Sport

Charity Football Match

Threatening skies awaited the majority of the Year 12 cohort of JMSS, as they headed to Sandringham College for first annual charity day. After weeks of intense preparation by the girls, and a training session the night before by the boys, the stage was finally set for a clash of gigantic proportion, as head coaches Declan Gillian and Nathan “Buckley” Cutajar, having been kept on after the last school footy round robin, masterminded the spectacle. Leaving after recess, the cohort began their pilgrimage to Sandringham, an aura of nervous excitement radiating throughout the two buses. Immediately upon arrival, the teams were addressed by principals Peter and Viv, before the girls readied for battle.

In what can only be described as “elite,” the girls fought steadfastly against the more experienced Sandy side, going blow for blow through unmatched intensity around the contest. However, the resistance was broken late in the first half, and as the heavens opened, the floodgates opened; Sandy piling on three late first half girls. Motivation was needed, and it came in the form of a halftime spray from Ms Adolph and Jessica Woolfe, stressing the need to go back to basics and play the percentages. It worked, with JMSS dominating the possession in the second half through brilliant tap work from Casey Knowles and inside run from Caitlin Lim, but they weren’t able to convert it to scoreboard pressure, and the girls fell valiantly 19 to 2.

After a brief intermission, it was the boys’ time to shine. In the pouring rain, the ball was thrown signaling the opening of play, contested footy the normality and the ball akin to a bar of soap. Sandy came out strongly, piling on severe midfield pressure and going straight up the eye-diddle-diddle, with repeated forward 50 entry after entry manifesting into early goals, Sandy’s small forward Connor Cochrane the beneficiary of 3. Cutajar was forced into a number of early changes, Calum Ireland was pushed forward and James Desmond sent back, and late in the first half, a seeking pass by Ewing Chen was met by a leaping James Kelleher, who despite the vast amount of rain, marked just outside JMSS’ forward 50. With it all to do, and as cool as a cucumber, given the circumstances, he slotted it, and thus David strucketh Goliath on the eve of halftime, the boys headed into the break with newfound optimism and hope that the impossible could be done. An inspiring Cutajar urged the boys forward, full belief in his players to topple the giants of Sandy as Jono Rogic was moved into the ruck, a coaching decision analogous to that of Alastair Clarkson's best. Dominance in the air was gained, and ascendency around the contest was asserted, allowing a star-studded midfield of Ari Gahan, Dominic Lawrence-O’Shea and captain Nicholas “The Beast” Bishop to heat up, as the BBQ at Sandy literally caught on fire due to how good JMSS was. A number of rebound 50’s culminated in an avalanche of forward 50 pressure, with now half forward Calum Ireland putting on a clinic, notching up 2 goals. However, much like the girls, domination of possession couldn’t be converted to scoreboard pressure, and despite the valiant efforts of the boys, they fell 46-19. Coach Cutajar praised the performances of the JMSS teams, exclaiming to the commentary team that “we’ll go through the processes, the take-aways for us are our offensive rebounds and forward 50 pressure.” Caitlin Lim was awarded MVP of the girls game for her stellar performance, a deserving winner.

Overall, the day was a huge success, as both schools raised up to $1000 for Sandy student Jake Plumb, and all of us here from John Monash wish him all the best for the future. Big thanks to all involved for organising the event, and teachers for supervising us on the day!

James Desmond

Year 12

JMSS Games Day

Wednesday 20th September. Photos thanks to Annabel Aldous.

Firstly, huge congratulations and thanks for your involvement in JMSS Games. I would like to thank the staff for their incredible assistance and support in running the sports and activities and ensuring it ran so smoothly and was so enjoyable. Secondly to the students; I love the way you embraced the opportunity and got right into the spirit of the occasion. Here are the overall results:

1st Doherty 39

2nd Wood 35

2nd Blackburn 35

4th Flannery 31