Let Season 2016 Begin.
In what had been a long and hard preseason both on and off the field, finally Friday Night it was show time!
Before, we get to the match reports, a special mention and thanks must go to two lovable and highly respected gentlemen namely: Team Manager Dale’ Chippa Byrne and Secretary John Lewis for the countless hours of work they did in the last fortnight in ensuring players were registered and cleared to play- Gents the work you do is priceless.
Seniors:
Prior to the game, the seniors had the pleasure of having Kevin Perry- past player and parent of new player Jordan speak to them.
Kevin mentioned to the guys the proud tradition associated with pulling on the green and gold jumper, to not take it for granted but realise its your turn to take this club into the next successful era.
He was particularly proud to have his own son debuting in tonight’s’ game and one day join him in becoming a premiership player with NPFC.
As a father and son combination Kev also spoke about the club’s family ties having had great families with multiple brothers enjoying plenty of success at NPFC in particular the McNieces, the Chilcotts and The Amads to name a few.
Kev wished the 5 debutants a long and distinguished career with NPFC and that a win tonight would be the start of bigger and better times ahead
Our Club thanks Kev for his pre match gee up and helping the boys get home in an exciting 3 point victory in our first home game for the season.
The Game was a tight and enthralling contest from start to finish. Considering, it was one of the least experienced and shortest team’s Northcote Park seniors have ever fielded, without doubt all the boys came to play .The cohesion and team unity that showed throughout the game was clearly evident would prove telling at the end of the game.
It was great to see some of our older players such as Bronik, Shultzy, Jules, and Singy combine with the younger ones in Steinicke, Bosca, Sutts and Nik to continuously put Montmorency under pressure.
Most impressive were also our new recruits in Gray, Perry, Fandrich and Johnston, welcome boys to our club!
The transitioning from backline to the forward line was very good to see, however our kicking for goal was not great which kept Monty in the game. A wily club veteran was heard to say “maybe the bad kicking is not a bad thing, because it’s keeping our boys out of their comfort zone and making them work harder!” Perhaps this wily veteran does not agree with old saying “Bad kicking is bad football”.
As dominant as the boys were in the last quarter, we still could not put Monty away on the scoreboard, which almost proved fatal as the Monty ruckman missed a 30 set shot for goal in the closing minutes! The high heart rates and blood pressure of thousands of Cougars supporters were eased after he missed the shot.
When the siren sounded and in the rooms after the game you could sense all the players, coaches and supporters breathed a sigh of relief!
The club song was sung with great gusto, but rest assured the lid is definitely being kept on!
Reserves
A beautiful and warm day greeted the boys.
The Boys were dominant for 3 three quarters, the only lapse being the second quarter, Matty read the boys the riot act at half-time and they duly responded with some great football in the second half.
All the players made telling contributions, but none better than new player Jayden Askew who used his body as a battering ram, just ask the young Monty players who collided with Jayden only to come off a very much second best!
Under 19s.
A game that definitely got away.
At times during the game, the boys looked like they were going to be blown away by a much bigger opponent, but to their credit kept at it all day.
The boys almost pinched the game, but could only kick 8 behinds to Monty’s 1.1 to see us lose the game by 11 points.
With abit more training together as an Under 19 group, the boys will look to improve their team cohesion and familiarization with each other, which no doubt will help score a few wins.
Special Thanks to:
- All Sponsors, members, supporters and especially to the many past players who attended the games on Friday Night and Saturday.
- Montmorency Football Club for three very good games that were played in great spirit.
- Club President Peter McNiece and General Manager Dennis McNiece for the all the great admin work they put in to ensure Round1 was a great success for the club.
Please note The Prez, also showed his amazing “roving reporting “ skills by assisting with the Senior Match report.
See you Next Week at Greensborough.
Kind Regards,
$$