Bears scrape through to Prelim week

Goals: Tungamah: A Saunders 4, T Jones 2, J Cooper 2, D O’Kane 1, Z Scott 1, J Chapman 1, D Symes 1, L Phillips 1.

Katunga: F Lappin 5, B Smith 2, S Arho 2, J Macfadyen 1, B Kearns 1, N Thorp 1, C Bishop 1.

Best: Tungamah: M O’Kane, T Jones, C Powell, D O’Kane, A Saunders, S Ferguson.

Katunga: J Howden, E Hayne, C Bishop, F Lappin, S Bond, W Chan.

After two weeks off Tungamah travelled to Katamatite to take on Katunga in the 1st Qualifying final. Tungamah easily accounted for Katunga earlier in the year and only lost the 1 game for the home and away season so they had earned favouritism.

However, someone forgot to tell Katunga this as they got off to a fast start. They kicked the first 5 goals of the game with a tricky breeze at their back. Their quick ball movement and contest work had the Bears on the back foot.

Tungamah finally got on the board through Saunders and quickly kicked another however the Swans kicked the last 2 goals of the quarter to hold a commanding 27-point lead at the first change.

Coach Stevenson urged his charges to get back to basics and win the contested ball to give themselves a chance at getting it into their forward half. Kicking with the breeze in the 2nd term the Bears started to get the game back on their terms.

With a couple of slight positional changes, they started to win the ball in the clinches and dominated the quarter. They were however wasteful in front of goal kicking 4 goals 8 behinds for the term but only trailed by 2 points at the main break.

It certainly wasn’t panic stations, but the Bears knew they had a fight on their hands and they had to hold firm against the breeze during the 3rd term. Both sides had momentum during the quarter with Tungamah holding the upper hand early in term, only to squander their opportunities in front of goal. Katunga then got the upper hand and were able to convert their chances kicking 4 goals 3 behind for the term to the Bears 1 goal 4 to take a handy 19-point lead into the final break.

The lead was certainly not insurmountable, however Tungamah continued to make hard work of scoring. They peppered the goals but at times lacked composure as the pressure built.

Tungamah got within a goal with around 10 minutes remaining then allowed Katunga a goal against the run of play. 2 late goals, one to Jones and the other to Saunders levelled the scores, then Saunders had a shot with 1 minute to go to put the Bears in front from 50 meters out on the boundary line. Unfortunately, his kicked sailed wide and the siren rang 30 seconds later with both sides locked on 84 points. Tungamah 11:18 to Katunga 13:6.

Extra time was needed to split the 2 teams with Katunga kicking with the breeze during the first 5 minutes. Matt O’Kane was sent behind the ball as a loose man in defence and played a great 5 minutes. He helped the backline to hold firm and only allowed Katunga 2 points for the period.

It proved to be a match winning move as the Bears gained momentum in the final 5 minutes. When Lachy Phillips scored the sealer with 2 minutes remaining the Bears were home, eventually grinding out the win by 12 points.

Katunga were brave giving their all in a very hard-fought contest, however the Bears are now through to the preliminary final in 2 weeks’ time.

Tungamah had some fine performers, none better than Matt O’Kane who was a powerhouse all day right across the ground. Terence Jones returned to the side for the first time this season after a holiday and a few weeks in the 2’s and was instrumental in the win especially during the last quarter and extra time.

Chris Powell was brilliant in the centre of the ground, while Des O’Kane repelled many of the Katunga forward moves with some telling marks. Ash Saunders was a constant threat in the forward line kicking 4 goals, he could have had a few more but for some wayward kicking.

Sam Ferguson rounded out the best players, with his hard running and precision ball use a highlight. Overall, coach Stevenson was happy with the win albeit the start of the game was somewhat disappointing.

The team showed great determination which was pleasing and their effort to come from behind in the tricky conditions had a lot of merit. There is still plenty to work on over the next 2 weeks but the seniors are happy to be through to a Preliminary Final and look forward to the next challenge.

Reserves

Tungamah 12.6.78 defeated Tocumwal 1.7.13.

After 3 long years finals were back for the Tungamah reserves and with all the excitement the ressies were concerned they’d forgot to book in the weather, but on cue the sun come out as the lunch time legends graced the field.

With a pre-game address that would make Shakespeare and Churchill look like amateur writers, the coaches requested the boys’ weather the storm early and work hard for their teammates.

Although the stirring speech was met with crickets, the boys adhered to the request and went to work.

Captain Patches demonstrated the importance of preparation, hydrating the body on Friday and the proof was in the pudding as he slotted a couple of early sausage rolls.

With big Tez on loan to the seniors Waity and the vote dispenser must have thought they had wandered into Woods Point as they entered the midfield.

They say you can’t buy experience and the Bears Reserves had over 120 years of it in the middle. In a geographical move, the boys took on more of a Spanish style siesta in the second quarter as they failed to apply scoreboard pressure.

In a positive from the quarter, the backs were able to display their defensive prowess. Ocean revelled in the slippery conditions hitting packs with the grace of an octopus trying to traverse the land. He dragged out plenty of ball to give runners first use.

With only a slight 8 goal lead heading into the last, Richo gave the boys the spray they thoroughly deserved.

Waity took it on board as he courageously threw himself forwards into the contest, suffering a modelling career ending injury to his elbow, bravely he fought on for the rest of the game.

Mitch “the undertaker” Goldman buried a few more with his trademark forward line pressure. The concern of dealing with two Beaton’s in a team was over dramatized as they waxed seamlessly out of the ruck and big Jones didn’t seem to be concerned about having a bit of me time at full forward.

Goals: M Bourke 4, B Beaton 2, M Irvine 2, J Reilly 1, S Kellock 1, B Irvine 1, C Jones 1, S Thomson 1.

Best: N Waite, J Reilly, W Sharp, M Bourke, J O’Shea, J Saunders.

Thirds

Tungamah 14.18.102 defeated Katamatite 5.4.34.

The Bears travelled to Blighty to take on the Tigers on a perfect day for footy. The first quarter was a real arm wrestle with both sides going hard at the ball with lots of big tackles and pressure on the ball carrier.

At quarter time both sides had 3 goals on the board and Katty was really having a red-hot go.

The second quarter was much the same with the Bears holding a 13-point lead at half time. Sidey called on the boys to lift a gear and play the Tungamah style of footy.

The message must have sunk in as the Bears kicked away and put 9 majors on the board in the second half to come away with a strong 68-point win. Geoff Montgomery had another stand out game taking strong marks and driving the ball forward all day.

Jayden Arnold and Liam Williams had their silky skills on display gathering many possessions and going forward kicked 2 goals each. Mick Hughes was solid at centre half back driving the ball long out of defence and halting many of Katty's forward attempts.

Sam Adkins and Jack Parker came off the bench and had strong impact on the game. Lach Phillips kicked 5 majors and had a heap of touches in the forward half.

Another solid team effort with all players keen to contribute. The Bears get the week off and wait to see who they play next as they build towards a potential Grand Final appearance.

Goals: Lach Phillips 5, Jack Costigan 3, Jayden Arnold 2, Liam Williams 2, Sam Adkins 1, Axel Doherty 1.

Beaton Family Awards: M Hughes, G Montgomery, J Arnold, S Adkins & J Parker.

Fourths

Tungamah 5.7.37 defeated Strathmerton 3.6.24.

Nerves were evident from both sides when the first siren sounded. It was a great, closely contested match all game, and the Bears just got over the line.

The pleasing thing is the Bears know they have plenty more to give. Ealesy was great on ball and was everywhere, whilst Kade in the backline did the job asked of him.

Special mention to Harry Wren who was great up forward. A first time final for all the 4ths is now out of the way, and they are ready to do it all again in two weeks’ time.

Goals: J Walker 2, H Wren 1, L Eales 1, J Bamford 1.

Best: L Eales, H Wren, K Michael, C Wilson, D Wood.