On Sunday, 27th of August the Collingwood Victorian Wheelchair Football League (VWFL) and Community Wheelchair Football League (CWFL) teams took on St Kilda in the last match-up of the regular season.
Collingwood’s VWFL team were given direct messaging in their pre-game chats from Coach Andrew Paddle, emphasising that the game was a must win to secure second place going into finals.
The team more so than ever needed to focus on making the most of their opportunities and reducing errors as much as possible. Coach Paddles also called upon the forwards to step up and defend up the court to create turnovers and errors from the opposition.
Collingwood started strong, scoring four goals in the first quarter off the back of strong defensive pressure before going again in the second quarter holding St Kilda to just five goals for the first half.
The second half didn’t start the way the team intended as they were only able to score eight points during the third quarter, allowing St Kilda to work their way back to a one point deficit going into the final quarter.
Arnold Razon, Alex-Gale Grime, and Will Crooks were dominant in defence keeping the Saints at an arm’s reach throughout the entire match.
Speaking of dominance, Anthony Perito scored 7 goals showing his form ahead of finals next week.
Josh Christian lit up the midfield after an impressive season bringing the ball up the ground for the forwards to score.
The Pies are excited to have secured a place in the Qualifying Final next week against Hawthorn and look to land themselves in the VWFL Grand Final on the 17th of September.
COMMUNITY WHEELCHAIR TEAM
With a top two spot on the line for the Collingwood CWFL team, the group was eager to win against St Kilda on the weekend. Despite several positives and a number of strong performances, the team ultimately lost by 10 points.
Jack Elliott, Andrew Paddle, and Vincent Falcome were electric in the forward line and the Pies defensive pressure was prominent irrespective of the loss.
During the match, the team managed to come from 29 points down to only lose by 10 points which is an effort the group is extremely proud of. The mentality was to ‘never give up’ even with an enormous mountain to climb and they almost reached the summit.
Collingwood’s CWFL team secured third spot in the league which still places them in the Qualifying Final against the Hawks on Sunday, September 10th.
With both Collingwood team’s heading to finals, let’s get behind them Magpie Army!
Upcoming matches for both teams are as follows:
Collingwood VWFL – Sunday, September 10th at Melbourne Sport and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) against Hawthorn with the time to be confirmed.
Collingwood CWFL – Sunday, September 10th at Melbourne Sport and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) against Hawthorn with the time to be confirmed.
VWFL TEAM RESULTS:
Collingwood: 4.1 8.2 9.4 11.6 (72)
St Kilda: 2.1 5.2 9.3 11.5 (71)
Goals:
Collingwood: Perito 7, Jankovski 4.
St Kilda: McKay 6, Welsh 4, Nash.
CWFL TEAM RESULTS:
Collingwood: 1.1 2.2 5.4 9.4 (58)
St Kilda: 4.0 7.1 8.1 11.2 (68)
Goals:
Collingwood: Falcome 5, Paddle 2, Elliott 2.
St Kilda: Walker 10, Team Stats.
