Round 1 of the real stuff done and dusted and very happy to report that we have come away from Kenmore with a win. Teams in our comp aren’t going to be able to say that much this year as no doubt Kenmore, going by their grading game form, are going to be one of the stronger teams running around, they have plenty of representative footballers and lots to back them up. As always they are a very competitive club and team and I was very happy to walk out of there with the 4 points.
How we went about it though has probably raised a few questions which I hope we can respond to and answer over the weeks ahead. We had a terrific start to the game, in fact much better than I could have possibly imagined. At quarter time we were 34 points up, having 10 scoring shots to just 1, a behind. We could have been more up as a couple of the misses we had were pretty gettable. I didn’t mind though because we were absolutely all over them. The game was 16 a side and this made the game a very open and flowing affair, we used the space and run really well and our tackling pressure was very good.
Half way through the second quarter and still all was good, we had increased our lead to 42 points and they were still goalless, having just the 3 scoring shots to our 15. Our return of 6-9 to that point wasn’t great and it could have been game over there and then but it wasn’t to be. At that stage of the game I honestly thought we were going to win by a big margin. Unfortunately I think the boys did too because slowly the game started to change, we didn’t score again for the quarter and whilst Kenmore only kicked the one goal they were definitely starting to win more of the footy and grow in confidence.
We had a few words at half time about how we all went “missing” for 10 minutes and the need to get back to what we were doing well for the half an hour before that. The first half of the 3rd quarter was a fairly even tussle with both sides kicking the one goal but from that point on Kenmore snatched all of the momentum. All of a sudden we were starting to panic with the ball, under pressure we were turning it over and giving it straight back to them and many of us started to go kick chasing and as a result we lost all semblance of a structure. When you go kick chasing you aren’t accountable to your direct opponent and this killed us. They started to find loose targets and they kicked the last 3 goals of the term to get within 18 points at the last change.
The ¾ time huddle was pretty subdued, they knew they had let the opposition in, and they listened intently as to what they needed to do to turn it back around. We kicked the first of the final term to give us some breathing space but they kept coming with another couple of their own to bring the margin down to 10. Jared snapped one from in front to put us back in command but still Kenmore kept coming and had another one in them. 5 minutes to go and 10 points up we had to dig really deep to stop their momentum and thankfully we did, but not before another couple of forward raids by the Bears boys. I was very relieved when the siren went and we were 11 points to the good. We sang the song really loud and so they should have, even though it wasn’t the best way to win a game of footy it was still a win, and after the beltings Kenmore gave us last year it felt really good for a lot of the boys who played in those games. Kenmore are never easy, 2009 (u16 div 2 Grand Final draw against Kenmore then lost the replay by a point) reminds me of that all the time so we will take that and move on.
Final scores Springwood 9-13-67 def Kenmore 8-8-56
Best players; Nathan Murcutt a great captain’s game, Aiden Dipetro worked hard all day, Jared Denny was a livewire across half forward, Rhys Murdoch was as always full of run and courage, Ben McDonald was very impressive in the ruck all day, Dan Willaton’s forward defensive pressure was terrific and Lincoln Opbroek and Ben O’Sullivan were solid contributors.
Goalkickers: Dan Willaton 2, Matt Iervese 2, Jared Denny 2, Nathan Murcutt 2 and Reece Adams 1 contentious contender for Goal of the Year.
Thanks again to the boys who doubled up over the weekend, your efforts are very much appreciated by both Gold and Navy teams.
Last Modified on 10/05/2012 14:36