(Back, from left) Co-coach Tomas Edwards, Oscar Wren, Ethan Connolly, Andrew Smith, Baxter Cowley, Luke Moorse, Isaac Behsman, Matthew Pitt, Mitchell Grimwood, Jai Park, Charlie Hetherington, Landon Daggett, Spencer Cowley, Joshua Todd, Chase Bartlett and co-coach Jamie Loy; (front) Brody Wills, Ted Wren, Charlie McCallum, Ben Hayes, Dexter Hardman, Harry Raper and Rory Smith.
Two wins sealed the deal for the Deniliquin High School’s under-15s boys Swan Shield footballers side to progress to the grand final next month.
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The Combined High Schools Swan Shield competition was held in Wollongong on Tuesday.
Deni High’s first game was against Lisarow High School with Deni High winning 6.11 (47) to Lisarow High 2.2 (14).
Co-coach and Deni High teacher Jamie Loy said “it was a close game to start”.
“The boys missed opportunities at goal in the first half, which denied us putting scoreboard pressure on.
“As the boys play at different clubs at home, by the second half they began to click and their skills started to shine through.”
The second game was against Hunter High School which Deni High just won, 6.2 (38) to Hunter High 5.5 (35).
“Hunter High were a tough, polished team,” Loy said.
“They controlled the game in the first half and we were down by nine points at half-time.
“The boys kept fighting against the tougher opponent in a very close game.
“It came down to the last 20 seconds, we were down by three points.
“Spencer Cowley had a tough shot on goal on an angle and he nailed it.”
Loy was co-coach with fellow teacher Tomas Edwards.
With neither having much coaching experience, they said it was a “learning curve” for them too.
“It was good fun,” Loy said.
“The boys were keen for the opportunity to all play together, as they are normally scattered over different teams.
“We also had great parent support.”
The boys will now play Billabong High School in the grand final.
It will be played September 19 in Lavington.
Landon Daggett shepherds.
Isaac Behsman takes control of the ball.
Baxter Cowley in the thick of it.
Matthew Pitt plucks the ball out of the air.
Jai Park lands a heavy tackle on his opponent.
Jai Park gets in front of the ball in a contest.
Harry Raper disposes of the ball as he takes a fall.
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