Reeva’s Match Wrap | Round 12

In my time at Glenelg the game that always seems to produce highest quality football is our clashes with the Adelaide Crows. There is a mutual respect between the teams of what each other are capable of and both teams play a brand that can see some exciting ball movement which is great to watch for all but is stressful from a coaching perspective. Our planning and thought process leading into the game was around getting ourselves into the fight head on and trusting in what we do will hold us in a good position in the game. Our thoughts from our previous clash early in the season were we didn’t do that as well as we could even though we had chances to win it late. On this occasion our group were fantastic from start to finish in all aspects lead mainly by our pressure across the ground. Credit to our group for how they went about it after a disruptive week with a number of players battling illness and not getting the preparation that they normally would.

The game started in a fierce manner with a real arm wrestle and some opportunities for both teams missed. The game broke open after the initial 15 minutes with our wiliness to move the ball by foot and challenge Adelaide to defend a player rather than space creating some score opportunities. 4 goals in a row gave us a really strong position in the game leading into the first break. A couple of late goals were not ideal, but we did feel we had control of the game for most part. The game played out similar through the 2^nd quarter and the first part of the 3^rd also. While both teams were playing good football neither were able to put back-to-back scores together. Like the in the first quarter the 2^nd half of the 3^rd quarter proved to be decisive with four unanswered goals providing a strong score board advantage leading into the last. Most pleasing was our ability to maintain our pressure and energy the longer the game went. We recognise the quality of the Adelaide team and the need to play at a level for the full 120 minutes and our group did that really strongly. A great result for us but also important we continue to build from it.

In what was an incredible finish, our Reserves group came from a long way back at the last break to grab a great win with a goal after the siren. Against a really strong and highly experienced Sturt team, the group’s ability to find a way when the game hadn’t gone there way for a large majority of the game is really positive. The brand of football they were able to play in the last quarter was really strong and will continue to build in the confidence of the young players and also continue to provide great leanings in their development. Great work to all.

We head into Round 14 against an improving South Adelaide Football club. For us, it is the next step and that will be our mindset into preparation this week. There are some positives to take away from this result, and equally there are some learnings that we look to continue to improve on. We look forward to the contest and hope to see a really strong Bays crowd at Stratarama Stadium on Saturday afternoon to support our group.

Go the Bays

Best Players Round 13: 1. M Proud 2. J Lyons 3. J Scharenberg 4. L Hosie 5. L McBean 6. L Partington

Darren Reeves

SENIOR COACH