A young Sydney Swans reserves outfit has held on to record a five-point victory over a determined UWS side in Saturday afternoon’s NEAFL curtain-raiser at ANZ Stadium.

In a sometimes scrappy affair, UWS settled the better of the two sides and got the jump on the Swans early, kicking 2.2 before the visitors could get on the scoreboard via a roved Andrejs Everitt snap from the edge of the goalsquare.

A Mitch Morton set-shot goal minutes later got the game back on an even keel, before another goal to Everitt following a spectacular mark in the right forward pocket and a drilled Jed Lamb effort put the Swans up by five points at the first break.

From that point on, the Swans didn’t relinquish the lead, although UWS finish strongly and ended up closing to within a goal when the final siren sounded. A great Brandon Jack goal in the closing stages of the match giving the Swans an unattainable advantage.

As well as kicking three goals, Everitt dropped deep into defence when the game was on the line and made two telling intercepts in the dying stages to finish as the Swans most effective player.

Premiership player Mitch Morton also contributed on the scoreboard with three goals, as well as first-year player Tim Membrey who took some strong marks and finished with accurate set-shots in the second half.

After an uninterrupted pre-season, Alex Brown showed promising signs around the ground. While playing mainly across half-back and the wing, he bobbed forward on occasions and kicked a vital goal towards the end of the third term when UWS were pressing on the scoreboard, before setting up one of Membrey’s goals in the final term with a courageous run.

Looking for a solid hit-out in the reserves, Craig Bird made it through the full four quarters and got his hands on the footy more as the game went on, while Jesse White played as the Swans lone ruckman and gave the midfield first use of the ball for much of the afternoon.

After a winning start to the season, the Sydney Swans reserves will be looking for the scalp of another AFL club when they host the Gold Coast Suns reserves at the SCG from 10am at the SCG.

Sydney Swans Reserves  4.2  8.3  12.5   17.5 107
UWS                                 3.3  4.9  8.14   14.18 102

Goals – Everitt 3, Morton 3, Membrey 3, Lamb, Lloyd, Cunningham, Brown, Jack, White, Head, Wray