Swans Side Take Down Top of the Table Dragons

U18 Boys Dragons vs Swans Round Eight - May 18th, 2024

By Lenny Roberts

With an undefeated season still intact, the Dragon Boys returned to RSEA Park on a perfect day for football to take on the QBE Swans Academy. Eight new faces in the helm with Hunter Lynch, Aaron Taylor, Sam Meredith, Phoenix Janover, Freddy Brayshaw, Angus Bowd, Jess Mildenhall, and Jake Matthews getting a full run at it.

A new mix of players for the opening bounce with Ned Maginness, Riely Collins, and Sacha Levine starting in the midfield. Along with co-captain Brodie Findlay handling the ruck duties. It was a tale of two halves in the first term with Sandringham getting on top early before Sydney started to get things going their way. On debut, it was Aaron Taylor who kicked the first goal of the day. Streaming into goal after receiving the handball from Janover on the half forward flank. An inside 50 from Levine from the following centre bounce saw Sam Buck get on the end of it with a nice mark. He slotted it to give the Dragons an early two goal lead. Midfielders Ted Clayton and Riely Collins were heavily involved in the contest. The Swans responded by dominating the second half of the quarter, kicking the next two goals to hit the front. Before adding another in the 25th minute to lead by 9 points at the first break.

Key defenders Adrian Cole (12 disposals) and Lachlan Voss (20 disposals) were solid all day, standing tall in defense. The Swans kept their momentum going in the second term by kicking the first. Findlay was among the best, he took two intercept marks in this term alone, both in the defensive half. Sam Buck was also close to best on ground, he had a couple of nice plays including booting two of his five goals on the day in this quarter. His first one was set up by both Jhett Haeata (19 disposals, 8 marks) and Sam Meredith. Following this, Sydney hit straight back from the clearance with a major of their own. Crafty small forward Phoenix Janover showed good pressure all game. The visitor’s soccer kicked one home to extend the margin back out to 14 points, a back-and-forth arm wrestle. Mitchell Kirkwood-Scott (13 disposals, 8 tackles) helped set up two forward half entries before Levine demonstrated his class to slot a goal on the run. Sydney took a 6.4 (40) to 5.3 (33) lead into the main break.

After an impressive first half, Levine was utilised in the first centre bounce of the third quarter. And immediately had an impact with a set shot goal, reducing the Swans lead to just one point 3 minutes into the term. Another Sandringham goal, this time from Ricky Theodoropoulas (18 disposals). Setup from a rebound 50 to give the Dragons the lead. Buck added his fourth off a crumb deep inside forward 50. Particularly in this term, the Sandy defenders were forcing the Swans’ players to kick wide into forward fifty, hoping to keep the Sydney forwards in less dangerous positions. A nice Maginness entry to Buck (his fifth of the match) gave the home side a handy 16-point lead in the 18th minute. Playing in the backline, Owen Bater (15 disposals, 8 marks) was terrific, specifically in the third. The Swans Academy halted the momentum with a major of their own, although it was still a successful term for the Dragons, winning the quarter 25-8.

However, it was all Sydney in the last, outscoring Sandringham five goals to two. Debutante Jess Mildenhall had a few nice defensive efforts, playing as a lockdown defender. Sydney snapped home a goal from a forward 50 contest to cut the margin to single digits before retaking the lead after multiple forward entries. They made it three in a row after some good forward pressure, a real key factor of their performance (won the tackle count by two). The visitors then snapped home one more to push the lead out to 14 points with under ten minutes to play. The game seemed over at this point, however Sandy kicked two goals in quick succession to cut the lead to just 3 points. One thanks to a fifty-metre penalty and the other through Bowd who dribble kicked one home. Although, a mark inside 50 from a Sydney forward just about sealed the game. An impressive display from the Swans Academy, taking down the Dragons away from home, and you could see the elation from the players as the siren sounded. The final score 11.4 (70) to 12.8 (80) in favour of Sydney. Sandringham will reset and then travel east to Morwell where they’ll take on the Gippsland Power next Sunday.

GOALS: Buck 5, Levine 2, Theodoropoulas, Bowd, Lynch, Taylor

BEST: Buck, Findlay, Bater, Levine, Maginness, Voss