Round 10
Manchester vs Wolverhampton Wolverines
Wolverhampton
July 23rd, 2011
The Manchester
Mozzies travelled to Wolverhampton on Saturday 23rd July for their
Round 10 clash against the Wolves.
Both sides pulled together strong squads, fielding a full 16 each. The Wolves were hungry to get their
first win on the board for 2011, whilst the Mozzies were confident they could
back up their Round 9 upset over Birmingham with another convincing win.
Both teams
went hard at it from the first bounce, the Wolves got the first major on the
board but once the Mozzies got ahead through Wayno & Bundy, they never
relinquished the lead for the whole game.
Missing some early opportunities with a strong cross-field win, the
scores were tight at quarter time with the Mozzies leading 17 to 14.
The Mozzies
pressed on in the second quarter with solid performances around the
ground. Pete and Connor were
strong in the ruck, with the likes of the ever-consistent Jayden Hocking and
coach Baz Sproule, supported by Quinny, Ric and Four, collecting the ball and
sending it forward. Wayno
continued to work hard in the forward pocket, converting two great goals. The backline worked hard to limit the
Wolves to a single major, and the Mozzies increased their lead to 12 points at
half time.
The Wolves
were never going to give up on their home turf and came out fighting after the
break. They added two goals to
their score but yet again, the Mozzies won the quarter with another two
smashing goals from Wayne Sumner.
The third for the quarter came from veteran Matt Wielgosz, who had been
moved forward and dominated the mark contests at the Wolves kick-out. Co-president Eddo was welcomed back
into the squad with open arms, leading a solid defensive line alongside a
defiant Craig McGowan, Spike Kilheeney and Ian Quinlan.
The Mozzies
kept their heads held high for the final quarter of football for the season,
and continued to display strength at contests, speed on leads and skill taking
marks and kicking goals. Buddha
worked his magic to boot his first for the day, adding some spice to race for
the Golden Boot award, and full-forward Mick Gaff scored his first goal since
returning from fractured ribs. The
Wolves added two of their own, but the Mozzies still managed to pip them for
the quarter by two points, bringing the overall margin at the final whistle to
22 points – Manchester 9.18 (72) to 7.8 (50).
With his bag
of five goals, Wayno took out Man of the Match, as well as The Deli sponsored
Play of the Day for an awesome set-up in the fourth quarter. It was a stunning display of hard work
and skill, and is the product of some hard work and development put into this
new-look squad. All the guys
should be extremely proud of their efforts and we look forward to further
success on and off the field in 2012 – go Mozzies!!
Final score, Manchester 9.18 (72) Wolverhampton 7.8 (50)