“Beats the #%&* out of losing” from ‘The Outer Eye’
Starting the season 0-3 its probably fair to say that confidence around the Norwood Football Club was not at an all time high. What we needed was a win, any old win, to begin the task of rebuilding that confidence. We were up against local rivals North Ringwood, two clubs that have been at polar opposite ends of the EFL landscape for a while, but who met on this day with the result very much up for grabs - neither side having registered a win yet.. Happily, after a far from spectacular 4 quarter slog, we managed to win, and it certainly beats losing..... It wasn’t pretty, at times it was downright ugly and listless, but it was a W, and we’ll happily take it. Like any and every side in the EFL, you have to bank your home wins, then take your chances away.
The game started with confirmation of the sobering news that key forward Leigh Williams was out for an extended period of time with a badly damaged quadricep, probably the last news we needed to hear. But happily, talisman captain John Holmes had recovered after just a one-week absence, he would surely add some bite and spine to our performance through the middle of the ground.
We started very brightly, 2nd gamer Huddo with 2 first quarter goals while Zak McCubbin let fly with a trademark long goal as well. We had 6 by the 1st break, and despite a couple of defensive lapses led comfortably by 18 points 6.1.37 – 3.1.19, this despite kicking into the breeze. Coach Denis Knight was understandably happy with our efforts, particularly that of giant ruckman Blake “The Lumberjack” Charles, whose ability to get first hands on the ball was proving decisive at stoppages with John Holmes Dean Poynton and Justin Gould all enjoying the ride. Jordan Ceppi was again providing some class rebound at half-back alongside Adam Gibson.
The 2nd quarter saw us add 3 goals to 1 while kicking with the breeze, probably a slightly disappointing result, but North Ringwood were tenacious if not dangerous, the play often bottling up with little fluent movement either way. We went to the main break with a comfortable 33 point lead and the hope that we might kick away to a big win after half time.
Disappointingly, the game petered out badly in the 2nd half, neither side able to make any significant impact on the scoreboard. We were hampered by lack of rotations, losing Ambrose and Kreuzzer to game ending injuries – lets hope they are not long term ones. But our game did deteriorate somewhat nonetheless, unable to find targets in the F50 with no key forwards having an impact on the game for either side. There was frustration in the outer and for sure in the coaches box as well as time and again we won the ball and sent it forward only to have it come straight back as both sides defences ruled supreme. It was left to mercurial on-baller Fingers to do the majority of the scoring, he would finish with 4 goals, while Matt Bate would find the scoreboard twice in the last quarter as well.
Our 3/4T lead would be still 33 points, and we would increase that to just 35 by the final siren: 13.7.85 – 7.8.50.
This was not a game that reached great heights, particularly after 1/4T, but we were never seriously troubled securing the win and have got ourselves “off the mark’ for season 2016. Best afield was Fingers, with Holmer once again reminding us just how important he is to our team with another rocksolid game. Gibbo also continued his fine season and the Lumberjack was excellent early, when the game was there to be won. His improvement in just 3 games is very exciting for the team. Once we get our heads around the very likely possibility that he will get first hands on the ball almost every time, our clearance work is likely to improve dramatically. Ceppi Hudson Gould and Hill rounded out the better players.
In great news, the 2nd and U19s also saluted very comfortably, providing us with our first – and very much needed, “Wooders Day” for this season. It couldn’t have come at a better time really.
So we bank the win, and move on to the monumental task of trying to knock over Balwyn next week, we certainly owe them one from a certain game late in 2015.
Go Wooders
Last Modified on 03/05/2016 09:13