This week saw all Saturday teams back in TIGERTOWN with the U6's taking on the Crocs, the U7's looking to put the disappointment of their single try loss against Bosco behind them and get back to winning ways against De La Salle. The U8's play the Crocs and the U9's will be hoping to maintain their good form against Cronulla Caringbah.
The U13 Bronze will be hoping for a similar scoreline against the Crocs, who they defeated 28-22 in Round 4, and the U13 Silver will also be looking for a similar result against the Gorillas, who they beat 26-0 also in Round 4. The U16's will be looking for a win against the Gorillas at Corea Oval on the Sunday, with recent meetings ending up 10-10. The O35's play Cronulla Caringbah and they will be hoping to put in a strong performance to continue with their finals push.
Enjoy the reports and galleries below.
Tigers U6 Silver 56 Como Crocs 48
In a tight opening quarter the under strength Crocs, (only playing with 4 at times) put in a fantastic performance to keep the scores locked at 12-12. Conor Lehane (2) and Logan Jones (1) got the tries for the Tigers. The second quarter was also tight, and the Tigers fielded the same number of players as the Crocs, and managed to pull ahead and take a 28-24 half time lead through tries to Ollie Trevillian (2) Conor Lehane (1) and Daniel Crawford (1). In the third quarter the Tigers extended their lead to two tries and led 48-40 with Ollie Trevillian grabbing another (2), Logan Jones (1), Daniel Crawford (1) and Conor Lehane (1). In the final quarter the Tigers continued to play well and the whole team celebrated Raiden Price's first try for the Tigers who sealed a 56-48 victory in a game of high skill, pace and determination from both teams.
Tigers U7 Bronze 40 De La Salle 32
This was a tight game that could have gone either way but the Tigers prevailed with an impressive fourth quarter that saw Jake McMillan score four tries to take the game away from De La Salle, The Tigers went out to a 12-4 lead in the first quarter with three tries to Jake McMillan. In the second quarter it remained tight but De La Salle worked themselves back into the game and got on level terms with the Tigers 20-20. Jaxon Good scored two tries for the Tigers and was having a solid game, using his pace to worry the De La Salle defence. The third quarter saw both teams lift their defensive effort and De La Salle frustrated the Tigers with Robert Couley scoring the only try for the Tigers. De La Salle took a 28-24 lead into the fourth quarter and were beginning to look strong for the win.
The fourth quarter was the most open and Jake McMillan scored first to get the scores level. Soon after De La Salle went ahead again only for Jake McMillan to score from the kick-off and lock the scores at 32-32, The Tigers then defended every attack De La Salle threw at them and their goal line defence was impressive. The Tigers needed someone to stand up and Jake McMillan grabbed the game by the scruff of the next and scored another two tries to give the Tigers a 40-32 win.
Tigers U8 Bronze 66 Como Crocs 16
This was an impressive performance by the U8's and they put in arguably their best performance of the season against the Crocs. Every player was impressive,
Kade Jones made big metres and always had the Crocs defence scrambling
Hendrix Malaki scored 3 tries and was solid in defence and a real danger in attack
Jack Jones proved elusive and was difficult to contain
Oscar Nicholls also grabbed 3 tries and his pace and cover play was impressive
Ray Logie was all over the pitch covering every inch of grass
Sonny Tricker was a constant threat and was always looking to go forward
Sonny Faughey also scored 3 tries and was always looking for work
Hendrix Crawley was solid in defence and linked the play effectively when needed
Jake McMillan played up and scored 3 tries and made an invaluable contribution
Scoring 12 tries to 3 the U8's have always had this performance in them and we hope this is the stepping stone for a strong finish to the season.
Tigers U9 Bronze 18 Cronulla Caringbah 20
The Tigers were narrowly beaten with the Sharks scoring in the final seconds to steal the game. The Sharks were up for this game and pressured the Tigers at every opportunity. The Sharks approach rattled the Tigers who found it difficult to get into any rhythm and despite some good moments, were never able to get far enough ahead to look secure. Tries to Max Carlson, Archer Brassington (2) and Hayden Walker got the points for the Tigers but unfortunately it wasn't enough to secure the win and the Tigers left disappointed with their performance and the result.
Tigers U13 Bronze Como Crocs
We held a minutes silence before this game in memory of Inga Amesbury, a great friend of the Tigers and mother to Lewis who plays for the U13 Bronze team. The U13 Silver team ran out with the Bronze team and the three teams held a minutes silence before the game in respect to the Amesbury family.
In a tight opening the Tigers scored first from some clever play out of dummy half by Bailey Murray, who spotted a gap and dived over to get the first points. The Crocs then had some good possession and scored soon after the get the scores back to 6-4. The Tigers then had some good field position and a clever kick by Max Cooper was collected well by Nathan Baldock who scored in the corner to give the Tigers a 10-4 half-time lead. The Crocs scored first in the second half to get the scores back to 10-8 and were starting to gain the ascendancy, however, an incredible run by Lewis Amesbury from his own line gave the Tigers an 16-8 lead and relieved the pressure on the Tigers defence. The Crocs scored again with 5 mins to go to get the scores back to 16-14 and with 10 seconds left on the clock, Hunter Loveday gathered the ball on the left wing and used his strength to give the Tigers a 22-14 victory.
Tigers U13 Silver 60 Gymea Gorillas 0
This was a dominant display by the Tigers who completely dominated the Gorillas in all facets of the game. You would not have known this from the start of the game, as the Tigers had little ball and made plenty of mistakes when they did. In their first attack the Tigers made good progress and the ball was worked to Mason De Luca who used his strength to get the Tigers first points. On the next play, the ball was worked forward by Tom Fraser and then Ethan Coleman, allowing Hudson Wilcox to crash over close to the line to give the Tigers a 12-0 lead. The Tigers were now getting into their work and they forced a mistake from the Gorillas and a great cut out pass by Ethan Coleman allowed Flynn Rankin to score in the corner. From the kick-off, Hudson Wilcox collected the ball and a powerful run through the centre of the pitch, opened up the Gorillas defence and he unselfishly passed to Hudson Lane near to the line, to give the Tigers a 24-0 lead. Another punishing run, this time by Mason Holiday got the Tigers close to the Gorillas line. A clever offload by Dylan Sammut put in Flynn Rankin to sore his second and give the Tigers a 30-0 half-time lead.
Tom Fraser continued the Tigers good work in the second half, scoring the first points. A speculative kick was well collected by Mason De Luca and he grabbed his second to put the Tigers 40-0 ahead. From the kick-off, Hudson Wilcox collected the ball on his ten metre line and he ran through the Gorillas defence to get another try who were now cruising. Lewis Amesbury then made an impressive run and the ball was worked out to Mason De Luca, who attacked the line and offloaded to Ethan Coleman to score close to the posts. Another try to Zac Porter and then a final try to Tom Fraser gave the Tigers a 60-0 win. Zac Porter kicked 7 from 8 conversions in a great effort.
Tigers U16 Silver 8 Gymea Gorillas 38
The Tigers had the luxury of a bench today and were hoping to use it to their advantage against a tough Gorillas outfit. We also welcomed Alex Mantik back to the team after an extended injury lay-off and we had missed his creativity in attack. The game started with both teams working through their sets with few chances created. Will Field was safe under the high ball and Bailey Murray was busy in defence tackling everything in the middle of the field. Como scored first after a mistake by the Tigers and then put on more points after a clever move down the right created space and an easy chance close to the line. Another Tigers mistake gifted the Gorillas their third try and unfortunately, that became the story of the day for the Tigers. The Gorillas grew in confidence and were quicker to the ball, stronger in the tackle and showed more energy than the Tigers, who eventually went down 38-8 in a game they would rather forget.
Tigers O35 Silver 14 Cronulla Caringbah 18
The Tigers looked like burley in the opening minutes and the Sharks made the most of it putting on two quick tries to take a 12-0 lead. The Sharks were playing with the Tigers, hunting in packs and hanging around the shallows to catch the Tigers unawares. In the second half it all changed and the Tigers went fishing. They hired a group of Shark catchers and a boat called the Orca (Jaws) to hunt the Sharks down. First Craig O'Connor crossed the line after good work by Will Barrios and then Clinton Jones crossed to close the gap to 12-10 and suddenly the Sharks looked nervous and were floundering in the late afternoon sunshine. A great run by Lloyd Maddison created space and the ball was worked to Cameron Allan who scored in the corner to give the Tigers a 14-12 lead. Suddenly we were out of the ocean and in the jungle and the Tigers were thriving in the change of environment. With 5 mins remaining the Sharks scored against the run of play to take an 18-14 lead, which the Tigers were unable to run down. A great game by both teams and well done to all players for putting in the effort in warm conditions.
Another good weekend for the Tigers with some exceptional individual performances. Conor Lehane scored 5 tries for the U6's, Jake McMillan went 2 better in grabbing 7 tries. Hendrix Malaki, Oscar Nicholls, Sonny Faughey and Jake McMillan bagged three each for the U8's. Hunter Loveday was impressive for the U13 Bronze and Zac Porter scored a try and converted 7 from 8 for the U13 Silvers. In the O35's Steve Mason and Will Barrios neraly got them over the line in a tight game.
Thanks to the Crocs, De La Salle, the Gorillas and Sharks for a great weekend of footy and we wish all teams the best for the remainder of the season.
