The Sydney Swans reserves have got Super Saturday off to the perfect start, leading from start to finish against the Sydney Hills Eagles to record a 121-point victory at ANZ Stadium this afternoon.
In cold and swirly conditions, it was no surprise to see an Irishman relish the start while many others were still warming into the game.
Perhaps buoyed by Katie Taylor’s gold medal winning performance in the London Olympics, Tommy Walsh came out swinging for the Swans, taking the game away from the Eagles in the opening 13 minutes of the match.
Bustling out from centre half forward, Walsh set up the first goal of the match, dishing out a handball that ended with a classy Brett Meredith finish in traffic.
The big forward then made a mockery of the tricky conditions with two tough set-shot goals in succession, one from a mark and the other from a free kick.
Following quick goals from Mitch Morton and Matt Spangher, Walsh then got his third goal of the opening term after a beautifully weighted ball from Morton from outside 50 to the top of the goalsquare. Walsh marked and obliged with a goal, and within the blink of an eye the Swans had six straight goals without a blemish within 15 minutes of the game starting.
Walsh continued his effort over the remaining three quarters and concluded his night with his sixth goal after the final siren.
Morton set-up the final goal for Walsh with a drilling ball out of the middle, and as well as assisting several other goals for his teammates, the Eastern Conference’s leading goalkicker finished alongside Walsh as the leading avenue to goal for the Swans with six majors.
Those filing through the gates during the third quarter of the match would have seen the Matt Spangher show as the Swans’ number 27 took advantage of an opening forward line to kick three of the team’s four goals for the quarter.
Spangher finished the game with five goals on the back of some strong marking in the forward line and some top-class delivery from further afield.
As usual, the combination of Jesse White rucking to Jarred Moore and Brett Meredith in the middle was too much for the opposition to handle, with the midfield winning the vast majority of centre clearances throughout the match in a relentless display of pressure football from the second ranked team in the Eastern Conference.
With some injuries to both the reserves and seniors, the Swans fielded a larger than usual amount of top-up players in the match. It didn’t affect the team’s performance however, with all of then having an impact, including Daniel Robinson, Erol Sertbas, Bradley Plug and Stephen Wray who all kicked goals for the side.
The Sydney Swans reserves will warm up for their impending finals series with a tough away match against the Brisbane Lions reserves from 1.30pm next Saturday afternoon in Yeronga.
Sydney Swans Reserves 9.3 15.9 19.13 27.18 (180)
Sydney Hills Eagles 1.0 4.0 6.3 9.5 (59)
Goals - Morton 6, Walsh 6, Spangher 5, Meredith 2, Lamb 2, Robinson, Sertbas, Plug, Wray, White, Cunningham
