Semi Final 2: Ainslie Tricolours v Sydney Swans Reserves

[BSA5]

Sumner back on, which is good as he has easily the cleanest hands in wet weather of any player out there. Bradshaw is looking good, moving well. Isn't seeing much of the ball though because we are being smashed through the midfield, and what ball is sent forward is very messy indeed.

[ugg]

Bradshaw has 2 goals

HALF TIME
Ainslie 7.2 (44) Reserves 2.2 (14)

[aardvark]

Bradshaw is looking good, moving well.

Good to hear, hope he pulls up ok.

[BSA5]

Tell u what, the big bloke who makes the coffee out of the back of his truck at the ground makes a bloody good double-shot latte. Better than you'd get at a lot of cafes!

[ugg]

Obviously a slow quarter, no goals

[BSA5]

Run of the play much more even that quarter, but neither team were able to get much clean ball. Given Braddy's performance so far in such terribleconditions, he looks good for a semi final return!

[ugg]

Ainslie 7.9 (51) Reserves 2.5 (17)

[BSA5]

I'm calling it now, Sumner is one of the cleanest ball handlers in the wet I've ever seen. Leaves Jimmy Bartel for dead. Has not fumbled a ball ALL DAY. I'm officially on the Reid and Summer bandwagon.

[ugg]

Ainslie 8.11 (59) reserves 3.7 (25)

[BSA5]

Byron Sumner just produced the play of the day.... Standing the mark in the middle of a puddle while an Ainslie bloke takes a set shot, he starts kicking water at the bloke as he's running in. The kick was a shocker. I love this kid!

Oh, and bad news, Bradshaw looked very sore coming off. Not good. I think I jinxed him.

[ugg]

ainslie 9.11 (65) reserves 3.7 (25)

Fulltime

We are back in Canberra next week on Saturday 2pm playing loser of Eastlake queanbeyan

Just heard that braddy is limping and in pain :/

[ugg]

SYDNEY SWANS
Goal Kickers: D. BRADSHAW 2, L. JOHNSTON
Best Players: K. THORNTON, D. CURRIE, B. SUMNER, J. FARRELL, N. GORDON

[BSA5]

OK, just got back. I arrived at quarter time (again). It was a pretty shocking game, but aside from the second quarter, in which Ainslie got their lead, we stuck with them. The conditions were absolutely atrocious, and it was difficult to get impressions of some of the players, especially the in-and-under types, as their work was as much to just smash the ball forward as get the pill and use it cleanly. Visibility also got really bad at times, particularly the last quarter.

10. Currie: Rucked most of the day (with some back-up from Emery). Seemed to do well. We won a lot of clearances, but unfortunately they were mostly ineffective (but the same can be said of Ainslie, it was just one of those days where a clearance meant relatively little).
13. Vespa: Didn't do that much. Struggled to take clean possession of the ball, but again, there was just that something about the way he played which suggested he's a level above, even if he's not quite playing like it. Anyway, seemed to play most of the game in the midfield, with patches up forward. He's also looking very big, and needs to trim down a touch.
19. Bradshaw: Was moving very nicely all game, kicking two goals and providing plenty of leads, so I was somewhat surprised to see him spend most (if not all) of the last quarter off the ground. I was hoping it was just precautionary, but after the siren went and the players were walking off, I saw Bradshaw limping to the race with a trainer beside him, looking very sore indeed. Not good at all.
22. Sumner: BOG for mine playing across half back/wing, and by quite some way. I'm a VERY big fan of this kid. Honestly, you'd have thought there wasn't a drop of moisture out there the way he was handling the ball. It simply cannot be overstated how good his handling was. Even when the rain was coming down so hard that you couldn't make out players on the other side of the ground, he was picking the ball up clean as you like and going for a run. Disposal was inconsistent, which is to be expected with the wet ball, but it was still better than anybody else's on the ground. Also found a fair bit of it, despite missing a good chunk of the second quarter with what looked like an ankle problem.
23. Johnston: It was never going to be a day for the talls, but credit to LJ, he ran hard all day long, and managed to clunk a few marks and have some good touches. Saw him win a few possessions up at half back after long, long leads, and he chased hard. An unglamourous day, but I'd think the coaches would be happy.
27. Thornton: A typical KT game. Did all the basic hard-nut things right, but didn't stand out. Solid return from injury I suppose.
28. McNeil: Didn't really notice him, most likely because he was at the bottom of very large packs and covered in mud for 90% of the time he was near the ball. Can't really judge, but it wouldn't surprise me if he won a large number of ineffective (but effective by the day's standards) touches.
35. Heath: Looked pretty good playing in defence on a much bigger guy. Looks like a slimmer version of Craig Bolton out there, and plays the same role. Did some very good things on the counter-attack as well. One of our best.
36. McKaigue: Played in defence and looked quite good against opponents much bigger. Made some errors in the wet, not reading the wet ball properly, etc, but that will come with experience. Wouldn't say he was one of our best 6, but he was solid enough, and his development is coming along nicely.
43. MOD: Did well, showed some very clean hands at times, but I didn't notice him that much. Spent time at HB, in the middle and HF.
45. Gordon: This bloke is tough, and he found plenty of the ball, but made some errors. Played midfield. Still one of our best I reckon.

Top-ups/Scholarship boys:

I kept getting Gurthrie and Potter mixed up, because I kept forgetting which was which, but both seemed to play pretty well, both are hard at it. I don't know how old they are, but if they're 2011/12 eligible, and so have some more development in them, then they're not without a chance of getting picked up.

Kieran Emery was quite good for a big guy in the conditions. Provided some relief in the ruck, and took a couple of nice marks.

44, Lachlan Felsman, did some nice things, probably caught my eye most out of the other top-ups along with number 56, who I assumed was Mitch May at first.

[rojo]

Thanks BSAS. Much appreciated. You would have to be the opposite of a fair-weather fan! Good to hear your report on U. Byron's play, could he be fighting with Reid and Rohan for the Swan's next rising star?

[Xie Shan]

Thanks for the updates BSA5. It must have been an awful day to be at the footy. Really don't know what to make of Bradshaw on those reports, we'll have to wait for something more definite I think, whether it's another injury or just soreness.

(Edit: Just read the other thread on BF, it doesn't look good)

Vesz looking a class above but not playing like it, and needs to shed a few kilos, remind you of anyone?