It was a game of two halves over the weekend as the Yass Roos struggled to maintain their lead over the Murrumbateman Eagles in Round 3 of the Canberra Times Fourth Grade Men’s season but Yass prevailed 11.12-78 to 11.9-75.
Fresh off two wins this season, the Eagles were the ones to beat but a few mistakes throughout the first half cost them dearly.
They worked hard playing catch-up down 3.3-21 to 8.6-54 at halftime but after a passionate speech in the locker room from the Murrumbateman coaching team the Eagles closed the gap down just 59 to 61 at the end of the third quarter.
Yass Roos Coach Jarrad Forlonge said after being up by about 40 points at halftime the match ended a lot closer than it should have. “We played really well in the first half and didn’t really play that well in the second half, but I guess credit to Murrumbateman they kept trying all day.”
Eagles Coach Brent Fraser’s halftime speech was heard all the way over in the Roos corner.
Jarrad said to the Roos side: “They’ve copped a spray there, but we have to be ready to match that because they’ll come out pretty strong.”
“But we just weren’t able to in that third quarter and they played really well, and I guess we got lucky in the end.”
The Eagles Coach said you give credit where credit’s due, although their side didn’t have the best start that they were after.
“But to the guys’ credit they obviously came out after halftime and just went back on to a game plan, they stuck to it, and they did very well.”
“But obviously, to Yass’ credit they held in there and we couldn’t quite get over the line,” Brent said. “They played a really good brand of footy, especially in that second quarter there where they just kind of piled on goal after goal.”
Murrumbateman didn’t quite manage to close in on the Roos lead in the end finishing off with a very close game.
Saturday also marked Jarrad’s 100th game for the Yass Roos after about eight years with the club.
Now a player, coach, and club president, Jarrad said his personal milestones don’t matter as much to him anymore as his sights focused on the bigger picture at the club.
The Murrumbateman Eagles have a bye next weekend, but the Yass Roos are set to take on ADFA Rams at Joe O’Connor Park at 12pm, April 30.
Brianna O’Rourke
