The Collingwood Community Wheelchair Football League (CWFL) team played in their first double-header of the season on Sunday, coming up against St Kilda and Richmond.
The community team took centre stage in the black and white while Collingwood’s senior team had the week off in the Victorian Wheelchair Football League (VWFL).
Game 1 v St Kilda
The first game of the double-header was a CWFL rematch against St Kilda who the team played in the last round. In the last match up, the Pies fought until the very end, leaving nothing on the court but unfortunately were not able to come away with the win.
Coach Andrew Paddle emphasised in his pre-game speech the importance of leaning on their rotations off the bench to conserve energy throughout both matches of the day.
The team was also asked to use the height of Martyn Ford for goal scoring opportunities as the tallest option in the forward line.
Coach Paddles also reminded the Pies that if they took the time and didn’t rush any decisions, they would be able to capitalise on any errors that the Saints made.
Collingwood held on to the Saints for most of the match but were unable to obtain the win.
Despite the loss, the team took many positives from the match and looked to rebound in the next game of the double header against Richmond.
Game 2 v Richmond
After starting the day with a loss, the Pies were eager to get the win against Richmond in the second game of the double-header.
With the team using a lot of energy against the Saints, they needed to be smart against Richmond and only use what was left in the tank in crucial moments that could provide scoring opportunities.
As with other matches throughout the season, Collingwood needed to communicate well and use clean and precise hand balls to create better scoring opportunities.
Going into the second quarter, the Pies were laser focused on strategies to slow Richmond down and keep them from scoring.
With this mindset and elite pressure from Collingwood defenders, Alex Gale-Grime and Matthew Blunt, the team were able to keep Richmond scoreless in the fourth quarter whilst piling on two goals of their own to secure the win.
An impressive performance from Martyn Ford with six goals in the forward line.
Collingwood’s Community Wheelchair Team look forward to taking on Essendon in the next round of the CWFL this Sunday, August 6th.
Upcoming matches for both Collingwood wheelchair teams are as follows:
Collingwood VWFL – Sunday, August 6th against Essendon starting at 2pm at the Boroondara Sports Complex.
Collingwood CWFL – Sunday, August 6th against Essendon starting at 1pm at the Boroondara Sports Complex.
CWFL TEAM RESULTS – GAME 1 ST KILDA
Collingwood 2.1 3.1 4.1 6.3 (39)
St Kilda 2.0 5.2 8.2 10.4 (64)
Goals:
Collingwood: Paddle 2, Elliott 2, Ford 1, Falcome 1.
St Kilda: Welsh 10.
VWFL TEAM RESULTS – GAME 2 RICHMOND
Collingwood 3.0 7.1 8.2 10.5 (65)
Richmond 4.1 5.2 8.4 8.5 (53)
Goals:
Collingwood: Ford 6, Elliott 2, Paddle 2.
Richmond: Kotsanas 5, Secombe 3.
