THE Dons travelled to Harvey to challenge the Bulls on Saturday, hoping the long break would provide a platform for the rest of the season - but it was not to be.
First to play were the reserves. Although they started brightly, Harvey turned with a narrow lead at half time and ran out comfortable winners at the end.
Best for the Dons were Raymond Giudici, Julian Burgess, Darryl Coad, Brendon Giudici and Wayne Clifford. Donnybrook lost to the Harvey Bulls 10.7-67 to 6.7-43.
Next up were the colts. In a hard fought game, the boys had several opportunities to secure the points. However they were wasteful in front of goal and were on the wrong end of a very lopsided free kick count. They were very unlucky to lose by less than a goal at the end, with 8.5-53 to 6.13-49.
However the boys did enough with their superior percentage to be confident they will keep Harvey’s colts on the bottom of the ladder this year. Congratulations to Drew Symington and Jacob Kendle on their debut games.
Congratulations also to Josh Porteous who made his WAFL colts debut the previous week. Best on the day for the Dons were Bryce Murray, Joel Parker, Jayden Tipper, Shaun Robertson and Isaac Freeman.
In the League game the Dons were badly undermanned, missing Jeff Smith and Simon Parry who were in South Australia representing the WA state country team. They were also missing several players who have yet to return from holiday.
The Dons fielded a side comprising four colts who had already played, one reserve likewise and two players who were carrying serious injuries into the game. With the players available to him, coach Smith did his best to stem the tide but the home side were too strong in every part of the ground.
Always under pressure, the Dons failed to find any pattern and missing key players, lacked structure. The final result of 15.19-109 to 3.5-23 was a reminder of the lack of depth in the current squad.
The club will need to improve its player numbers for next year in order to be competitive. Best on the day for the Dons were Lance Smith, Jarrod Guglielmana, Mark Manea, Jason Brennan and Clint House.
