The initial difference in the teams was that the Academy took their chances, making territory with every phase. This relentless pressure culminated in a score for Lucas May.
Tupton came back hard, showing that the Academy couldn’t take them for granted. After a huge amount of possession from Tupton we made a mistake and had a player yellow carded for contact near the head. This was followed within a minute by another yellow. So 13 v 15. There followed an heroic defensive performance with every player doing their job, and more. After 10 phases of play Pete Jones saw the opportunity and regained the ball after Tupton camping on our line. The subsequent clearance took the pressure off until the Sin bins ran down.
At the break the Academy had a tenuous lead under increasing pressure from an organised Tupton.
Again the Academy took their chances with rampaging runs from Reece Malpass, Seb McKevitt and ground out forwards tries from Alfie Hind and Lachlan Read.
Fin Jones showed his incredible footwork making meters in midfield helped by Hal Hilton outside him.
Harry Turnbull made a guest appearance scoring in the corner in a typically aggressive move.
It is great to see that the younger age group have settled into the Academy squad and are making such a contribution as the older players move on to senior rugby.
Today was a team performance, intense and committed, not pretty at times but the future’s bright at Melbourne Academy.

Matt Read
Coach