U23 AAFC Carnival – Round-robin report

VAFA’s U23 representative side commenced their AAFC Carnival with a three-match round-robin against Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia over the past two days at North Hobart Oval.

Winning one of their three matches, the VAFA will tomorrow face-off with Tasmania for third and fourth position at Blundstone Arena in Bellerive.

General Manager of Football Operations and Umpiring and team manager Brian Goodman gave his thoughts on each of the three round-robin matches:

Game One vs Tasmania: VAFA defeated Tasmania by 25 points.

“The U23 Carnival got under way at the North Hobart Oval with the VAFA taking on Tasmania in slippery conditions. Our players started well and had 1.1 on the board without Tasmania getting the ball into their forward line due to the rock solid defence led by skipper Simon Caven and Josh Cowan. Credit to the Tassie boys who started to look dangerous and use the ball with zest, however coach Andrew Hayes regained some momentum by rotating cleverly off the bench, resulting in the Vic’s kicking away to a handy nine-point lead at the break. Tassie came out and started to play a hard brand of footy, which in turn forced players of the ilk of James Fletcher, Tom Quinn and Sean Carr to rally. The guys started to team well by playing a smart brand of footy, allowing Kelvin Williams to kick his second goal to help the Vic’s run out winners by a healthy margin.”

Game Two vs Western Australia: VAFA lost to Western Australia by nine points.

“In our match against WA we struggled to get our hands on the footy in the first half due to WA’s relentless pressure and tackling. However, we felt we were still a chance as we were only seven points down at the break. The second half had a disappointing start with WA kicking the first within 45 seconds. The challenge was well and truly laid down to us and the move of skipper Simon Caven to the forward lined reaped instant benefits, as he kicked our first goal of the game. However, with time running out we were unable to penetrate WA’s defence and ended up going down by nine points.”

Game Three vs South Australia: VAFA lost to South Australia by eight points.

“We had a bad start to this game when in-form big man Dustan Mills clashed with a water boy in the pre-game warm-up and split his lip. This caused a major reshuffle in the ruck, while also upsetting the balance of the team for what was a mini final for the Vic’s against good opposition. In the first half our boys showed they could match SA with good pressure and intensity around the contest. Some turnovers hurt with both sides unable to trouble the scoreboard until the SA boys kicked the first goal and led at the break by a small margin. The second half proved that at this level skill errors can hurt you, but after several changes by the coaching staff the Vic’s looked dangerous. Unfortunately, at the conclusion of the game SA had jelled that little bit better and ran out eight-point winners. The Vic’s will now play in the curtain-raiser final against Tasmania at Blundstone Arena at 12:30pm on Saturday. This is a must-win game for our boys to prove we have pride and will stop at nothing to notch a win against the Tassie lads.”

2015 U23 AAFC Carnival Minor Final Match Details:

VAFA vs Tasmania

Saturday July 4, 12:30pm

Blundstone Arena, Bellerive

4 x 20 Minute Quarters