Assembly Sports Report – Highlight of the Round 7 – Seconds AFL – Surprise 3 Point Victory Against a Dominating Aquinas Side
The highlight of the round against Aquinas goes to the 2nds football team.
This was going to be a tough game, with Aquinas having not lost a 2nd’s AFL game for six years; the Scotch team, however, was determined to end this streak.
It was neck and neck for the first three quarters, and with only a couple of points in it, the last quarter was going to be a huge battle.
The lead continually changed hands. Scotch would get a goal and sneak in front, but then suddenly Aquinas would get one straight after, taking the lead. In the dying minutes of the game, Scotch was down by three points. The ball got kicked into our forward line and then, as the great football commentator, Dennis Cometti would say, “Like a cork in the ocean”, Saami Welsh popped up out of nowhere, grabbed the ball and kicked a beautiful snap from the boundary line soaring straight through the big sticks, placing Scotch just three points in front.
The ball got taken back to the middle, and with one minute left, Aquinas broke forward from the centre bounce, booting the ball out of the middle, right into the hands of their forward, thirty metres out, on a slight angle.
With thirty seconds left, pressure was on a poor Aquinas player as, if he got the goal, then they would win, but if he missed, they would lose. Aquinas’ six-year domination was going to be decided by this one kick. Fortunately for Scotch, the Aquinas player shanked the kick and the ball went out on the full, meaning Scotch ended up taking the win by just three points. What a game!
Assembly Sports Report – Highlight of the Round 8 – First AFL – Goals for Max Della Franca
The highlight of the round last week against Guilford goes to Max Della Franca in the First Football team.
Della started off the game on fire, getting three goals in the first quarter. The Guilford team realized he was a big threat and they needed to lock him down if they wanted a chance to win, so they decided to match him up with top 20 AFL draft prospect, Rhett Bazzo, who is one of the best backman in the PSA competition. The Guilford team thought they had Della sorted, but to their surprise, he started the second quarter with the ball on a string. The Scotch midfield were showcasing an absolute masterclass, it was as if Della had ordered the midfield to deliver the ball to him like a perfectly cooked Uber Eats meat box, on time, every time. And the midfield, like 5-star Uber drivers, didn’t let him down.
The ball repeatedly landed straight on his chest. He would go back, and with his well-rehearsed routine, take the set shot sending it straight through the big sticks. It was goal after goal after goal. Della finished off the day with an amazing eight goals! It was a great team effort, with Scotch winning by 65 points.
Assembly Sports Report – Highlight of the Round 9 – First Hockey
The highlight of the round goes to the Scotch First Hockey Team.
The team was faced with a fierce opponent last weekend in Hale School. The undefeated, top of the ladder, Hale was the team to beat. With Scotch coming in as the underdogs, this was their time to shine.
Scotch and Hale both came out strong, and for the first three quarters the game was going back and forth like an intense game of tug-of-war.
Heave! Scotch got a short corner; the ball was whacked bottom left andddddd… hit the post.
Heave! A Hale striker fires the ball towards goal, which luckily is batted away by Scotch keeper Hamish Meston.
Heave! Monty Atkins lines up the goals for one of his deadly drag flicks, he launches the ball top left; a pre-empted cheer erupts from Mitch Hyde as he sees the ball heading straight for goal. Everyone else holds their breath. Ping! The ball hits the post, and rebounds back into play, millimetres from perfection.
Heave! Hale react quickly, with ten minutes left in the final quarter, they snag the first goal of the game. Scotch is down 1-0.
Heave! Less than five minutes to go and Scotch again has an attacking short corner. The umpire blows his whistle to signal that they are good to go. Suddenly, Oscar Bird makes a move, and like a sly little fox, sneaks forward, coming right to the top of the D. The ball deflects off the goalie’s pads, right onto Oscar’s stick! It was as if Oscar could tell the future and knew exactly where to be. He winds up, and smacks the ball, clean into the back of the net. The umpire blows his whistle, goal!
The game finished a draw, but it was quite possibly the kick start Scotch Hockey needed to be back on track for the season.
Thanks to Captain of Hockey, Hugh Mitchell, for submitting this highlight of the round.
Assembly Sports Report – Highlight of the Round 10 – First Rugby – Hayden Henschel Sensational Try
This week’s highlight of the round comes from the First 15 Rugby Team.
Scotch was versing top of the table team Trinity and having previously lost to them in Round One, Scotch was looking to make a statement in what was a season-defying game.
Scotch set the scene straight away, with Year 10 Hayden Henschel getting the first try of the day placing their score 5 to 0 up on Trinity.
Going into the second half Scotch needed to maintain its lead to come away with the win. However, Trinity worked hard and managed to get a try, making the score five-all with twenty minutes to play. The battle was on as each team was desperate to get a try in order to take the lead.
Trinity attempted to pass the ball long across the field to set up a scoring opportunity, but suddenly, out of nowhere, Hayden Henshell saw the opportunity, and while running at full speed, he came through like a rocket, intercepting the pass. Like a Ferrari 250 GTO V12, the automotive equivalent of the holy grail, Hayden clicked on the turbo mode and was off to the races, leaving the Trinity players like Commodores in his dust.
The crowd was screaming as Hayden ran and ran, placing the ball down for a whopping sixty metre try. With a great conversion shot from Tim Scheepers following the try, this score put Scotch over the line with a 12 to 5 win against Trinity.
Thanks to Vice Captain of Rugby Simon Arnott for submitting this highlight of the round.
Assembly Sports Report – Highlight of the Round 11 – First Hockey – Last 10 Second Victory
The highlight of the round goes to the Scotch First Hockey team.
Going into the final quarter, the score was 0 all, Scotch knew it had to put it all on the line for this last quarter if they wanted to take the victory against their rival team, Christ Church.
With a tight battle going all the way down to the last thirty seconds, there had been no score. 67 minutes of this game had passed without any team scoring, the tension almost tangible. The entire outcome of this game was going to be determined in the next thirty seconds, so every second counted.
Suddenly, Scotch player Rory King gained possession of the ball in a dangerous position.
Rory had the ball on the end of his stick, looking around for options until he saw Hamish Elliot sprinting up the line. With no time to spare, Rory smacked the ball to Hamish with enough speed it could almost break the sound barrier.
With his cat-like reflexes, Hamish spun, trapped the ball, and with his silky skills he weaved the ball through the defenders, like how a Scotch kid with long hair would weave his way through the teachers avoiding being told to have a haircut.
His eyes nervously glanced up at the quickly expiring clock, but then at the perfect time, he spotted Raff Schinazi running full tilt, screaming for the ball. With perfect precision and power, Hamish set up Raff for the ultimate deflection. The bench started counting down the final 10 seconds… 10, 9, 8.
As if it was a movie, time slowed as Raff hit the ball and it sailed graciously through the air, sliding past the goalie’s right foot, sneaking into the bottom left corner of the goal. The crowd erupted as Raff stood in disbelief.
Scotch won by one goal – what an incredible moment! Scotch was so stoked to take the victory back from Christ Church who drew with them by a goal scored in the last thirty seconds in the most recent time they had played.
Thanks to First Hockey player, Oscar Bird for submitting this highlight of the round.
Assembly Sports Report – Highlight of the Round 12 – First Soccer – Kaleb Morrison Scores a Hattrick
The highlight of the round against Wesley goes to the Scotch First Soccer Team.
After a disappointing 2-0 loss to Christ Church the week before, Scotch was eager to get a win on the board against a struggling Wesley side. After a shaky start from the Scotch team, Wesley got the first goal of the match in the early minutes of the game. Scotch needed a win in order to stay in contention for the Law Davies Cup, so this was not the start they were looking for.
The goal from Wesley, however, was the match that just lit Scotch’s fire, and the Scotch team started playing the house down.
Two quick-fire goals from Kaleb Morrison and Zephyr McPherson saw Scotch take the lead and finish the half leading 2-1. A dominant second half from the Scotch team was necessary. Declan Taylor took matters into his own hands and gave the team the energetic start they needed, with his immense tackling pressure and multiple bullet-headers, Declan had a strong case to not start on the bench for the next game – which would come as a surprise to the whole team.
Kaleb and Zephyr continued to dominate with each of them scoring again, putting Scotch in a comfortable 4-1 lead.
To put the final nail in the coffin, Kaleb got possession of the ball and realised he had the opportunity to get something many soccer players dream of – a hat trick. He saw all the Wesley defenders in front of him, ready to pounce on the ball, but he knew what he had to do. Like how someone would weave through the line at North Street store to get that last hot and scrumptious cinnamon scroll, Kaleb dribbled the ball through the entirety of the Wesley defence and whacked it into the bottom corner of the goal to end Wesley’s hopes of a comeback and to finish off a remarkable hat trick.
The Scotch First team ended up winning 6-1 in the end and this set them up nicely to finish a very strong season.
Thanks to Captain of Soccer Seb Reynolds for submitting this highlight of the round.
Assembly Sports Report – Highlight of the Round 13 – Amazing Staff Victory in Staff vs Student Soccer Match
The Staff Trophy Competition wrapped up last term, with one of the final events – the indoor soccer staff vs student clash. The highly anticipated game was between the victorious Cameron House team and the best team of staff that the teachers could put together.
I have never delivered a highlight of the round for the teachers, but the performance of those teachers on that magical day is truly deserving of one.
To start things off, Cameron House student Andreas Shultz opened the scoring. He did the impossible and managed to nutmeg goalkeeper extraordinaire, the Great Wall of China, Mr Kandiah, sending the ball straight through his legs. Mr Kandiah frantically tried to stop the ball but ended up falling on the floor as if he was about to perform a break dance for his famous Tik Tok account, The History of Money. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stop the ball and just as a rare 2-dollar coin would slip through his change, the ball slipped through his legs and into the back of the net.
The crowd erupted, and the legendary commentators, Will Marshall and Ben Ramsden, went ballistic.
However, the teachers then wrestled back control of the game, with the Captain of the First Soccer Team way back in 2019, Gyles Davies dominating the play and scoring a classy equalizer.
Mr Orford extended the teachers’ lead in the second half, scoring an absolute stunner and then celebrating as if he just scored the winning goal at the World Cup. With the score at 2 – 1 to the teachers, the students really needed a goal in order to stay in the game.
Going into the dying minutes of the game was like a massive tuna bust up; every player was like a big hungry bluefin tuna charging towards the ball as if it was a little sardine, trying to smack it into the goal. Suddenly, like a huge marlin tearing through tuna pack, Brad Avery emerged with the ball and pierced a belter into the goal.
The scores were level. The final whistle blew, and the game had gone down to a penalty shoot-out.
Mr Kandiah as the goalie was under immense pressure, after conceding twice, the game was in his hands. But Mr Kandiah sure did make up for this slight mistake. It was as if he just transformed into Captain America. The way he deflected those soccer balls off his body was like the way Captain America would deflect bullets off his shield. This stellar performance from Mr Kandiah, with him saving 3 of the 4 penalty shots, secured the teachers the win. And that is why the teachers got awarded the highlight of the round. Well done, teachers!