Sydney University put out a serious warning to the rest of the NEAFL competition on Sunday with an imposing 14 point victory against an in-form Queanbeyan side.
The second ranked Queanbeyan outfit started strongly, but the Students responded superbly to fight back and win the game 13.13-91 to 11.11-77.
After exploding out of the blocks with a six goal first quarter that allowed them to go into the first break with a 6.2-38 to 2.3-15 lead, Sydney Uni responded brilliantly in the second quarter – kicking six goals to one to go into half time leading by eight points.
After a tight third quarter in which both teams went goal for goal, the Students were able to shut down Queanbeyan at every opportunity as they held their talented opposition to just on goal in the final quarter.
Sydney Uni’s Senior NEAFL Coach Daniel Gilmore was ecstatic with the performance after a poor performance last weekend against Belconnen.
“I’m really proud of all the players,” said Gilmore. “They responded to all of the areas in which I challenged them after the Belconnen game and they really showed how the playing group overall can respond and get the result.”
The Students defensive pressure was considerably better than last week as they were able to hold Queanbeyan to just one goal in the second and four quarters.
“We out played Queanbeyan around the hard ball and were efficient on inside forward 50s,” explained Gilmore.
Tom Elkington and Benjamin Taggart both bagged three majors, while Tim Barrett supported them with two of his own.
Gilmore highlighted Alex Campbell’s performance in the ruck, Etiosa Okunbor at centre half forward and Alex Dyson’s damaging running and generally high standards of physicality in the game as key players who contributed to the upset victory.
With this victory under their belts the Students are now in a great position to aim for the finals. The next step in this process is a rematch with the Hills Eagles this Saturday.
The Students are a considerably different outfit to the one that lost to the cross city rivals in round 6.
