Round Twelve Men’s Premier Division Match Review, UNSW-ES Bulldogs v Inner West Magpies

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Written by Lachlan Scott

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First Quarter

The Bulldogs and the Magpies line up on a magnificent Sunday, a slight breeze and perfect conditions for football. UNSW-ES hoping to secure a top two finish and earn themselves a double chance in finals whilst Inner West are looking to climb the ladder and nab some wins late. Croft coming in for the Magpies adding an unknown factor up forward and Emery looking dangerous as always after kicking 9 last week.

A good bit of argy-bargy early as the teams let each other know there’s pride in these jumpers. Neither side seizing the ascendancy early as they trade forward 50 entries. Bulldogs are the first to break the stalemate with Emery marking an errand kick for goal right next to the behind post. He recognizes the impossible angle and hits up Jack who has silently snuck into space. He takes his chance to set the tone early and slots it straight through the uprights. First goal to UNSW-ES.

Jack is involved again, this time spotting Peter barrelling out from goal through defenders and into space. He shoots a low piercing dart straight to Peter’s chest and the kick finds its mark through heavy contact. Peter wastes no time at all, short run up, sizzling kick, and straight over the goal umpire’s head. The Bulldogs are jumping out to an early lead but its still very even across the ground, just that last kick inside 50 being the difference.

Doyle and Veerhuis are doubling up against Emery early to reduce his impact, and it appears to be working as they intercept and thump away everything sent his way. They’ll need to be careful not to forget about the rest of this deadly Bulldogs forward line. They utilise the overlap to slingshot their way up the wing and drive forward. Inner west putting crushing pressure on in the forward 50 arc and locking it in ruthlessly. Harper nabs the next entry with a towering mark in space and lines up from deep in the pocket. His teammates look to have faith in him as no one is calling for the pass or lining up on the goal line. And with good reason! He smashes it through the big sticks with plenty of room to spare. Goal Magpies.

Inner West drop some mids back to overwhelm the Bulldogs forward line, transitioning to a rapid fire run and carry down the wing again. This tactic pays off again as they swarm past the UNSW-ES mids and look to isolate the forwards. Tiziani spins and wrongfoots his opponent in a moment of individual brilliance before spotting Zoppo deep. He weights his kick perfectly to fall in the forward’s favour, who marks the clever kick handily. Very little doubt in whether he’ll kick this, 20m out at a very slight angle. He starts his run up, stutter step Josh Kennedy style, and blasts it well over the goal umpire’s head. Scores level late in the first.

The Magpies lock it forward and grind forward with repeat contests, making the rucks earn their keep. They plink away at the sticks repeatedly, landing themselves some late behinds.

Quarter Time UNSW-ES Bulldogs 2.1.13 – Inner West Magpies 2.3.15

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Second Quarter

The contest tightens up early in the second as the pressure ramps up. Both midfields put their bodies on the line with bone crunching tackles and desperation smothers aplenty. Finally the stalemate breaks and UNSW-ES flies forward with a long bomb to Williamson. He can’t mark through heavy contact up collects it off the deft with incredible skill, spins and bashes it goalward. Defenders rush back to punch it through, but the ball evades them and tumbles through. Bulldogs again setting the pace.

UNSW-ES dive forward again immediately but the defensive pressure proves too much and the ball is forced back out rapidly. Too rapidly in fact as Turner manages to intercept just outside the 50m arc. And its 50! Turner feints right and the man on the mark bites, the umpire blows his whistle and walks them both to the top of the goal square. Turner makes a sure thing of it, pounding the Sherrin well into the car park. Goal UNSW-ES.

Bulldogs on a roll here in the second. Emery continues to be the target forward despite the overwhelming coverage on him. The midfield moves it around trying to draw defenders off him and up the ground. And it pays off on the third attempt. He drags his man back to the goal square and screams for the ball. It come it low and sharp, and he marks with ease through heavy contact. As we’ve seen all year, he’s deadly from almost any range, and the 20m kick directly in front proves no problem. Bulldogs three in a row.

Finally Inner West peg one back. Harper marks just outside the forward 50 arc near the boundary and lobs a long hanging ball to the pack forming in the goal square. Zoppo leaps for it but can’t bring it down through some very heavy contact. No matter though as he collects off the deck with impressive speed and snaps sharply across his body, slamming the ball past fans sitting on the fence. Magpies get one back in a tough quarter to curtail UNSW-ES’ ascendancy.

Half Time UNSW-ES Bulldogs 5.4.34 – Inner West Magpies 3.4.22

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Third Quarter

Forward 50 pressure continues to be strong for the Magpies after the main break. With marks up forward not eventuating, players throw themselves over the ball to lock it in. A massive head on collision between Mungovan and McEvoy-Gray creates enough chaos and confusion for Croft to break from his opponent, snaffle the ball off the deck and snap a goal in a matter of seconds. Magpies with the first goal but players from both sides paying the price.

Zoppo looks to collect the ball but instead collects his opponent. Overwhelming his opponent and driving his opponent to the boundary, he’s exemplifying the overwhelming Inner West forward pressure. The midfield is still struggling to keep their Bulldog opposites on a leash and finally they break free. Rapid fire handballs result in a long bomb from Kilpatrick just outside the 50m arc, and nobody’s home! His kick tumbles through surreptitiously and UNSW-ES maintain their lead.

The Bulldogs backline continues to struggle this quarter, this time they look to instigate a switch across halfback but the kick is errand and the Magpies forwards pounce. Harper laps up the clearing handball and fires off a step to the cheers of the black and white faithful. The kick holds true in the breeze and Inner West keeps chipping away at that lead.

Jack is everywhere for UNSW-ES in a best of ground performance. He dives into the contest and extricates the ball, finding Spencer with the rapid-fire handball into space. Spencer hears the cries of Emery deep and obliges, putting the ball right on his head. Emery remains tangled at the drop of the ball, can’t disengage from his opponent. Instead he turns him, juggles the ball, spins his body, drops it to his boot, slamming it through for a goal! Incredible strength and skill by Emery, there’s nothing you can do to counter that. Goal UNSW-ES.

Three Quarter Time UNSW-ES Bulldogs 7.4.46 – Inner West Magpies 5.7.37

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Fourth Quarter

The Bulldogs come out swinging early in the final quarter. They continue to plink away at the sticks but only land behinds for their efforts, although it does creep their lead out. Down the other end the Magpies forward line have their own near misses without adding anything to the score board, running headlong into a resolute UNSW-ES defence. Finally the dam breaks! A long kick to the goal square comes to ground and the Magpies smalls swarm. Croft swings at the ball but its smothered. He stoops and collects again, this time taking two steps to break into space and chipping across his body from 20m out. Inner West with the first goal of the last quarter.

UNSW-ES aren’t giving up their lead any time soon. They fly forward through a chaos ball from Jack which targets Emery. He’s swallowed up by defenders and barely has the space or time to tap the footy away to Spencer as he streaks past at full tilt towards goal. He collects with a defender hanging off him. One step, snap, goal! And in the blink of an eye the Bulldogs cement their lead late.

Deller sends the Magpies forward as the desperation kicks start to emerge around the ground. Everyone is playing on and taking risks with such a slim margin and so little time left. The Bulldogs defence intercept marks with confidence but the player runs to play on before changing his mind and the umpire calls play on. He obviously hasn’t heard and is run down immediately from behind by Croft. He lines up directly in front 20m out and doesn’t look the gift horse in the mouth. Goal Inner West, margin is 5.

And the Magpies take the lead! From the centre bounce they snatch it straight out of the ruck and in two kicks fire wildly in Zoppo’s direction. He marks miraculously through overwhelming contact and clutches it to his chest as defenders fall on top of him. Knowing the scoreline and how little time is left he dusts himself off and makes certain of the kick. The goal umpire doesn’t budge an inch and Inner West are in front with only a few minutes remaining. Upset alert!

Unger mans the goal line for the Bulldogs, marking or deflecting any shots that fly his way. He must prevent any scoring whatsoever if they want to win this. He takes one such mark like a goalkeeper at the world cup, cool calm and collect. UNSW-ES transition down the wing with long looping kicks drawing defenders up. Brown marks at the top of the arc, high towering bomb that drifts left in the breeze. Scores are level!

Magpies go straight down the spine from the kick in, turn over and it goes into the Bulldogs forward line again. The mids flood back and crowd the contest, drowning out any hope of quick plays. Finally Jack puts his stamp on what has been an incredible day out for him. He screams through the melee, collects off the deck, snaps blindly in hope. The Sherrin soars slowly through the air carried by the breeze, left again just like Brown’s kick but it doesn’t matter. The Bulldogs are up by 1 and the siren sounds!

Incredible scenes here, UNSW-ES escape by the skin of their teeth and Inner West come within seconds of an unprecedented upset. Both sides will be proud in the knowledge they left everything out on the field, this is what community footy is all about!

Full Time UNSW-ES Bulldogs 8.9.57 – Inner West Magpies 8.8.56

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Final Scores:

UNSW-ES Bulldogs: 8.9.57

Goal Kickers: K. Emery 2, B. Jack, K. Kilpatrick, O. Peter, W. Spencer, O. Turner, T. Williamson.

Best: Brodie Romensky, Oliver Rouse, Ned Hawkins, Thomas Unger, Cooper Kilpatrick, William Spencer

Inner West Magpies: 8.8.56

Goal Kickers: J. Croft 3, E. Harper 3, B. Zoppo 2

Best: Luke Jamieson, James Bradley, Lachlan Tiziani, Kyle Veerhuis, Brad Rauter, Thye Hamilton

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