Match Day 7 the first round after regrading saw 3 Tigers teams playing at home and all other teams were on the road. Both U7 teams and the merged U12 team were looking to be more competitive in their new divisions and the Tigers U11 Silver team was looking to put in a strong performance against the Gymea Gorillas in a top of the table clash at Yarrawarrah Oval.
Enjoy the reports below and thanks to everyone who came along to support the players or help out at the ground today. Conditions were very testing and everyone was looking forward to a warm drink and a hot bath after the final whistles today.
U6 Yellow Tigers 48 V Gymea Gorillas 24
The Tigers welcomed back Sonny Faughey to the starting line-up after a couple of weeks away with a fractured arm. Sonny's speed certainly bolstered the Tigers attack and after a slow start the team soon kicked into gear. Hendrix Austin was team captain and he played a captain's game today, encouraging his team mates and leading by example. Our other Hendrix (Crawley) turned in a Player of the Game performance by scoring 6 tries and making at least 60 tackles. Hendrix was well supported by Jake McMillan who scored 5 tries and Arlo Gibbons who worried the Gorillas with his speed. We also give a special Tigers mention to Angelo Talotta who scored his first competitive try by running through a packed Gorillas defence and actually carrying a couple of defenders over the line before scoring. Congratulations Angelo on a great try and a great performance today. Bodhi Preen and Hendrix Austin also had strong games and Layken Koprivic was very brave to finish the game after his coach tripped and fell on top of him. The U6 team is growing in confidence and their tackling has improved noticeably after their first couple of games. We are looking forward to watching this team grow over the remainder of the season.
Player of the Game: Hendrix Crawley
Encouragement Award: Arlo Gibbons
Tigers Spirit Award: Angelo Talotta
U7 Blue Tigers 4 V Como Jannali Crocs 68
A tough game in the rain today but the Tigers attack was strong, just not strong enough to break through a well organised Crocs outfit. Ruby McLennan had a great game and made plenty of runs which earned her the Player of the Game award. Kade Jones also had a strong game and he made plenty of tackles and was always willing to take the ball up earning him the Encouragement Award. Roseanna Yang won the Spirit Award as she never gave up and kep making runs despite the freezing conditions. Charlotte Dart was always dangerous when she had the opportunity to run and she was hard to contain at times and on another day may have scored multiple tries. Toby Hampson was the only Tiger to get on the scoresheet and this was well deserved as he looked like our most likely today. Lachlan Couley threatened a few times but was forced over the side-line by the Crocs defenders. Another heavy defeat for the Blue team but we are showing signs of improvement and if we can improve a little in our defence we will worry some teams.
Player of the Game: Ruby McLennan
Encouragement Award: Kade Jones
Tigers Spirit Award: Roseanna Yang
U7 Green Tigers 56 V Aquinas Colts 44
The Green team turned in the result of the day even eclipsing the U11 Silver's win. The Green team recorded their first win in two years and everyone was delighted and celebrated the victory as if it was a Grand Final win. It was a tough game and the Colts had some fast players who were able to run around the Tigers defenders if given any space. For the first three quarters both teams traded tries and it looked like the result may go either way but in the fourth quarter the Tigers out scored the Colts five tries to two and set up a memorable win that will be celebrated for many weeks to come.
Max Horne top scored with 5 tries and he was well supported by Levi Horne with 3, Zachary May and Aston Gibbons with 2 each and Malachi Kane and Hayden Walker scoring 1 apiece. The whole team played really well with Malachi Kane having his best game of the season, running the ball and looking to attack at every opportunity. Logan Estcourt was strong in defence and he was well supported by Hayden Walker whose front on tackles were a sight to behold. Aston Gibbons and Zachary May were a constant threat with the speed around the edges and Max and Levi Horne were able to capitalise on any off loads or space on the wings to score a bagful of try's.
This was a fantastic victory for the Green team and we hope the result gives the team the confidence and belief to go on and win some more games.
Player of the Game: Zac May
Encouragement Award: Hayden Walker
Tigers Spirit Award: Levi Horne
U11 Bronze Tigers 24 V Como Jannali Crocs 20
The Tigers played this game with 10 players and they did a great job to hold off a fast finishing Crocs team in very testing playing conditions. The game itself was highly entertaining and resembled an U6 game in the first two quarters, with both teams trading points each time they had the ball.
The Tigers got off to a good start from the kick off forcing a line drop out. and when Arlo Hankinson picked the ball up, he was able to run around the Crocs left side defence to open the scoring with a fantastic individual try. From the restart the Crocs went straight on the attack and after a couple of plays a huge gap opened up in the Tigers defence, allowing the Crocs to score and bring the scores back to 6-4.
Soon after the Tigers went on the attack and Arlo Hankinson got a good offload to Lewis Amesbury who managed to get the ball down despite heavy Crocs defence and give the Tigers a 10-4 lead. Then Como scored after advancing the ball in their first couple of tackles and then creating an overlap to score their second try. The Tigers finished the quarter strongly with Leo barging over close to the line to give the Tigers a 14-8 lead.
In the second quarter the Tigers went straight on the attack and Arlo Hankinson grabbed his second try scoring off a mazy run. Both teams were struggling to convert due to the swirling wind but were having no such difficulties scoring tries and the Crocs scored again with a well worked try to get the scores back to 18-14. A well worked move saw Zane Shoblom score to give the Tigers a 24-14 half-time lead with conditions worsening. The third quarter produced no tries from either team as handling errors became the order of the day, with both teams turning in a s mistake riddled quarter. and everyone was glad to hear the whistle to bring the quarter to an end.
In the final quarter Como scored early to get the scores back to 24-20 and their tails were up and forcing the Tigers back on their heels. Some gritty defence by the Tigers managed to hold off the Crocs and the 10 men Tigers won the game 24-20 in what can only be described as testing conditions.
Player of the Game: Zane Shoblom
Tigers Spirit Award: Ben Rooke
U11 Silver Tigers 24 V Gymea Gorillas 12
In the top of the table clash the Tigers Silver team managed to square the ledger with Gymea by winning a tough game 24-12. Playing condition were difficult for both teams with a strong breeze blowing from right to left.
Arlo Hankinson opened the scoring for the Tigers in the same way he did in the Bronze game, picking the ball up from a kick and outpacing the Gymea defence to give the Tigers an early 6-0 lead. The first quarter was pretty even with both teams playing to the conditions by keeping it tight to minimize mistakes.
In the second quarter Zac Porter scored to give the Tigers a 12-0 lead and a speculative kick by Gymea saw them score under the posts and register their first points. Como were using the wind to their advantage in the first half by pressing the Tigers back on their line before Billy Dunn made a great run through the defence to score and put the Tigers out to an 18-6 lead. Some more good attacking play by the Tigers put Zac Porter over for his second try and give the Tigers a 24-6 lead going into the final quarter.
In the final quarter Gymea fought hard to get back in the game and were throwing the ball out wide to try and catch the Tigers defence napping. In the end this pressure paid off and Gymea scored again to get the score back to 24-12. Although the Tigers didn't score in the fourth quarter they never really seem troubled and held out Gymea with some tough tackling and strong defence. scored after sustained pressure to get scores back to 24-12
Player of the Game: Billy Dunn
Tigers Spirit Award: Mason De Luca
U12 Silver Merged Bosco/Tigers 26 V Cronulla Caringbah Sharks 4
The merged U12 team were extremely pleased to secure their first win of the season against a gritty Sharks outfit. The team played with renewed confidence and found more space and had more time with the ball, which suited their game. The U12's will be looking to build on this win and hopefully it is the first of many in their new Division.
U14 Silver Tigers 24 V Cronulla Caringbah Sharks 12
In what was a much closer game than the score-line suggests The Tigers held on for a gutsy win against a determined Sharks outfit in tricky conditions.
In the first quarter the Sharks were straight on the attack and forced a line drop-out from their first set and then had a further two sets putting the Tigers defence under enormous pressure. The Tigers held firm and forced an error in the play the ball and managed to advanced up the field from their first use of the ball. The quarter remained scoreless with the Sharks having plenty of possession and the Tigers defence working overtime to repel the Sharks attacks.
The second quarter started with the Tigers on the attack and after a couple of tackles near the Sharks line, the ball was eventually worked to the right wing were the Tigers had plenty of players and Fintan Kelly ran back into the ruck, evading defenders and scoring to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead. From the kick off the Sharks created a break with their winger bursting down the side-line, until Alex Moussa made ground from full-back and made a try saving tackle to prevent the score. The Tigers had more of the ball in the second quarter but the Sharks defence was well organised and the score remained 4-0 going into the half time break.
The third quarter started with the Tigers on the attack and a great back-line move put Alex Moussa in for a certain try, as he was running to improve his position he must have stepped out of play because the touchy flagged for an infringement and the try was disallowed. This gave the Sharks some confidence and after a couple of penalties they scored under the posts to take a 6-4 lead. This galvanised the Tigers who were looking much more assured in attack, they worked their way through the middle and created space on the left wing to put Alex Mantik over in the corner and give the Tigers an 8-6 lead.
Nobody could have predicted what was to happen in the fourth quarter as the game was turned on its head. Firstly the Tigers scored again through Fintan Kelly who muscled his way through the Sharks defence after some great work from the Tigers back-line passing the ball from side-to-side looking for a gap, 14-6 Tigers. From the kick off the Sharks found more space in the middle to score under the posts and get the score back to 14-12. The Sharks went in search of a winning try and had the Tigers pinned back on their defensive line before Alex Mantik made a cheeky run from dummy half and then ran the length of the field to score under the posts putting the Tigers out to a 20-12 lead. Then in the final seconds the Sharks attack threw a long pass which was intercepted by Jacob Way who also ran the length of the field to give the Tigers a 24-12 win.
This was a great lead in game to next weeks blockbuster against Penshurst. The team was put under considerable pressure, held firm and were clinical when the chance arose to score. So many players had a good game today but a special mention to Kye Connor, Dylan Hughes and Dylan Kerr who were superb in defence and Luke Harrison, Max Cleland and Jai McEwen who controlled the ball and got us going forward when needed.
Our wishes are with Bailey Murray who had to leave the field in the first quarter from a nasty knock to the jaw.
Player of the Game: Alex Mantik
Tigers Spirit Award: Jacob Way
U17 Silver Merged Como/Tigers 0 V Aquinas Colts 38
Another defeat for the merged U17's today against the table topping Aquinas Colts. We welcome the U17's back to Yarrawarrah Oval next week and hopefully playing at their spiritual home will bring some good fortune and a second win for the season.
Match Day 7 is brought to you by our sponsors; One Agency Menai, Quality Health Care, Your Chemist Yarrawarrah, Pizza League, Coota Valley Meats, Streamline Finance Services and Warren Saunders Insurance Brokers. We appreciate the generosity of our sponsors and without their ongoing support we wouldn't be the club we are.
