Bears too strong for Swans

Goals: Tungamah: Ashley Saunders 10, Jhett Cooper 2, Xavier Stevenson 2, Benjamin Beaton 1, Nicholas Irvine 1, Christopher Powell 1, Zach Scott 1, Damon Symes 1.

Katunga: Sam Arho 2, Braydon Kearns 1, Fergus Lappin 1.

Best: Tungamah: Ashley Saunders, Dylan Scott, James Lawless, Zach Scott, Cameron Tregenza, Ned Connell.

Katunga: Edward Hayne, Ethan Hodgkin, Cameron Bishop, Josh Howden, William Chan, Braydon Kearns.

Beautiful conditions greeted both sides with Jubilee Park looking a picture under sunny skies and not a breath of wind could be felt. The contest was very willing in the first term with both sides cracking in hard.

Tungamah had most of the play but failed to capitalise on their good work with some sloppy finishing the culprit. They led by 8 points at the first change and looked a little flat with the young Swans outfit taking it right up to them.

The 2nd term saw the home side lift their work rate around the stoppages and this allowed the ball to be moved forward with more fluency.

Ash Saunders was the main beneficiary of this better ball movement and he proved unstoppable slamming on 5 majors for the term kicking them from all parts of the forward 50.

The Bears took a 7-goal lead and a lot of confidence into the main break and coach Stevenson urged his troops to keep building on their momentum.

The midfield was right on top with Ferguson, Irvine, Stevenson, O’Kane, Tregenza and first gamer Zach Scott all influential. Their run and carry and pinpoint disposal led to the forward line getting a lot of good looks.

As has been the case all season the defence was very frugal with Lawless, Smith, Ned Connell, Justin Saunders, Josh Chapman, and Dylan Scott all having the better or their opponents while providing plenty of rebound to start the offence.

It was more of the same in the second half with the Bears slowly building their lead and the longer the contest went the larger the lead got with the home side finally running out winners by 96 points.

Ash Saunders was clearly best on ground finishing with 10 majors along with a number of assists, other than him it was a very even performance across the board with everyone contributing to the win which is a great sign for the coming weeks.

Awards: Hard Luck cafe - D Scott, Yarrawonga Pilates - A Saunders, One Zach - C Tregenza, Wingates - J Lawless, TFNC Meal - Z Scott, Ski Club - N Connell.

Reserves

Tungamah 15.22.112 defeated Katunga 1.0.6.

On a picture-perfect day, the fellas were up and about to get stuck in and get the four points even with the thoughts of so-called coach Justin “volunteer of the year” Saunders getting dropped to the ones. Nonetheless Mr 3 votes Nathan Waite showed again that he has skill as he continued his good form.

Dan Clarke had another strong outing proving why he’s the $2.50 favourite to win the prestigious and hard to come by twos B&F.

Mr Henderson and Mr Irvine were continuing their solid twin towers performance again down forward for the day as they didn’t fall down and get hit all day.

Mitchell Adkins performed as well as Winx down the home straight and whilst Ada Connell started out as Razor Ray in the morning, he turned into more movement off the halfback line and down the wings than Brian Taylor in the changerooms on a Friday night.

Jezza Kelly also played very well as he has all year and if there’s a few people who see a bit of value in their bets the scribe would be looking closely to this fella for the end of year ceremonies.

Lastly after what many would say was an angry and frustrating morning for Brayden Beaton, he kept his good form going and built up a nice grin by the end of the game to make everyone feel safe around him again.

All in all, apart from the last quarter only aiming for the behinds by everyone it was a good win and still staying undefeated to date.

Goals: Daniel Clarke 3, Jake Henderson 3, Nathan Waite 3, Tom Irvine 2, Matthew Bourke 1, Nick Gamble 1, Terence Jones 1, Thomas Lidgerwood 1.

Awards: Tungamah Hotel - J. Kelly, Mixt Kitchen- Ada Connell, Belle’s - B. Beaton, TFNC meal - M. Adkins, Aerial - D. Clarke, Club Mulwala - N. Waite.

Thirds

Tungamah 37.12.234 defeated Katunga 0.0.0.

The Bears hosted the Swans on a sunny and dry day perfect for footy. The game started and was hard to look away from with the Bears putting 10 goals on the board in the first quarter.

Everything fell into place for the Bears as they played out of their skins and ended up kicking 37 goals for the game.

Loch Phillips had a real day out after returning from injury kicking 20 goals. Jayden Arnold and Geoff Montgomery tore it up in the centre and drove the ball into the forward line constantly.

Harvey Thomson and Liam Williams worked hard all day and were able to hit the scoreboard with 6 goals between them. Beau Cummins was strong in the ruck and snuck forward and kicked 2 goals himself.

The backline was miserable as always and was able to keep the Swans scoreless. Great team effort with all the boys playing their part.

Thanks to the boys who went across to help out the Swans when they were down a couple players. The Katunga boys never stopped trying all day and battled hard right to the end.

Goals: Loch Phillips 20, Liam Williams 4, Axle Doherty 3, Jack Costigan 3, Beau Cummins 2, Geoff Montgomery 2, Harvey Thomson 2, Thomas Costigan 1.

Awards: Coaches Award - Loch Phillips, Beaton Family Award - Jayden Arnold, Beaton Family Award - Geoff Montgomery, Yarrawonga Bakery Award - Harvey Thomson, Yarrawonga Golf Club Award - Beau Cummins, McQualter/Whyte Family Award - Alec Williams, Ricky D's Pizza Award - Jackson Purtell, Yarrawonga Fish and Chips Award - Darcy Cox.

Fourths

Tungamah 12.23.95 defeated Katunga 1.0.6.

The Bears took on the Swans at home on a perfect day for footy. Tungamah were slow to get going but by halftime they had found their legs and started playing as a team.

The Bears moved Lenny forward which worked well as he went on to kick 4 goals. The backline kept Katunga to one goal, and they got the job done.

With a heap out, Coach Ryan decided the team was right to get all three Doyle boys out on the field together as the opportunity may not arise again.

In the last quarter young Desi Doyle got his opportunity and didn’t disappoint as he took a great mark in the goal square and went back to slot it through the middle.

The whole team ran down to congratulate him. Thank you to Katunga who never gave up.

The Bears look forward to taking on second placed Tocumwal Saturday.

Goals: Lenny Lonergan 4, Billy Doyle 3, Jake Walker 2, Archie Doyle 1, Desi Doyle 1, Lucas Eales 1.

Awards: Harry Cummins – Coaches Sock Award, Lucas Eales – Crusty Loaf, Lenny Lonergan – Yarrawonga Fish & Chips, Billy Doyle – Thirsty Lures, Archie Doyle – McDonalds.

5ths/Bear Cubs

In near perfect conditions for an 8:30 start on a Saturday morning the Bear Cubs greeted the coaches with smiles and plenty of excitement, as the word had got around that the Swans were travelling along nicely sitting at 5 wins and were planning a bit of a milk bar crawl on the way back to Katunga, after they took the prized scalp of the Bears.

But with nearly 20 players out with Covid, Chicken Pox, a broken arm and a few boys that played up during the week and were omitted by their mothers, the coaches were confident that the remaining chargers would get the job done.

The Bears have been in good form and have been working hard on their tackling, shepards, getting back quick off the mark, spreading into space, calling both ways for the ball and did it show.

When at 1/3 time the Cubs had a Shepard count of 23 (self-assessed) and 4 officials.

Darcy hard ball gets and tackles, Fin Woods movement and pressure in defence and goal assist with Lucas who snagged a nice one, while Taigs marking and presence around the ground was impressive.

With their hard work leading the into the 2/3 2 goals up, the Swans found another gear and a few of their bigger kids clawed the game back to near equal.

In and under work of Dessie and Noah L kept the Bears in the game while making the Swans earn their kicks. Fin C was great through the middle and reminded the spectators of his old man in his glory days.

Angus L was also solid in defence after eating 4 hotdogs he took some getting around.

2/3 time has the Bears up by 2 points. Before the last the swans coach could be heard saying “don’t you want to eat 6 ice creams on the way home. Well, you need to get out there and beat them first.”

This stirred up the Bears coaches. Luke then delivered the most inspiring address like Brave Heart and Dennis Denuto had entered his body with and the words just flowing.

“What will you do without freedom and it’s the vibe and it’s the Marbo boys” were some of the most remembered parts.

With that the Bears rallied. Domo, Ernie, Rory, Paddy and Cooper stood tall.

Tyler, Murphy and Travis worked hard with their 1% and leadership around the ground.

But when Fin rucked Flynn who kicked to Flin who passed to Flin or Fin who chipped to Smith who goaled, the game was sealed.

And when the siren went the Bears celebrated with a recently learnt first verse of thank god I’m a Tunga boy.

And the job was done.

Awards: McDonald’s: Tex and Paddy, Crusty loaf: Lucas, TFNC canteen: Tague, Yarrawonga fish & chips: Cooper.