ROUND 12 V HEPBURN

The ground at Hepburn was initially in excellent condition after being chopped up during the lightning premiership. It had great grass cover and if not for the pouring rain and water lying on it, could have been a great surface to play on.

Under 12s churned it up a little, and by the time the senior teams had finished with it was a bit of a mess! Hepburn were keen to repay Skipton for defeating their under 12s in the lightning premiership, and they repaid us in spades. The final score saw Skipton only kick a solitary point, 0.1-1 to Hepburn 9.9-63. Pinky’s went to Davey Alexander, Skipcoin to Caden Clark, and Bakery award to Will Sheehan.

Under 15s managed to reverse the results, kicking 17 goals in the heavy going was a good effort. Skipton 17.8-110 to Hepburn 1.3-9. Awards went to Lachlan Wills receiving the Pinky’s Pizza award, Ben Walsh the Skipcoin voucher, and Bakery Ward to Nathan Dean.

The tables were turned again when Hepburn’s strong Under 18 side gave our boys a lesson in the deteriorating conditions. It was becoming difficult to tell players apart, especially difficult when unfamiliar players pulled on the jumper, as Hepburn generously lent a couple of players to make up numbers. Skipton 2.2-14 defeated by Hepburn 18.10-118. Pinky’s went to Tom McCarthy, Skipcoin to Harry Bufton, and Emu Creek Deli to Aaron Miller.

With a couple of players on our senior list missing, injured or unavailable the reserves did a good job putting a full side on the ground. They performed well, fighting the game out until the last , keeping themselves in a competitive position for most of the game, with the opposition only pulling away late in the last quarter. It is very difficult to give a more comprehensive report of the efforts of our team as the mud covered players made it beyond the capabilities of this correspondent to work out what was going on! Jake Crack and Brad Uwland received awards.

The senior game started well for us, our players working hard to contest the ball in the opening term. This looked quite promising for us, but Hepburn clicked into gear and broke away in the second term, putting the game beyond doubt. Our players had their chances, but need to have more self belief as a side when another side gets a run on. We are certainly capable of pressuring all sides in the competition, and with more experience and maturity will come consistency. Final score Skipton 4.5-29 to Hepburn 13.12-90.

NETBALL

Hepburn struggled to supply decent weather yet again last Saturday but they didn't struggle when it came to the netball.

Our Skipton girls only managed the one win for the day and it was our under 13b girls who remain undefeated with a big 19 to 0 goal win. With 3 of our players unavailable it gave younger girls, Addi and Lyla extra court time. All the girls played extremely well in the wet and trying conditions with the awards going to Cate Connell and Sara Kennedy.

Unfortunately after that we couldn't get any more wins on the board.

Kailah Scott and Holly Draffin took the awards in the under 13 a game and though the girls tried hard the final score was 22 to 41.

U15s went down 14 to 31 with Sophie Liston and Gemma Richardson doing what they could do to help the team out but it wasn't enough.

U17s opposition were extremely strong and our girls struggled to match it with them going down 7 to 54. Jemima Howell and Vivian Johnson knight received the awards.

Cgrade had the company of Erin Robertson this week who returned to play with her old team mates again and in the process took home the skipcoin award in the 20 to 78 goal loss. The other awards went to Bec Walker and Jess Whiteside against the strong and accurate opposition.

Bgrade kept within touch for the first half but Hepburn then began to run over the top of us in the wet conditions, our girls going down 31 to 51 in the end. Amy Dridan, Amy Lodge and Jaymee Crack received the awards for their efforts.

There was some really positive parts of the a grade game with the coaches happy with the girls performance despite the scoreline 24 to 62. Hayley Jones in goals, Amelia Pollock in center court and Ella McLean in defence received the awards.

Next week we take on Waubra at home and hopefully can string a few more wins together. Come along and support the teams. Go Emus!