Week 1 of Finals & Action Photo's
A's vs Athelstone; B's vs Sal.North; C's vs Goody Saints and D's vs Lockleys
Special thanks to Claude Beltrame ('78) for these great photos
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pYMM2om1rh9q6QyY8
A Grade Match Report: Qualifying Final v Athelstone
The stage was set for a huge day for the club. Four sides playing in Qualifying Finals at the club after a strong showing in the minor round. Added to the day was a celebration for one of our club’s favourite sons in James Butterworth playing his 200th game.
Finals footy is never going to be perfect it’s always going to be a tight contested game with both sides going into battle. Saturday’s encounter played out exactly that way. During the minor round the deficits were 14 and 13 points with each side taking the honours. So we knew we were in for a battle.
The opening quarter set the scene with the 200 gamer in Butters hitting the scoreboard for the first time in 2024 providing additional motivation to get the job done. Both sides peppered the goals with stoppage contests becoming the staple. Then the unthinkable happened. Butters went down in what was a heartbreaking incident which forced him from the field and into the rooms for the remainder of the game. The bumper crowd, the bench and the players were stunned. We managed to hold out to the first break with a narrow margin of 7 points ahead .
Regrouping and shifting the magnets the players recalibrated in true Rock-Solid fashion and went to work in the second. The second was full of endeavour and true grit which enabled us to continue to hold our own without trademark reward on the scoreboard. Not to be denied our opponents sensed the loss of Butters and went on the offensive both from contest and transition. The main break was a welcomed relief for both sides with the margin down to just 2 points.
Again we asked for an effort fully aware of the reward at the end and we came out and produced a vintage third quarter with dominance from the likes of Kempy, Wakelin, Cini, De Matteis we out worked our opponents kicking 5 goals and taking a 13-point lead into three quarter time.
Finals can be a grind and full of high emotion the final quarter was nothing short of epic. Contest after contest across the ground, each side pushing under fatigue trying to grab some momentum…we withstood an early barrage with our opponents holding the ball in their front half. But time and time again our defence held firm, with tackle pressure at a season high rating. There were smothers, defensive punches, turnovers the quarter had it all. The margin late was down to an eye watering 4 points…but the belief and the sheer will of the group pushed and pushed until a moment of brilliance from Lanzoni which saw him kick the sealer to run away with a gutsy Rock Solid 10-point victory.
Every player provided valuable contributions throughout the game, with best of ground honours going to Kempy closely followed by seasoned veteran in Tullio down back. Stef Lanzoni was incredible for four quarters and Sam Buckham was superb through the midfield all day with our skipper in DMac orchestrating our defence and the side.
A tremendous win which we will use as we head into next week.
Final Score : ROCFC 8.12 (60) defeated Athelstone 6.14 (50)
Goal Kickers : L. Stepic 2, B. Baldwin 2, S. Lanzoni, 1, J. Butterworth 1, F. Wakelin 1, J. Boxer 1.
Best Players: C. Kemp, T. De Matteis, S. Lanzoni, S. Buckham, D. McCallum
See you at the footy.
Damian Boots
A Grade Coach
B Grade Match Report: Qualifying Final v Salisbury North
Our first final was always going to be a big challenge for us against Salisbury North and I thought we handled it for a young side very well.
We started the game well with our mids getting to work early and providing our forwards plenty of early opportunities with Max Daw kicking our first two goals.
As the match continued many times, we were challenged but we stood up to that with Dylan Reinbrecht, El Murada and Hayden Swanbury getting plenty of the ball to stem the tide from the opposition.
Our back line as I have said many times this year was solid with in particular Riordan McNamara playing this role in the back pocket.
Dylan Fitzsimmons got back to form with his best game for a while providing pace and good ball use around the ground. Paddy Baldwin, Max Dax and Jarryd Ball worked hard in the forward lines, and Tom Bradfords form continues with another solid game.
We were very happy with the win by 24 points, but we know this is only one game in this finals series and we have the experienced Goodwood Saints side to contend with this week which we are looking forward to.
Final Scores: ROCs 11.11 (77) defeated Salisbury North 8.5 (53)
Goal Kickers: Max Daw 3, Dylan Huppatz 2, El Murada 2, Hayden Swanbury 2, Matthew Brown 1, Jackson Petty 1.
Best Players: El Murada, Dylan Reinbrecht, Hayden Swanbury, Dylan Fitzsimmons, Riordan McNamara.
Thanks for the support last week.
David Moyle
B Grade Coach
C Grade Match Report: Qualifying Final v Goodwood Saints
We took on a very strong Goodwood Saints team Saturday which resulted in a tough loss for our C grade boys. All week we spoke about using our biggest strengths against the top teams - our speed and fitness.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to execute our skills or implement our strategies effectively. Our poor kicking in the first half cost us, particularly at goal. In contrast, Goodies were able to kick straight and make the most of their chances going for goal. We were down by 4 goals at half time but thought we could climb back. We’ve been a second half team all year and we were confident we could get ourselves back in the game.
Unfortunately there was just too much to do. Our poor kicking skills continued, and we fumbled too often with the ball in hand. Goodwood Saints continued their strong form in the second half effectively putting the game to bed.
The first final didn’t go the way we wanted it, but our boys would’ve learned a lot from that game. They’ve seen what it takes to win a final and skills required for a four-quarter effort.
We look ahead to Athelstone in the second final which is a do-or-die situation for us. We’re 100% up for the fight!
Final Scores: ROCs 7.9 (51) defeated by Goodwood Saints 16.8 (104)
Goal Kickers: Dylan Matthews 3, Amer Elhosni 2, Jason Cavuoto 1, Felix Brasher 1.
Best Players: Fabian Di Lulio, Tom Matsis, Josh Massie, Dylan Matthews, Amer Elhosni.
See you all next week.
Anthony Onofrio & Josh Massie
C Grade Co-Coaches
D Grade Match Report: Qualifying Final v Lockleys
Rocs football club was buzzing with excitement as the Final Series started this weekend, our Men’s Football Teams finishing with outstanding minor rounds effort in a Top 3 position . Perfect conditions at Roc Park as the Blockbuster Qualifying Finals played out with ROCs Academy featuring in the twilight timeslot taking on Lockleys FC who had beaten the Academy squad on both meetings this campaign - a massive challenge for our team.
The action was quick and fast to start the contest as both sides tried their best to gain advantage, Rocs were under pressure and could not find any cohesive teamwork with Lockleys pouncing on any fumble or skill error to create many turnovers providing forward chances for their well drilled attacking targets to apply scoreboard pressure on a frustrated Rocs . In a typical finals type game both sides held advantage during the first half but could not break away to hold onto any meaningful scoreboard advantage. 1/2: time score -Rocs 4-7 vs Lockleys 4-4.
The second stanza of proceedings had the ears still ringing Rocs Academy running together producing outstanding teamwork to send the football forward repeatedly and our switched-on forward line working together to take complete control of the contest. Rocs excellent efforts were rewarded with a thrilling win as the Red & Black's added 9-6 to Lockleys 1-4 in an excellent second half.
Final scores: Rocs 13-13 (91) defeated Lockleys 5-8 (38)
Goal Kickers: C. Brasher 3, P. Norris 3, S. Tagg 2, A. Davis 1, J. Thoday 1, H. Smith 1, D. Leggett 1, A. Slivak 1.
Best Players: S. Tagg, C. Brasher, P. Norris, L. Tripodi, J. Avlonitis.
Best team men-J. Munchenberg, C. Pietrafesa, A. Slivak.
See you next week at TTG.
Stevo Edwards
D Grade Coach
