THE WIND AND THE WITLESS
A howling gale blowing towards the Springvale end greeted the faithful when we met Tooronga Malvern on Saturday. Captain Thommo won the toss and elected to kick with the wind. The first quarter was a tense affair where unfortunately we wasted our forays forward. To their credit, the combine defended very well into the breeze, but they were aided by our decision making and kicking to the wrong pocket. Despite some good endeavour a goal less quarter with the wind spelt trouble for the home side.
The good endeavour continued in the second term as we defended staunchly. Coach Clint was doing a good job on the T/M’s boom recruit Trent Hotton, Luke Swan was mopping up at will behind the ball whilst Scott and Bernardo were finding plenty in the midfield. Darryn Young was also showing that he was up to the tempo of senior football. At half time we had restricted the bad guys to 3 goals and were only 11 points in arrears. The third quarter was a disaster as the visitors kicked the first two into the teeth of the wind. Anthony Bernardo responded with a goal for the demons whilst Daniel Turner was looking dangerous. We were able to create scoring opportunities but our conversion was deplorable.
Things went from bad to worse in the final stanza as we were completely over run. The heads dropped far too easily and quickly, and the hunger for the contest disappeared. We did not have enough winners for the day and the end margin should be disappointing to the playing group.
Paddy’s reserves on the other hand had a pleasing win against a determined opponent. Despite pulling away to a 5 goal lead at the main break, there would have been some nervous moments as the combine hit back with the breeze to be only 7 points down at the last change. Our boys proved resilient and steadied to record a 28 point victory. Great to see Dean Kovacic back on the park and among the best. Youngster Chris Chalmers was also named amongst the best on debut whilst Paul Riley was the major goal scorer with three.
Make sure you check out the photo gallery for all the action from the senior game.
Last Modified on 01/05/2010 21:15
