Integrated Round 6 Match Report

We were expecting a tough game against the Kelmscott Bulldogs so it was not a surprise when they jumped out of the blocks first to score the first two goals of the game.

It was great to have skipper Dylan Farrow return and instantly he was having an impact in the centre, often clearing to the human bullet train, Will Foskett on the wing. The first quarter became an arm wrestle as Swans tried to gain some momentum with Mark McNair and Jayson “Juddy” Mann applying strong defensive pressure inside the forward 50.

Mann, who has been struggling with calf issues over the last few weeks looked like a new man and was providing a strong marking option across centre half forward, which we have been missing so far this year. We were still to score and Kelmscott were putting our backs under pressure until we went from coast to coast with Josh Rudd clearing from the goal square, to Farrow, to Luci Gill to Mann without the ball touching the ground before Mann kicked our first of the day.

Constant pressure on the ball carrier from Lewis “The Hulk” Collins was forcing skill errors in the Kelmscott forwards and kept us in it and down by only 5 points at the first break.

Some fancy footwork from McNair and a short pass to Gill, before she took on several defenders to kick her first for the day and bring the scores level, early in the 2^nd.

Both Farrow and Brenssell continued to work hard, driving the ball forward into our forward 50, but we struggled to capitalise. After a stalemate, McNair and Gill through their defensive pressure created an opportunity for ruck, Jackson “Spider” Foskett to run into an open goal from the pocket to put us in front for the first time, bringing a massive roar from the Swans fans to their feet in the Bill Walker stand.

Damien de Grussa, resolute as always in the last line of defence, along with Blair Maitland and Collins, helped to keep our lead to 7 points as we went into half time.

Kelmscott came out firing in the third quarter winning the first 2 centre clearances and putting two goals straight back onto the scoreboard, taking the lead back. Kelmscott were bringing great energy and attacking relentless energy and Swans had to respond quickly. Our leaders responded with Farrow and Gill getting the ball forward to McNair who set up Stephanie Pearson to score her first goal for Swans and first goal ever, perhaps creating the loudest cheer of all 6 games at Steel Blue this weekend!

This lifted Swans across the ground and the combination of Mann and Gill quickly set up Brenssell who converted his set shot to take our lead back out to 6 points.

Foskett, rucking well out of his weight class against a much bigger opponent from Kelmscott, continued to bring the ball down to the feet of our mids helping to win the centre clearances and put the Kelmscott defenders under relentless pressure. After having a number of score involvements and bringing others into the game, McNair ran into an open goal late in the term to kick his first goal for Swans stretching our lead out to 2 goals at ¾ time.

Farrow immediately won the first clearance of the last term, streaming straight forward to set up a Gill for her first of the day. Swans went bang again out of the centre square through Brenssell and were starting to create chaos inside the forward 50. Gill gathered a loose ball, evading three defenders to kick her second goal in a minute and the Swans were now starting to make their move and now out by a game high 24 points.

Brenssell, who is quickly becoming an excitement machine every time he gets the ball, will often win the ball in the defensive 50 only to then win it again inside our forward 50, making the outer wing at Steel Blue his own. Brenssell and Gill again combined before McNair soccered through his 2^nd taking it out to 30 points.

Kelmscott were not done with and quickly scored in reply with 4 minutes to go, bringing to back to 24 points. The Swans crowd thought that they were home when a freak soccer off the ground from Brenssell, spinning more than a Nathan Lyon off break, took it back out to 30 points. Kelmscott to their credit never gave up and kept on coming, scoring 2 goals in the final minute to close the gap to 18 points at the final siren.