UNSW Finals Weekend Sports Resuls

Hockey

On Sunday, the UNSW3 women's team played Baulkham Hills in the Metro League 5 Preliminary Final, with UNSW winning 1-0. They now play in the Grand Final against Briars at 10am on Pitch 2 at Olympic Park on Sunday 27 Sept.

Also on Sunday, UNSW1 takes on Glebe in the Womens Hockey League Metro 2 Grand Final on the Olympic Pitch at Olympic Park at 12 noon.

In the Men's Sydney Hockey Association Div 3B Grand Final on Saturday, UNSW had a resounding win against Ryde Hunters Hill, winning 4-0. Pictured above.


UNSW Football Finals Weekend Results

AFL
Article courtesy of Michael Shillito from AFL NSW website:
UNSW/ES went down to East Coast Eagles by 54 points in the AFL Premier Division Grand Final on Saturday.

UNSW/ES kicked the first goal of the game but after that it was all East Coast with the Eagles eventually running out 22.12.144 to 13.12.90 victors.

In Troy Luff's distinguished career, one accolade that has eluded him is to play in a premiership team. But the veteran Bulldog got the game off to the perfect start for his team with a mark and goal in the pocket before 30 seconds had gone. A minute later, Luff was again in the thick of the action, taking a hit-out from a boundary throw-in to set up Marc O'Regan, but the shot hit the post. A running Daniel Spiteri got the Eagles on the board, but when O'Regan on the lead got away from Rowan Bilkey to mark and goal at 12 minutes, the Bulldogs were leading by 8 points.

But the second half of the quarter saw the Eagles begin to assert themselves, their running game taking effect and their shots hitting their target. Luke Stanford collected the ball on the win, and with a run, bounce and long bomb found Gus Seebeck to put the ton-kicking club President on the scoreboard. Ben Physick landed another goal from a free. The centre break saw Vlatko set up Gus Seebeck, but his kick was a shocker which barely scraped a point. As the clock ticked into time-on, Spiteri drilled a set shot from just inside the 50m line and the Eagles took a 12-point lead into the first change.

The first 10 minutes of the second term would be pivotal to the outcome of the game. In that time, the Eagles would score four unanswered goals, all of them from Gus Seebeck. With every goal, his arms were raised in celebration as a chance to build an imposing lead was scented. His team-mates would feed off his enthusiasm, with pin-point delivery finding the big number 4 during a passage of play when the Eagles would create a lead that the Bulldogs would be unable to peg back.

The Bulldogs finally got on the board on 13 minutes through Brad Abbott, but Aaron Byerlee had an instant reply. Leigh Lavery goaled with a shot that only just crossed the line, but Ben Rogers from the pocket got the lead back. Brad Ure with a long bomb added another. In the dying stages of the quarter, Ryan Underwood had some luck; firstly being paid a mark that must have been only held long enough by a micro-second and then being paid a free for a high tackle after being caught playing on. Had Underwood converted both goals, the deficit would have been under 5 goals, but sadly for the Bulldogs he was only able to manage one.
If UNSW-ES were to have any hopes of a comeback grand final win, they needed to win the third quarter. But despite a bright opening to the quarter with a run of successive goals in quick succession by Ben Woods and Earl Shaw, the Eagles continued to extend their lead. Again it was Gus Seebeck who was the killer, with four goals for the quarter, all four of them coming from strong marks within easy goal-scoring distance. Seebeck was playing with his confidence sky-high, outmarking as many opponents as would dare attempt to spoil him.

As the quarter went on, nearby bushfire hazard burns began to blow smoke over the ground. The sky had become orange and a smoke haze enveloped the ground. But on the field the Eagles were also on fire, and their nostrils detected a scent of victory. Urged on by an increasingly vocal supporter base both within the grandstand and on the northern hill, the lead had blows out to 47 points by the last change. UNSW-ES continued to try hard, and did manage five goals for the quarter, but it was nowhere near enough to keep them in the contest.

By the time the last quarter started the result was beyond doubt. But there was still some more key moments for the Eagles to observe before the premiership celebrations would commence. Ed Wilson had departed the field earlier; but in a show of courage reminiscent of Rick McCosker in the 1977 Centenary Test would return to the action with a heavily bandaged jaw, his presence providing another lift to the Eagles on a day when everything was going their way. And in the dying minutes of the game, Gus Seebeck would dribble through goal number 10; a rare double-figure haul in a Grand Final and would bring his season total to 111. Seebeck's dominance of the forward line would see him awarded the Rod Podbury Medal for best on ground in the Grand Final.

When the final siren sounded, the Eagles had taken out the match by 54 points. Seebeck had 10, Daniel Spiteri had kicked 3; Seebeck, Jon Vlatko and Ben Bourke being among their best. On a disappointing day for UNSW-ES, Adrian Heffernan, Ben Sutton and Alex Henderson had been among their key contributors.

As some consolation, 3 players from UNSW/ES were selected in the AFL Sydney Team of the Year: Earl Shaw, Jason Coulloupas and Brad Abbott