{"id":36182,"date":"2018-06-18T18:00:45","date_gmt":"2018-06-18T07:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afldraftcentral.com.au\/?p=36182"},"modified":"2018-06-18T18:00:45","modified_gmt":"2018-06-18T07:00:45","slug":"metro-escape-with-two-point-win-over-allies-in-thrilling-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2018\/06\/18\/metro-escape-with-two-point-win-over-allies-in-thrilling-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Metro escape with two-point win over Allies in thrilling contest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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VIC Metro has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying minutes to remain undefeated in the National AFL Under 18 Championships. Heading into the carnival as one of the favourites, Metro did not have it all their own way, forced to battle to a win against a gallant Allies side that would rue their inaccuracy in the second term.<\/p>\n

Metro led by three points at quarter time before the Allies took control of the game in general play, but could not put it on the scoreboard. While the visitors booted 2.1 from three scoring shots, the Allies booted 0.9 in what could have set the game up for them heading into the main break. Instead they found themselves down by seven points at the main break. They responded in the third term booting three of the quarter\u2019s four goals to take a six-point lead with a quarter to play and looked like causing a boil-over. A low-scoring final term saw neither side kick a major until a pin-point pass from Metro captain\u00a0Xavier O\u2019Halloran<\/strong>\u00a0found key position forward and potential number one pick\u00a0Ben King<\/strong>\u00a0inside 50. He nailed the set shot and put Metro in front \u2013 delivering them an all-important victory.<\/p>\n

Despite nailing the last shot of the day, King was well held by Murray Bushrangers and Allies defender\u00a0Jacob Koschitzke<\/strong>, restricting the talented big man to seven disposals and four marks. Koschitzke had nine disposals and two marks himself. Through the midfield, it was Sandringham Dragons\u2019 skipper\u00a0Bailey Smith<\/strong>\u00a0and inside midfielder\u00a0Rhylee West<\/strong>\u00a0who again got the job done, the most prolific of the midfielders in the navy blue and white. Smith had 26 disposals, three marks, three clearances, two inside 50s and two rebounds, while West had 28 disposals, five marks, two tackles, four clearances, five inside 50s and two rebounds.<\/p>\n

Western Jets\u2019 mid\/forward\u00a0Zak Butters<\/strong>\u00a0was also among Metro\u2019s best, booting a goal and notching up 19 disposals and four marks, as well as pumping the ball inside 50 five times.\u00a0Noah Answerth<\/strong>\u00a0had 17 disposals and three rebounds, while O\u2019Halloran had a game-high seven inside 50s, including the crucial one to King. Others named among Metro\u2019s best were defenders\u00a0Buku Khamis<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Isaac Quaynor<\/strong>\u00a0who had a combined nine rebounds, while Jets\u2019 mid\/defender\u00a0Daly Andrews<\/strong>\u00a0was good in transition with six inside 50s and three rebounds. Up forward, bottom-ager\u00a0Dylan Williams<\/strong>\u00a0was dominant in the first half, booting four goals, and finishing with 12 disposals and six marks.<\/p>\n

The Allies would be disappointed with the loss, but also buoyed by their ability to match it with one of the title contenders for four quarters, and indeed, might have won with greater accuracy in the second term. Midfielder\u00a0Fraser Turner<\/strong>\u00a0was named the home side\u2019s best, racking up a team-high 25 disposals, nine marks, three inside 50s and four rebounds.\u00a0Bailey Scott<\/strong>\u00a0and bottom-ager\u00a0Mitch O\u2019Neill<\/strong>\u00a0shared 19 disposals each, and combined for 11 marks and eight clearances. Top talent\u00a0Tarryn Thomas<\/strong>\u00a0had 18 disposals, five marks, six tackles, five inside 50s and four rebounds in an improved performance from the first week, while other potential top 10 pick\u00a0Nick Blakey<\/strong>\u00a0was better for the run with seven disposals, three marks, four inside 50s and a goal roaming up the ground at times.<\/p>\n

Keidean Coleman<\/strong>\u00a0provided run and carry out of defence, racking up 14 disposals, four marks, three tackles and six rebounds for the losers, while Nick Baker had 11 disposals, three marks and two rebounds. Murray Bushrangers\u2019 mid\/forward\u00a0Mathew Walker<\/strong>\u00a0was named in the best in his first game in the series for the Allies, booting a goal and notching up 10 disposals, six marks and laying six tackles. Potential top 30 pick\u00a0Chayce Jones<\/strong>\u00a0was again solid, racking up 17 disposals, three marks, eight tackles and three inside 50s, while key defender\u00a0Dirk Koenen<\/strong>\u00a0played his best game for the Allies, with 17 disposals, five marks and four rebounds.<\/p>\n

The Allies will lick their wounds and have a week off before the big week in Melbourne for their final two clashes against South Australia and Western Australia. Vic Metro face off against Vic Country at the MCG next Sunday in a standalone game for Round 3 of the National Under 18s Championships, before a bye and then concluding the series against South Australia at Etihad Stadium in which could well decide the National Under 18 Championships title.<\/p>\n

VIC METRO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>3.4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5.5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6.5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7.10 (52)
ALLIES\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>3.1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3.10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6.11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6.14 (50)<\/p>\n

GOALS:
<\/strong>Vic Metro:\u00a0<\/strong>Williams 4, Butters, Taylor, King
Allies:<\/strong>\u00a0T.Green 2, McFadyen, Blakey, Walker, O\u2019Neill<\/p>\n

BEST:
<\/strong>Vic Metro:\u00a0<\/strong>Smith, West, Butters, Answerth, Khamis, Williams
Allies:<\/strong>\u00a0Turner, Koschitzke, Scott, Coleman, Walker, Baker<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VIC Metro has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying minutes to remain undefeated in the National AFL Under 18 Championships. Heading into the carnival as one of the favourites, Metro did not have it all their own way, forced to battle to a win against a gallant Allies side that would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":32608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,8],"tags":[175,2465,63,2093,2094,3969,4283,2548,4276,2206,2349,4800,4008,5044,1334,86,123,66,234,69,1870,1880,2318,2415],"class_list":["post-36182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-championships","category-news","tag-bailey-scott","tag-bailey-smith","tag-ben-king","tag-buku-khamis","tag-chayce-jones","tag-daly-andrews","tag-dirk-koenen","tag-dylan-williams","tag-fraser-turner","tag-isaac-quaynor","tag-jacob-koschitzke","tag-keidean-coleman","tag-mathew-walker","tag-mitch-oneill","tag-national-championships","tag-nick-blakey","tag-noah-answerth","tag-rhylee-west","tag-south-australia","tag-tarryn-thomas","tag-under-18s-championships","tag-vic-metro","tag-xavier-ohalloran","tag-zak-butters"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}