Sydney University have severely dented the finals chances of Queanbeyan, after defeating the reigning NEAFL premiers by 50 points at Drummoyne Oval on Saturday afternoon.
The polished performance by the Students marks the second victory over the Tigers this year, after surprising Queanbeyan by 14 points in round 14. There were no surprises involved in the Students 17.13-115 to 10.5-65 victory over the weekend.
Sydney Uni came out firing with a five goal opening term, which was followed up with a great second quarter that saw the Students heading into half-time with a 33 point lead.
Both teams went goal for goal in the third quarter, before the Students eventually pushed away from the Tigers in the final quarter.
Senior NEAFL coach Daniel Gilmore was happy with the performance and is looking forward to a testing game against UWS next weekend, a game which he sees as a great way to evaluate how much the Students have improved this year.
“It was a great win by the lads who showed a relentless desire to play for each other,” explained Gilmore.
“We are on track and developing our brand of football further each week. We have UWS next weekend, it will be a quality opportunity to see where are at.”
Tim Barton and Ryan Bootin-Noonan were outstanding in defence, while Tom Morrison and Gerard Wilkie played with fierce determination and desire. Peter Dugmore and Tim Barrett were superb in attack, with 9 goals shared between them.
Sydney Uni’s new faces are making a considerable impact this season and Ronan Geraghty had an impressive performance against the Tigers.
“Ronan Geraghty had a superb debut and was well up to the standard of play set by the rest of the team, a remarkable achievement for someone who has only been playing AFL for 18 months,” said Gilmore.
Gilmore will look for an even bigger effort from the Students when they take on the UWS Giants next weekend and is happy to report the team will be injury free and at full strength.
The UWS Giants are sitting in fifth place at the moment and while the Students are out of contention for the finals they can still have a considerable impact on the finals as they look for a third victory in a row.
Saturday mornings match up against the University Western Sydney Giants (GWS Reserves) will mark the introduction of the Chancellors Cup.
The game will be played at Blacktown International Sports Park at 10.05am, allowing supporters to get to Skoda Stadium in time to catch the Giants take on Melbourne in what they will consider a great opportunity for their first win of the year. The club has a limited number of tickets available for those interested in attending the game and will be available at the NEAFL game in the morning.
