Recap

Goulburn U18s show a ton of ticker in ugly match

By CHRIS GORDON

The Goulburn Under 18s showed a lot of guts and no end of resolve in their 26-0 loss to Tuggeranong Vikings at Poidevin Oval on Saturday.

After a 99-0 loss to St Eddie’s in their last outing, Goulburn regrouped for a solid performance in which they held hold the lion share of territory but were just unable to convert this into points due to the Tuggeranong’s unbreachable last line defence.

Goulburn’s performance was all the more praise-worthy in light of the size and weight discrepancy between the two sides, and the consistent high shots and shoulder charges dished out by the Vikings. If you could go back in time, the best advice you could give to the Goulburn side would be “don‘t forget to duck.”

With regards to the size, many of the Vikings U18s dwarfed their first-grade players for size. And there’s nothing at all wrong with that. With three U18 teams, it’s understandable that some of the biggest will be selected in their top junior side. We’d do the same if we had bigger kids.

With regards to the ill-discipline and cheap shots, well that wasn’t ok. It was excessive and relentless. Now, you should always be dubious of the bias of a home-team match report writer defending the home team and demonising the visitors, but the penalties and cards from the referee support that contention.

Tuggeranong received two yellow cards and a red card and could have received a lot more had not the referee wanted to keep the match on track. In fact the match was pulled up a few minutes early when a high shot knocked a Goulburn player out, requiring a blue card for concussion.

It was tough for a lot of the Goulburn parents watching what was happening to their kids, and the Tuggeranong coach even read his side the riot act after the match.

Having said that, it wasn’t a match between the saints and the sinners. Both sides transgressed and Goulburn received a yellow card of their own, and provided their own share of niggle. But for the most part the Goulburn side did a pretty fair job of not retaliating.

Anyway, that’s all getting away from the football, and there was some pretty good football hidden within all of that mess. Tuggeranong, to their credit were dominant in all set pieces, quick to and effective at the breakdown and committed in defence, totally deserving the win.

And despite the loss, Goulburn’s resolve against a side that at least visually towered over them, particularly in the second half when scoring was reduced to a trickle and in the context of plenty of provocation, showed a hell of a lot of ticker.

There hasn’t been a lot of negativity between the clubs in the past, with Tuggeranong traditionally a well-disciplined and good-natured club to compete against. Maybe put this one down to travelling blues, but hopefully the next time they meet the only thing to write about will be how good the game was.

Best and fairest players were Jack White (3), Jack Stubbs (3), Alec Elliott (2), Samuel Spackman (1). Stubbs was also named Players’ Player.

Tuggeranong 26 bt Goulburn 0.

THESE PHOTOS: Chris Gordon