Under 11's Strong Showing

Today we had our first look at Narara Valley Sportsground in Lisarow vs Niagara Park. Was a good playing surface with nice amenities.We lent our opponents 1 player per quarter to have a 13 per side game.

There was only 1 goal scored in 1st quarter & we went to the break with a narrow 4 point advantage.

Niagara Park started the 2nd quarter strongly, but didn't convert it into too many points and with a late flurry we headed into half time leading 26-11.

Our Hawks went on with the job in the 3rd quarter adding a further 3 goals & 5 behinds, only conceding 2 behinds.

In the end we came away victors, the final score Saratoga Hawks 8-9-57 bt Niagara Park Dockers 1-10-16.

This was the most physical encounter we have had so far this season, with plenty of hard tackling, contested rucks & bumps and bruises. The runners & water carriers from each team were kept very busy tending to, thankfully, minor injuries - hopefully Logan's lower leg injury also falls into this category!

From our team's perspective, it was very pleasing to see different team members step up today with big games to compliment our usual suspects who consistently perform at a high level.

Aaron Binstead was teriffic. He suffered a finger injury at Friday night rep trials, carried this into today's game, yet ripped in from start to end and his Player of the Week award was thoroughly deserved.

Calum Walters was heavily involved, skilful and heavily involved in our forward. This was easily his best performance in the u11's to date and he was rewarded with the Coach's Award.

Congrats to all team members, they and their opponents made the game a pleasure to watch.