Aberfeldie

[westerly9]

Abers never troubled in this game. Marby have lost that real aura about them at the moment, but to be expected with the amount of players they lost over the Summer.

T Hislop looked to be struggling a touch with his knee. With Craigieburn really struggling, might be a chance to rest him.

Mangan has the worst haircut I have ever seen.

[aberman]

Not far off the mark about Mangos hair cut westerly9 SHOCKING! Looks like Ivan Maric, good win by the Abers boys on Saturday, looking forward to the jets game, will be one to watch

[julianlarkins]

A gutsy win by Abers yesterday after being down by 3 goals at half-time. The Two Blues started brightly before a determined Keilor responded with 6 unanswered goals in the wet to hold the ascendency at the main break. After being kept goalless in the second term, the third term saw the Abers midfield lift through the dominance of Fanning in the ruck. Keilor made the Two Blues work hard for all their five goals but finally conceded the lead late in the third. The last term was equally tough but the class of Peverill and co. in the wet was enough to ensure Abers got over the line.

Abers will take a lot of heart from their second half performance with their work in close very impressive under intense pressure from Keilor. An under-strength Abers once again did enough to get the points against a very determined opposition, holding Keilor to just one goal in the second half. The second term would be of some concern as they definitely switched off and Keilor made them pay. Nonetheless, it was a good sign that there were so many contributors across the field in the second half and they could will themselves back into the game through the leadership of Fanning, Mangan, Craven, Michael and Peverill.
Keilor were very brave all day and had some impressive performances from a number of players. Brad Clifton was instrumental down back and the likes of Van Reit, Garth, Joyce, Cooper all worked tirelessly in tough conditions.

FINAL SCORE:

Aberfeldie FC: 11.9 – 79
Keilor: 8.6 – 54

BEST PLAYERS:
Aberfeldie FC: Fanning, Peverill, O’Brien, Norris, Keford, T.Hislop
Keilor: Clifton, Van Reit, Joyce, James

[Freak]

Sounds like a good win by Abers and also glad to hear Keilor are starting to play well.
Who didn't play for Abers yesterday?

[julianlarkins]

Abers were missing Edwards, two Hislops, Sharp, Phillips etc..also have a couple of stars nursing injuries. Will still be a great contest against the Jets.

[Freak]

That certainly makes their performance all the better.
With Greenvale having a few out as well hopefully the contest is as good as everyone is predicting.

[julianlarkins]

ROUND 9 ABERFELDIE v PASCOE VALE, Clifton Park

The Gorillas were victorious in a free slowing contest between two exciting teams yesterday at Clifton Park. Abers led for most of the day but the Panthers refused to give in, hitting the front mid way through the third term and still pushing forward in the final moments to only lose by 10 points.

Both teams looked really sharp on the back of the mid season break with the game being played at a frenetic tempo in the first quarter. Pascoe Vale swarmed the stoppages with numbers creating immense pressure on the Abers midfield. Abers still managed to control the early stages of the game with skilful ball use breaking free from the pressure to create the first major. Pascoe Vale’s Daniel Nolan then gave away a silly free-kick to gift Abers a second before the re-start. Abers looked in control of the game until a risky switch allowed the Panther’s little race horse Sam Leech to intercept and goal on the run from 30 metres. More turnovers created by the pressure from Pascoe Vale were hurting the Two Blues and despite some quality play they could not seem to pull away from their determined opposition. If not for the dominance of Mal Michael down back and the brilliance of Tom Hislop up forward the Panthers could have been in front at quarter time. A courageous mark running with the flight of the ball from Tom Hislop was the highlight of the quarter, the former AFL player seeming to relish being played as permanent forward.

The second quarter switched to more of a man on man style. The tempo had inevitably slowed from the blistering pace of the opening term and Abers appeared to benefit from the reduction in pressure around the stoppages. A run of goals to the Gorillas threatened to break the game open mid way through the term, but the never say die attitude shown by Pacco was evident as they surged back to only be down by a goal at the main break. The dominance of Franchina and co. in the stoppages was starting to give the Panthers real hope of an upset. Tom Hislop continued to be the Gorillas best focal point up forward even if he appeared hampered by a recurring knee problem. Former Doutta Stars junior Sam Leech was very impressive for Pascoe Vale with three goals before half-time. Mal Michael, Adam El Houli and Jacob Craven were all fantastic down back as they have been all year. The engine room of Pascoe Vale was equally impressive with the likes of Murat Ergunen and Matthew Perri getting plenty of the ball.

The third quarter saw Aberfeldie tested as Pacco hit the front after a clever snap and another from a set shot after big Mal was penalised in a marking dual. Down by 13 points Abers were on the ropes and needed to respond. Willing to take risks on the rebound and play through the corridor they created two brilliant team goals as both Nick Cattapan and Jess Rush goaled on the run from 50 metres to get the Gorillas back in the game. T.Hislop also got on the end of pass from his little brother to goal, but it was the brilliant boundary line set shot goal from the Panther’s Matthew Perri in front of a vocal Aberfeldie faithful that was probably the highlight of an enthralling quarter which saw Abers leading by just 4 points going in to the last stanza.

Switching Mal Michael from full back to full forward worked wonders and effectively ended the game in the first ten minutes of the last quarter with the big man kicking two and setting up another. Goals to Romanyk and Sharp looked to have sealed victory only for the Panthers to once again respond and even threaten to steal victory had the game gone for another few minutes. An absolutely amazing one handed screamer from Tom Hislop in huge pack of players was a contender for mark of the year, one can only hope there is footage.
Overall, it was a very skilful contest which saw enterprising football played by both teams. The midfield battle was won by Pascoe Vale through the grunt of Franchina, but the quality of big Mal and Tommy Hislop and the leadership of Craven shone through to get Abers over the line. Abers will probably be disappointed they could not kill the game in the second and final terms but full credit to the Panthers who showed they are a very good side in their first year up from Senior Division 1. They have great leaders in Bicer, Franchina, Bannister and Nolan and appear very well drilled by the former AFL and Greenvale star Stephen Paxman. Abers will need to lift again for the huge challenge of Strathmore this week, again at Clifton Park.


FINAL SCORE:
Aberfeldie 18.12 – 120
Pascoe Vale 16.14 – 110

BEST PLAYERS:
Aberfeldie – Michael, T.Hislop, Craven, El Houli, Cattapan,
Pascoe Vale – Franchina, Perri, Leech, Ergunen, Bicer

[westerly9]

Hats off to Doutta Stars. They have been knocking on the door for a win for a while.

Abers really need to pull their socks up & secure a finals berth. They have some major injury worries, but still should be beating sides below them.

[bricksta]

Any truth to the Rumours going round that the Abers coach is/has had crisis meetings with the committee??

[Brad T]

Massive news out of Aberfeldie F.C with Mal Michael new senior coach taking over from John McMillan!

[Freak]

Unless there were things happening behind the scenes, McMillan would be justified in feeling a bit stiff..
They're currently sitting 3rd on the ladder behind two better sides is a fair effort, let alone with the amount of injuries to key players.
The biggest issue I've seen when I've seen Abers is that there are too many selfish players or players unwilling to do the hard stuff. Not sure what a coach can do when players are seemingly out for themselves. That said only two weeks ago they took it up to Strathmore and before that they were reasonably close to Greenvale for a quarter or so before the jets kicked away.
Perhaps an Abers person could fill us in as to whether there were other issues?

[wildcolonialboy]

Macca is behind the change.

Hindsight will determine if Abers made the right decision, but I think they have done what is best for the club.

[westerly9]

From the discussions I have had with players throughout the year, I think this is the best move for the club. There were some certain areas where the players didn't feel Macca was quite up to scratch with. In this day & age you have to be all over a good game plan, something alot of players didn't think was good enough. I don't think Macca would have coached this side next year, so it was a good move. The club will be on a hiding to nothing if they cannot consolidate.

[julianlarkins]

And let's not forget JASON AKERMANIS is playing at Clifton Park tomorrow just to add a little bit more interest! Let's hope it's a great game like last time and Abers can get back to winning ways.

[julianlarkins]

A new coach and the inclusion of key players and Aberfeldie appeared to be a new team in the space of one week. A marked improvement in effort, ball movement, running in numbers and spreading to create options were all apparent compared to the previous game against Douttas. Abers provided a four quarter performance which produced its biggest winning margin since the Round 1 clash last year against Taylors Lakes.

The Heights produced good patches of high quality play to stay in touch for the first half but looked below their best. Sam Keenan, returning from injury, showed glimpses of his talent but was nowhere near as dominant as in ANZAC day clash. Avondale’s backline fought bravely all day but were overwhelmed by the amount of ball coming in.

Abers had a lot of winners on the day with big Mal again producing a faultless display down back, while big Dave Fanning got first use to the Abers midfield. Other stand out players included Zac O’Brien, Zac Hislop, Brayden Norris and the two Cattapans who both ran rampant in the middle to probably play their best games of the year. Up forward Daniel Mangan provided a consistent target to bag five goals and under/18 Danny Castellano again was lively while Hayden Skipworth was brilliant before limping off late in the third quarter. And of course Jason Akermanis, moving freely and delivering two trademark finishes on either boot in the third quarter, produced an entertaining performance to the delight of the crowd.

Lastly, speaking from the perspective of an Abers supporter, after such an eventful week it was great to get back to watching some good footy and seeing the team take a step forward on-field. All involved have clearly endeavoured to do what is best for the club.