PASE & SPORT

Intermediate Boys AFL

I could not be more proud of the Intermediate Boys AFL team this year. We started on a cold and miserable day in Term 2 against the local schools and progressed through a number of different sporting academies on our way to the state finals.

We easily accounted for our quarter final opponent before taking on a very strong Lowanna College in the state semi-final.

In a seesawing match where we gave up a 17 point lead early in the last quarter to come away 1 point winners was an outstanding achievement. This result put us in the state final against Emanuel College, Warrnambool.

The STATE FINAL on Thursday 31 August, was an incredible game of junior football with both teams playing an attacking and strong brand of footy on the immaculate Highgate reserve in Cragieburn.

With the strong support of the LHS community we controlled the majority of the game with winners in nearly every position.

Our coaches Tyler Phillips and Jeremy Neumann were working overtime on the bench to ensure our rotations allowed us to run out the game strongly in a tight final quarter. Unfortunately the pattern of the game continued in the last quarter with LHS controlling the game without being able to put the opposition away as we could not capitalise on the scoring opportunities we were creating.

Emanuel College fought back late in the game, scoring a goal to put them less than one goal behind before taking a mark in front of goal in the final seconds of the game. With our hearts in our mouths, we watched the Emanuel kick sail through for a goal and hand us a 2 point defeat after the siren. Final scores were 7, 4: 46 to 5, 14: 44.

The result was incredibly disappointing and was a stark reminder that football can be a cruel game. However the effort, courage, sportsmanship and passion in which the boys represented the school could never be understated and they have enhanced both their own and the school's credibility as a state level team.

Daniel Toma

Tennyson gives his pre match perspective as we prepare to take on Emmanuel College in the Intermediate State Final.