Swans Gallant in Defeat

After our momentous first game last week, Swans travelled west to Morris Buzacott Reserve in Kardinya to take on Fremantle CBC on Saturday evening under lights.

The PFL allows players from other teams to play under permit with other clubs when their team has a bye, so this week, we were supported by three players from Willetton.

In what was set to be a tight tussle, we started well with early goals and were leading at ¼ time.

Dash and carry was provided by our captain, Dylan Farrow, and Jayson Mann in his first game was providing options and taking strong marks inside our forward 50.

Luci Gill in her first game with Swans was a revelation on the wing, frequently side-stepping opponents to drive the ball forward to create options up forward.

Early in the 2^nd quarter, Jackson Foskett and Aaron de Grussa who in their attack on the ball, had a clash of heads which resulted in a broken nose for Foskett and a large gash across de Grussa’s eyebrow. Unfortunately, neither player was able to return to the field. While we battled bravely through the 2^nd and third quarters with two less players on the field, the gap left by Foskett and de Grussa increased as the game went on.

The Swans fans who travelled down who were watching from the hill started to believe that this could be our day as our lead grew to 3 goals in the third term and were doing their best to help carry the team home despite our injuries. Fremantle CBC continued to surge but were repelled by Lewis Collins and Will Brenssell who worked tirelessly in defence.

In what is sure to become a strong rivalry in years to come, tempers between players were close to boiling over at points, and the two sides needed to be separated at the final change.

Our injuries sustained early in the game had worn us down and through several undisciplined free kicks and 50m penalties, Fremantle CBC were able to capitalise and clawed their way back in the last quarter and scored a goal with less than 2 minutes to play to take the lead.

Farrow was outstanding throughout the game and lead tirelessly all day. Young Gill is an excitement machine and will be one for everyone to watch throughout the year.

While the team were heart broken to get so close to their first win and not get there, we know that a win is not far away.

It has been a big start to the year already, and the players have earned their bye this week, before we host Kingsway at Ron Jose Oval in Midvale on the 14^th of May.