Blood-on-Blood violence was in full effect on the bottom oval at Aquinas on Saturday as the Aquinas reserves took out their first win of the season against old foe South Melbourne.
In the battle for Bloods supremacy, Aquinas got the jump on their inner-city rivals in the first quarter, using a strong breeze to the Riley St end to kick 4.6 while keeping South Melbourne scoreless. Sammy `Manchild’ Porter was on-top in the ruck contests early, feeding plenty of good ball to the Aquinas midfielders who dominated the clearances, while the backline never looked like conceding. The lead could have been greater after the first term, if not for some wayward kicking for goal from a couple of forwards and a couple of questionable umpiring decisions.
The second quarter was more of an arm-wrestle as the backline, led by milestone-man Gommers and Zib Zuccon, held firm to repel numerous South Melbourne attacks. With the teams scoring a single goal each for the quarter, Aquinas’ Bloods went into the half with a 27-point lead and plenty of confidence they could break the game open with the wind in the third.
Early goals were needed and Aquinas delivered, kicking two early goals to build a match-winning margin. Perhaps even more inspirational was the appearance of Mr Aquinas himself, the team’s spiritual leader Jarryd Cali, who pulled on the jumper in an hour of need to give the Bloods the lift they needed. His impact could not be described in terms of kicks, handballs, goals or any other quantifiable statistic. It was profound. When Brauny goaled from a set-shot after the three-quarter-time siren, after some good work from Luke Day, the lead was out to 50 points and the game as good as won.
Interim coach Shoz asked the Bloods to finish the game strongly, and despite conceding some goals early in the last, goals to Day and Spence sealed the deal as Aquinas ended the contest 44 points in front. The Bloods had winners all over the ground, beating the bigger South Melbourne outfit with tough, contested footy. Chinna was a wrecking-ball coming off half-back, running straight through whichever poor South Melbourne sap tried to get in his way. He was best-on. Just ask him.
It was a day for the in-and-under types, and Lukey Day thrived in tight, as did Hoju, who went about his business in his unassuming way and would be a good value bet to lead the best-and-fairest count at this stage of the season. Reecey Greig was so good in the middle of the ground he got an instant promotion to the ones, while Tay Miteff responded to a challenge from Shoz and produced his best game of the season. Brauny finished with three goals and is clearly enjoying being back in the 2s, and `Berries’ Boysen was good out on the other wing. The back-six was outstanding, conceding just four goals, three of which came in what was basically junk time. Every player contributed to what was a thoroughly satisfying breakthrough win.
The song was sung as loud as possible, despite some blokes not remembering the words, several not knowing the words in the first place, and even one guy who'd never played in a winning game of footy in his life. We're a motley crew, but no one could say we didn't earn it.
Special thanks to Shoz for stepping up in Mickey O's absence. It was nice to hear that voice being put to good use for a change. Mickey - sorry you missed this one, but it definitely won't be the last.
Good stuff all round boys.
Last Modified on 04/07/2011 15:51