The Swans Reserves overcame a courageous Tuggeranong Hawks outfit in fine but windy conditions at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, beating them by 49 points.
Irishman Brendan Murphy was the Swans’ best player at centre half back with good run and use of the ball. Peter Faulks at fullback and Aaron Bruce on the half back flank were also in the Swans’ best as were Daniel Currie, Ben Mathews and Nick Davis.
Matthew Beckmans was the Swans leading goal kicker with three goals from the forward pocket and Ryan Bottin-Noonan, on the half forward flank, and Ryan Brababzon, who played in the midfield, each kicked two. Sixteen-year-old Bottin-Noonan, from the Wollondilly Redbacks, is in his third year of the AFL Scholarship Program with the Swans.
responded two minutes later with the Swans’ first goal. After Tuggeranong kicked their second, Beckmans kicked his first goal for the game and The Hawks opened the game with a goal after five minutes of play but DavisDean Terlich closed the quarter with a goal from 40 metres out on the run. At the first break the Swans were 11 points in front.
By half time the Swans had extended their lead to 20 points after goals to Mathews from 30 metres out, Murphy on the run and Josh Nesbitt, a top-up player, from 35 metres on the run.
Tuggeranong had reduced the Swans’ lead by a goal after just two minutes of play in the third quarter but two goals to Beckmans, one to Bottin-Noonan and a goal to Luke Brennan from the goal square, and just two more to the Hawks, had the Swans lead back to 27 points by three quarter time.
In the last quarter the Swans kept Tuggeranong to just two goals and kicked five themselves to come to the final 49 point margin. Matt May, another of the Swans’ scholarship players, kicked a goal on the run at the 11 minute mark and Bottin-Noonan kicked his second from the boundary, 50 metres out. The final minutes of the quarter were littered with Swans’ goals with Brabazon goaling at the 25 minute mark, Daniel Spiteri snapping a goal from 40 metres and Tim Schmidt kicking the final goal of the game from a mark at 40 metres.
The Swans Reserves’ next game will be played at Ainslie Oval on Sunday May 25 at 2pm against Ainslie. In Round three, when the Swans and Ainslie last met, Ainslie beat the Swans by two points.
Final Score:
Swans Reserves: 3.7, 6.12, 11.15, 17.17 (119)
Tuggeranong: 2.2, 4.4, 8.6, 10.10 (70)
Goals: Beckmans 3; Bottin-Noonan, Brabazon 2; Brennan, Bruce, Davis, Mathews, May, Murphy, Nisbett, Schmidt, Spiteri, Terlich
Best: Murphy, Faulks, Bruce, Curry, Mathews, Davis
