Howarth ends as a winner

Barnaby Howarth has marked his much anticipated 100th and final match with Pennant Hills in style by kicking the first goal and seeing his side win their Division Four match today over Manly.

Howarth ended up kicking two goals in the win.

See below for Peter FitzSimons summation today in the Sydney Morning Herald.

TRUE CHAMPION

Pennant Hills AFL Club is not the Swans. It's a community-based club that defines the grassroots game, and yet, despite its modest facilities at Cherrybrook, has a rich tradition of producing elite AFL players, including Sydney Swans co-captains Kieren Jack and Jarrad McVeigh, St Kilda champion Lenny Hayes and - as if you didn't know - a long list of others including the first Sydney-produced player, Terry Thripp, for the Swans when they set up in Sydney in the early 1980s. Die-hards, however, note that beyond the champion players, they've probably never boasted a better man than Barnaby Howarth, who played a season for the Swans before being diagnosed with diabetes and was the club captain back in 2005 when, at just 25, he was so viciously bashed by thugs he suffered a stroke and was in a coma; his family was told to come and say their goodbyes as they prepared to turn off the life support. Somehow, despite it all, after four days he opened his eyes and began his long, long journey back with extensive rehabilitation - starting in a wheelchair and learning how to brush his teeth, shave and hold a fork again. And it went for years. How long? So long that just three weeks ago, after eight years of working at it every day - to walk again, then jog, then sort of run - he finally received the all-clear to play the four remaining games he needed to make 100 games for the club, a goal he set despite his continuing physical limitations. "Playing fourth division footy at Pennant Hills is exactly that," he said after the match. ''It's a normal life. It's perfect. I was a footballer before the stroke, and I'm a footballer now." Last week, he played game No.99 for Pennant Hills fourth division and on Saturday - at their old home ground, Ern Holmes Oval at Pennant Hills, where they play one nostalgic game each season - he will run out to play game No.100 to coincide with the Past Players' Day, where former players will visit from far and wide to attend. Barnaby's sister is flying from Britain for the game, his brother from Perth. On Saturday night, he will retire. Congratulations to him, and to that fine club.

Last Modified on 06/07/2013 15:48

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