The occasion was set. It was the Campbelltown Blues annual pink ladies day and fund raiser for breast cancer research. All 3 grades were playing at Monarch Oval, the home of the Campbelltown Blues, and were wearing their pink jumpers in recognition of the occasion. All 3 grades needed wins to keep their finals aspirations alive.
The morning was kick started by a dominant performance from the Blues youngest players, the MacArthur Giants U 19's. From the opening bounce these lads were on a mission to get the better of their opposition from Penrith. The resultant 70 point victory was a tremendous demonstration of the exciting talent coming through the ranks.
Following the U19's match, the Blues reserve grade team were eager to keep the momentum going against long time rivals North Shore. An extremely, tightly contested battle ensued over all 4 quarters. In the end it was the Blues who would prevail in a thrilling 1 point victory.
The erratic wind conditions at the start of the 1st grade match were an indication of worse weather to come but in the opening quarter there was no real wind advantage to either side. As expected, a tight, defensively oriented game ensued with neither side willing to relent. The Blues defence, lead by Nathan Lomas and Peni MAhina were eager to show that the Blues defence were equal to their more highly fancied opposition defence that was rated the second best in the league. Mark Mendola continued his purple patch of form, providing great run from the back line. Mitchell Hogan was back to his spoiling best against taller opposition and Josh van Luenen demonstrated why he is one of the most exciting prospects in the league.
The midfield was no place for the faint hearted with possessions hard to earn and tough tackling the feature of the play. In the absence of injured skipper Matthew Edwins, his deputy, Taran Etto led from the front earning countless contested possessions for the Blues. Hamish Sherwood was pivotal in linking the Blues transition from defence into attack. At half time the Blues held a narrow lead, but were fully aware that they had been in this situation many times this season. However, on this occasion they were not going to be denied.
In the 3rd quarter the weather conspired against the Blues. Strong winds favoured the students goal scoring end and opportunities were very limited for the Blues forwards. All whole team approach in defence was required to nullify surge after surge by the Students. The efforts to prevent the students gaining an unassailable lead in this quarter set up an exciting final stanza.
At 3 quarter time the students were 2 points in front and the message from coach Brunton was to be patient in the final quarter as goals would be hard to come by with Students pushing numbers back. Once again the erratic weather conspired against the Blues as the wind eased. However, the gallant Blues were oblivious to this and battled for each and every possession to help their team get over the line. While Brunton asked his team to be patient, even he would have been worried when with less than 5 minutes to go the Students still had a narrow lead. Then as if it was written in a script, the scores were all locked up with 1 minute to go. The Blues were finally able to extract the ball from a series of stoppages and make a fast break. Once again Hamish Sherwood was pivotal in the transition. Likewise Joel Bottin Noonan and Mark Mendola helped carry the ball into the wind. Eventually it was Rising Star nominee Aidan Bell who was able to seal the match by running into an open goal.
Celebrations erupted all around the ground and the team song was sung with gusto in front of the grandstand full of Blues loyal supporters.
Brunton noted the teams ability to handle adversity on the day, "During the week we spoke about how we all need to step up when adversity strikes the team. Over the last few weeks we have been in winning positions against top 3 opposition but been hit hard by injuries at critical times. Today we were again hit hard by injuries, losing Ruckman Cameron Gordon in the opening quarter and veterans Dave Linsen and Shannon Kershaw playing on one leg. However, today everyone carried the load and proved just what a resilient group we have at this club."
CAMPBELLTOWN 8.6-54
SYDNEY UNIVERSITY 7.6-48
Goal Kickers: M. Mendola 2, A. Bell 2, T. Etto 2, L. Vella , J. Bottin-Noonan
Best Players: N. Lomas, T. Etto, P. Green, H. Sherwood, J. Van Luenen, M. Mendola
Last Modified on 04/07/2014 11:54