness and concentration. Sloppy preparation translates to the game and we will work on this for future matches.

The Beverly Hillbillies saw double trouble at the toss of the coin with the Kanizay boys winning the toss and showing no hesitation to elect to kick to the southern end. It was also an important milestone game for Rohan McKenzie celebrating 50 great games and proudly welcomed on the field by his family and team mates. The boys were winning the ball well at the early stages and pumping it forward. Unfortunately the final shots at goals lacked composure and we kicked a disappointing 1.4 for the quarter after controlling much of the game. Beverly Hills looked dangerous when they went forward and made the most of their limited opportunities to hit the lead before quarter time.

The fog now clearing it was perfect condition for football. Our backs were to the walls however and the backline managed to apply pressure and limit their goal scoring. Beverly Hills knew how to build the wall and it was tough to try and transition from our backline into the forward half. We were hoping to repeat the efforts of the previous week and out run the opposition in the second half.

With kicking to the scoring end once more our boys appeared to lift. It was a tough game with some of our key movers struck down by injury but showing courage to play on. We were still not our best and not making enough of our many entries into the 50m zone. Some individual brilliance and a late goal and we were up at three quarter time!–It was a narrow lead but now bathed in sunshine the game was for the taking.

“Shell shocked – shocked or confused because of a sudden alarming experience “ was the only way to describe the reaction to the last quarter. As the coach’s wife eloquently described it they went “bang, bang, bang, bang” and then “bang, bang, bang “ followed by a final “bang”! Football can be a game of momentum and when they gained it they ran over the top of our players. After going a couple of goals down we dropped out intensity at the contest and could not stop our opposition from scoring running goals. A few injuries cropped up and we couldn’t get any traction to go forward. When it did go forward it came straight back out. To give credit to Beverly Hills they player liked millionaires and we couldn’t get back on our terms – no excuses we were outplayed.

It was well explained to the boys after the game that football can be tough and the final quarter does not reflect the progress and playing capability of the team. We can learn from this event and put in place strategies to slow and shift momentum when things are not going away. A couple of dim sims drenched in soy sauce was a welcome distraction for players and parents alike and we look forward to playing our traditional rivals (no really, they are!) Greythorn in Round 8.

The final scores were Beverley Hills 10.7.67 defeated Fitzroy 2 3.6.24

Well done to our Captains Lachlan and James Kanizay. Great effort under tough conditions.

50 Games Milestone this Sunday

Congratulations to Jack who will be celebrating his 50^th Game this Sunday against Greythorn. Well done Jack, fantastic achievement.

Rnd 6 Match Report - Park Orchards v. Lions

Stintons Reserve, 11:30am 28 May 2016

Park Orchards Sharks 2.5-17 defeated by Fitzroy Lions 7.5-47

Photos from Round 6 >

After a thrilling win against Balwyn Y in round 5, we ventured over to Park Orchards with some trepidation as they had given us quite a belting when we played them in round 4. So much so that we questioned the wisdom of the YJFL powers in promoting us to the Brown division. But training had again been good during the week, and we went into the game with plans to negate their stars and hopefully put enough on the board ourselves to come away with a win.

The first quarter we kicked downwind, and despite having the ball in our forward half frequently we were not able to convert. We managed just 1 point for the quarter whilst our opponents scored 2 excellent goals into the wind.

With the wind behind their backs in the 2^nd quarter things looked ominous.

One of the key problems pointed out to the boys at quarter time was the lack of pressure being applied in our forward line. Park Orchards defenders were able to clear the ball out far too easily, and we needed to chase and tackle much more to lock the ball in.

The second quarter saw some improvement, with the back line holding firm and keeping Park Orchards goal-less. Unfortunately we didn’t trouble the scorers at all, and at ½ time we trailed 2.2 to just one point, and we had a big job ahead of us. The coach decided to keep the boys out on the ground, and in a long address outlined what we needed to do to win the game. And the response was immediate.

The tactical move of the season payed off straight away with X scoring his first goal for the club. The tackling and the running went up a notch, and suddenly our opponents were on the back foot. We finished with 4 goals for the quarter and at ¾ time the margin was now 10 points in our favour. We had put ourselves in a winning position but were under no illusions that this was going to be easy.

Park Orchards would be coming home with the wind and we were well aware of how capable they were.

The last quarter started where we had left off, but even better. We now had running players all over the ground, with boys moving to positions giving lots of options as we moved the ball up the ground. Our high marking was as good as we have ever seen. We chased, tackled, applied pressure and the result was the quarter was played in our half, with 3 goals scored and our opponents only able to contribute a single point. It was an outstanding last quarter with everyone contributing, and resulting in an excellent win.

The final scores were Fitzroy 7.5 47 defeated Park Orchards 2.5 17.

Well done to our Captains Ned Goodwin and Tai Hill, great effort boys.

50 Games Milestone this Sunday

Congratulations to Rohan who will be celebrating his 50^th Game this Sunday against Beverley Hills. Well done Rohan, fantastic achievement.

Next Game – Sunday 4^th June 2017

Beverley Hills Vs Fitzroy 2

11.30 am         Zerbes Reserve – Map here

Shorts: White

2017 Fixture link: U12 Brown Fixture 2017

50 Games Milestone and Banner making

Thank you to all who came along to the Banner making session on Wednesday night. They are looking great.

There will be a banner for a player who is celebrating their 50th game milestone regardless of whether played at home or away (provided parents/carers assist in making and transporting for their son and others where needed). Here is the schedule:

Round 7 Sunday 4th June – Rohan

Round 8 Sunday 18th June – Jack

Round 9 Sunday 25th June – Lachlan and Reuben

Round 10 Sunday 2^nd July – Flynn, Paddy, Max and Daniel

Round 11 Sunday 16^th July – Tyler

Round 12 Sunday 23^rd July – Jhy

There will be another banner making session for the 3 banners for Round 10, 11 and 12. We will confirm date closer to the time. (It will be prior Round 10, of course).

Mums Night Out

The girls are out on the town this Friday night. We have 11 girls who have confirmed. It should be a fantastic night. It kicks off at North Fitzroy. Who knows where the ladies might end up! J

Venue: North Fitzroy Arms (aka Haskins Hotel), cnr Rae and Reid Streets, Nth Fitzroy

Date: Friday 2 June

Time: 7pm

Rnd 5 Match Report - Lions v. Balwyn Tigers

Rnd 4 Match Report - Lions v. Park Orchards R.

Ramsden St. Oval, 14 May 2017 1:00pm

Fitzroy Lions 4.1-25 defeated by Park Orchards Sharks 9.10-64

Photos from Round 4 >

Rnd 3 Match Report - Heidelberg v. Lions

Ramsden St. Oval, 7th May 2017 10:00am

Heidelberg Tigers 3.4-22 defeated by Fitzroy Lions 5.6-36

Photos for Round 3 >

Mid-week training had again been excellent with increasing intensity on all our drills, so we ventured down to Heidelberg with great confidence we could continue our winning form. Our first 2 games had both been impressive and the aim was to continue with our play-on style while maintaining our structure.

The ground was a bit of a shock, as it was easily the biggest we have played both in length and width. So the clear instruction to the boys was to be as direct as possible and maintain the “elastic band” through the corridor.

Our pre-game warm-up was a bit sluggish, prompting the coach to give a vigorous rev-up which certainly seemed to switch the boys on.

The result was an excellent first quarter. Our kicking was direct, avoiding the expansive wings and we were hitting our targets at record levels.

Under the watchful eye of Darren Driscoll, the backline operated as a tight unit, positioning their opponents towards the boundary, covering the goal line and creating attacking moves from the half back line. Coupled with a dominant ruck duo being used to advantage, and accurate kicking, we surged to a four goals to nil lead at ¼ time.

However, the 2nd quarter was quite a different story. Heidelberg was providing much sterner opposition, with excellent high marking and strong physical play.

A scoreless quarter was the result which was disappointing, even though we were kicking to the “non-scoring” end (no goals scored the entire game).

After our key objectives were reinforced at ½ time, the 3rd quarter saw a return to the effort levels and direct play that we had been aiming for. There was a constant flow of inside-50s however we struggled to convert our opportunities and finished with just a single goal for the quarter.

Although we started the last quarter 4 goals ahead, Heidelberg’s effort in the 2nd quarter indicated the game was far from over. But although they scored 2 goals, our defence stood firm and we held on for a comfortable if not convincing victory.

It was a mixed bag overall, with some excellent play countered by a breakdown in structure. We have plenty to work on to develop a consistent 4 quarters effort, but it is clear the boys have both the ability and understanding of what is required to achieve this.

Thanks to our Captains Logan and Tyler, great job, well done.

Rnd 2 Match Report - Bulleen Templestowe v. Lions

Bulleen Park, 11:30am 30 April 2017

Bulleen Templestowe Bulls 2.6-18 defeated by Fitzroy Lions 10.5-65

Photos from Round 2 >

After an impressive first up win in the opening round of the season the question was could our boys back it up against Bulleen Templestowe. The key message prior to the game was to maintain structure, consider the positional requirements of the playing role and look for opportunities to switch play to open spaces. In all three areas the boys excelled showing an improved understanding of the game and a genuine maturing as a team.

There was a buzz among the boys prior to the game with a sharp energetic warm up and full attention to the pre-game address. From the first bounce the boys quickly gained the ascendancy from the middle and the ball movement across the ground was excellent. The team was prepared to take the game on with a handball to a running team mate to open up the play. It didn’t always come off but taking risks was creating headaches for the opposition. Under the watchful eye of Damian Carr the backline operated as a tight unit, positioning their opponents towards the boundary, covering the goal line and creating attacking moves from the half back line.

The forward line functioned extremely well with the boys listening to their instructions and creating space. The number of shepherds and unselfish acts when our forwards were not in possession of the ball were as equally important as the player who kicked the goal and hallmark of a team that plays for each other.

We knew Bulleen Temp would fight back in the second half as they were premiers in their division for 2016. We were able to match the lift in intensity after the break and finished the game full of running to outscore our opponents.

It was great to see Xavier DI Scala make his debut in the mighty Roys jumper and back with his old Auskick mates in an impressive first up game with hopefully many more to come.

It was an old fashioned “Team Effort” for best players and although we are prepared for a long season we are off to a great start.

Rnd 1 Match Report - Lions v. Hawthorn Citizens