AHHHH Friday night in late June with the sun beating down is there nothing better than having a game of footy at Humber South. The night kicked off earlier than usual at 5.45pm with a Div 2 game between the 2 clubs. With Central Blues a little short, reinforcements were called in from the Broadview Hawks and 2 of our own to help them make the numbers.
After an exhausting 4 x 12 minute game with 11 a side it was the Central Blues who came out on top thanks largely to the 2 players drafted from our own team that help provide them with about 35 years of playing experience that lead to our own undoing. The Central Blues by about 6 goals.
With a win in the Div 2 game the Central Blues should of been confident that an upset and their first win as club over the reigning Premiers might be on the cards.
At times the Etobicoke Kangaroos A.F.C can look like a rabble pre game and this was one of those occasions where too much work to do by too few mean't things slipped thru the cracks. A slow start seemed inevitable with a bad pregame and they did'nt disappoint. The Central Bles came out so hot and fast that they were leaving their on teammates gasping at the speed they were playing at let alone the Etobicoke Kangaroos the Blues kicking 2 quick goals. Like all good teams the Roos dug in and held off the Blues and waited until their run stopped due to fatigue and kicked a couple via Phil Russo and Travis McKenzie in the last few minutes of the quarter to be level after 20 minutes.
The 2nd term would be just as quick as the 1st as the Central Blues decided to see how fit the Etobicoke boys are and see if they can handle their hard running and pressure. New Recruit Sam Bates finding finding his feet nicely in his first game for the club and bagged a goal followed by a couple from Travis McKenzie then Coach Emile Studham decided to impose himself into the game and kicked truely. Before we knew it the 1st half was over and we had 8 point lead. The real question was had the central Blues ran out of legs, surely they couldn't keep it up for the 2nd half.
With the long break now behind us the boys set about moving the scoreboard in the right direction, could the Central Blues keep up the relentless pressure or would the 1st half take it's toll? With the game being played at a comfortable temperature now with the setting sun, a 5 goal to 1 bitz in the 3rd should of stopped the plucky Blues. Goals from McKenzie, Studham x 2, Harbour and Vella help turn it on provide the 40 point buffer that the coach would need to be able to provide his bench the chance to finish them off in the 4th. It started to look like the 1st half did take it's toll on the Central Blues who were not able to stop the roos in the 3rd 20 minutes.
A Premiership team with a 40 point lead is normally a sure bet with the bookies to go on with the job, but someone forgot to tell the Jaye McCumber lead Central Blues. The blue boys came out firing attacking the sleeping roos with all they had. After a qiuet 3rd term the were running on all cylinders again looking for inroads into the roos defence that was under a constant barrage. The banged away chiping away at the scoreboard and got close enough for a "sniff" before a couple of settling goals by Bates and McKenzie steadied the Premiers to go on and win by 20 points.
Quarter By Quarter Scores
Etobicoke Central
1st: 1.2.8 1.2.8
2nd: 5.4.34 4.2.26
3rd: 10.6.66 5.2.32
Final: 12.7.79 9.5.59
Best Players: Adam Paterson, S. Bates, L. Lombardini, C. Harbour, T. McKenzie.
Goalkickers: T.McKenzie 5, S. Bates 2, E. Studham 2, J. Vella 1, C. Harbour 1, P. Russo 1.
Weekly Award Winners
Wolf Blass B.O.G Gift Pack: Adam Paterson
Squire & Firkin Best Australian $20 Gift Voucher: Luke Lombardini
BigGrab Sports Best Canadian 2 Movie Tickets: Denis Lauristen
Pizza Pizza 1 %er Free Large Pizza: Sam Bates
We now take a week off as the Canada Day games take place at Humber South on July 1st.
12pm Cdn Rookies Vs OAFL Veterans
2pm Team Canada Vs OAFL Aussie All Stars
Etobicoke Kangaroos Next Game Round 6:
July 3rd @ Humber South
Div 1 Vs Tor. Rebels 6.45pm
Last Modified on 16/01/2010 11:09