WSL2 Report by Darren Steere

We were up against the young Richmond Tigers, who are improving all the time.

We had a few away with a number of different reasons. But we did have nine, so two on the bench.

Richmond got out of the blocks quickly and had two goals on the board before Alex scored, quickly followed by Emily. Things stabilised for the middle part of the quarter, before Richmond added two more via fast breaks. Q1: 2-4

The game settled down a bit as we put a stop to their counterattacks. But our passing was terrible and Richmond again got us on counterattack. Maria scored a very nice goal on a great drive, but that was really the only highlight. Richmond was scoring at will. Q2: 3-9

Richmond had our measure all night and while we worked really hard to score via Olivia, Maria and Alex, Richmond had no trouble finding the back of our net, giving Kate no chance to save. Q3: 6-14.

As we have discussed over the first couple of rounds, we are still trying to find our team balance and to be honest, we are not far away. Maria, Alex and Gen scored, and all these goals came off good teamwork from Emily, Claudia, Ash and Andy. Olivia got rolled and Richmond finished us off with 7 goals to win very comfortably.

Essendon were defeated by Richmond: 21 – 9 Goals: Maria 3, Alex 3, Emily 1, Olivia 1, Gen 1

WSL3 Report by Georgia Clooney (with some help from Libby on Table!)

WSL3 were up against it this week, with a super late game taking out a number of players including our trusty goalie Sandra, resulting in the team playing one down for the first half. Heidi’s tight defence and Sheridan’s keen eyes in goals kept Monash under wraps for the first half of the game until Lisa A was able to jump in the pool and invigorate the team with some fresh energy. Competition was stiff, with Georgia’s defence being so tight it resulted in her being kicked out (only briefly!).

Clare and Laura were an incredible unstoppable team in the the forward line, working off each other beautifully resulting in a few much needed goals. Sally’s tenacity and determination came through in the last quarter with an epic goal that just dropped over the goalies head. The game ended with Sheridan being awarded a penalty shot, which she was unable to convert. Although the final score might say otherwise, play was mostly even and Essendon was competitive. Can’t wait to see what they can do with a full squad!

Essendon were defeated by Monash: 9-4 Goals: Clare 3, Sally 1

JnrW (18s) Report by Danielle Tulloch

Monash/NYP/Ess had 9 players to start this week - a big improvement on the past few weeks!! The bright sunshine was going to make it challenging for both teams. The Richmond squad are a very experienced team with quite a number of state players for the Monash/NYP/Ess were going to have a challenge today.

Richmond pressured the ball from the start and were just too strong with their fast breaks.

Half time 11-2 with both goals coming from the goalkeeper.

The second half continued with Richmond’s fast breaks and strong defence. The Monash/NYP/Ess is improving with every game and the team continues to build through the season.

Ess/Mon/NYPD were defeated by Richmond : 20-4 Goals: TBA (but our Goalkeeper scored 3 of them!)

YthG (16s) Report by Danielle Tulloch

The Monash/NYP/Ess have had a few challenging weeks and were keen to improve this week. Geelong/MC/DVE were in a similar position so the game was shaping up to be a great contest! Essendon represent by Frankie, Amelia and Emily.

The Monash/NYP/Ess got the jump early with two quick goals and dominated the first quarter. The team were looking for each other in offence and making the most of their opportunities. Q1: 2-1

The Monash/NYP/Ess lifted in second and had so many shots on goal! The Geelong/MC/DVE team struggled under the pressure and turned the ball over. Monash/NYP/Ess added another 2 goals, 4-1 at half.

Second half was dominated by the Monash/NYP/Ess, both Amelia and Emily scored. Frankie had a few good shots on goal too!

Ess/Mon/NYPD defeated by Geelong/MC/DVE Aquatic: 8-1 Goals: Sienna 2, Amity 2, Amelia 1, Emily 1, Charlie 1, Piper 1

MSL4 Report by Marcus Jones

The Essendon boys were a bit down on numbers this because it is a festival weekend........well readers, it was a festival of Essendon water polo this week. And festival water polo is for the younger players like me with most of our old blokes away we were a brilliant swimming side with awesome ball movement, fast breaks, steals and passes to our team's advantage.

Lucas complained about being tired at the start of the match because being an adult is tough but that didn't affect his water polo with steals, fast breaks and goals throughout the game.

The Mills boys were unstoppable with a barrage of goals. This week Ryan was our best player only because he was showing off to his girlfriend the entire match. Don't worry Ambrose you can still tell your mum you're the better son.

Young Sammy chipped in for a goal and a couple of steals.

Welcome back to Vince who provided a solid target in centre forward and caused constant pain for their defenders.

New recruit Paul was a brick wall in goals putting the goalie of the first half to shame by keeping the opposition scoreless after half-time.

Awesome game from our young squad and I look forward to many more games being carried throughout.

Essendon defeated Ringwood Pirates: 16-3 Goals: Ryan 5, Lucas 4, Ambrose 3, Vince 2, Paul 1

14&U Boys Report by Tim Elmore

Round 4 was held at MSAC against MC Otters and it was set to be an even game. The boys used the space well early, placing pressure and extending the Otters on both the left and right sides. There was some great passing resulting in good assists to Toby, Lazar and Nate who were able to get to the open player in Jack to score three goals to Otters one going into the first break.

The boys continued to place pressure on the Otters with some good centre back work by Timmo who was able to control the Otter’s centre forward and create a great turn over that allowed Lazar and Jack to create some trouble for the their defence. Lazar took the opportunity and didn’t disappoint, scoring in the top right-hand corner. The opponent's bigger players were starting to place some pressure on our defence with a man up situation that saw Timmo getting kicked out allowing a quick goal. Toby was making a real impact after the break and was able to get Nate into some clean water where he could present the ball to Jack that drew a hard earned 5 metre penalty. After missing his penalty last week, Jack did not make the same mistakes and was able to add to the score. We were up 6- 3 heading into the change of ends.

The third quarter Nate had narrowly lost the first two swims and with a request to put his head down and use his legs he was able to deliver the ball to his mates to setup the first attack on goal. The Otters had changed their structure well and push multiple players forward and showed weakness in our defence . They drew Magnus out of his goals and were able to get a number of lob shots go over his head. The pressure was starting to show with Zac kicked out trying to slow the play. Heading into the last break the Otters had turned the table and were up 9-7 heading into the break.

The last quarter the boys were asked to dig deep and not get caught up in the fast pace game the Otters were wanting to play. The back three in Bullet, Zac and Timo were set the challenge of meeting the push from the Otters forwards and they were able to stem the flow. It was a well matched quarter with both teams score two goals. Ultimately Otters got the chocolates, but it was a mighty and gallant effort with big smiles all round. The team has come so far already this season and improving so much every week. The goals flowing this week will give them a boost moving forward.

Essendon were defeated by the MC Otters : 9-11 Goals : Jack 8, Lazar 1