Seniors
The Camberwell ground appeared to be in good condition for footy despite the overnight rain and several heavy falls during the match.
DLS started well when recruit Tom Curry goaled from the forward pocket after superb ruck work by Oscar Persson. However in the remaining 23 minutes of Qtr 1, OS scored 8 unanswered goals. Apart from a flurry of 3 goals very late in the term, their goals came in a measured application of pressure, which was sadly lacking from DLS. OS precision teamwork was laudable. The inability or lack of confidence of DLS players to “take the game on” was in sharp contrast to our OS opponents.
DLS now kicking to the grandstand end, which, for no obvious reason, turned out to be the scoring end, played with a noticeable lift in intensity. Particularly by the forwards whose endeavours to keep the ball in DLS attacking zone paid off when Charlie Haley played on from a free to kick his 1st and DLS 2nd for the day. The contest around the ball had tightened measurably and it was only an errant kick in which allowed OS to mark & goal to break the “deadlock’. DLS replied almost immediately when, after Matt Moore was freed in a marking contest, Charlie Haley played on from the loose ball and goaled with a smart snap.
Again another lengthy goalless period ensued before Ben Oakley, in an unaccustomed role up forward, latched onto a loose ball, which came from a
rushed kick out of a tough contest by Dan Close, to snap truly from close range. DLS had won the quarter by a 2 goal margin to reduce the deficit to
34 points at half time. Again it was a qtr of missed opportunities by DLS. Kickable goals missed, dropped chest marks and poor delivery all over the ground exacerbated the magnitude of the task. The increase in players’ endeavour was evident as the free kick count was 10:3 for the qtr in DLS favour.
OS came out “smoking” to use the vernacular and had 3 goals in nine minutes of Qtr3, only 1 of which was directly attributable to their fine play. In heavy rain, skipper Matt Fieldsend, who was trying valiantly to lift his team, pounced on a miskick at CHF and goaled with a superb long kick. Shortly after Ben Oakley marked strongly, and after 2 25 metre penalties, goaled and DLS had temporarily at least stemmed the OS onslaught.
Poor defensive clearances and a ludicrous 25 meter penalty saw OS’s Passadore kick his 5th. This was quickly followed by superb running angle goal by OS’s Wills, which restored OS’s authority on the match! Ed Clinch, restored to the senior team after 1 match with the Reserves, was having a good match as evidenced by a return of confidence to run straight at and with the ball. This culminated him goaling from 35 meters after securing possession in a tough contest in front of the scoreboard.
Passadore, released from the close attentions of Tom Humphrey whose talents were required elsewhere was having a “field” day but it must be said he was the beneficiary of some superb passes!
It had been the best qtr of football for the match although OS outscored DLS 39:22.
In contrast to the quality of play in the 3rd term, the final qtr was a dismal affair as evidenced by the combined score of 2.11. Again it was DLS’s unforced errors, dropped chest and easy overhead marks which increased the pressure around what should have been an easy possession and eliminated the chance to set up scoring opportunities. As if to emphasise to deterioration in standard, OS’s only goal came from a misdirected DLS kick to the front of the OS goal square!
Ed Clinch capped of a fine return with a classy snap but hit the post with another running shot after gaining possession in a hotly contested play.
Tom Moloney was absolutely superb in defence which was under constant pressure no doubt enhanced by OS’s precision kicking to their forwards.
Great to see the continued improvement of youngsters Liam Wood & Michael Stizza. Recruit Tom Curry lived up to his solid reputation with his best game for the Club. I thought the ruck work of particularly Oscar Persson was a positive for DLS somewhat reduced in effectiveness by the quality of the OS on ballers.
The evenness of the match after quarter time is shown by OS just outscoring DLS by 5 points 62 : 57
De La Salle 8.15.63
Old Scotch 16.18..114
Goal Kickers: E. Clinch 2, C. Haley 2, B. Oakley 2, T. Curry , M. Fieldsend
Best Players: E. Clinch , T. Curry , M. Fieldsend , L. Wood , M. Stizza , T. Moloney
Reserves
Despite a horrible first quarter a reasonable effort today against a team in contention for finals. Good to see some senior quality players show some good form.
De La Salle 10.10.70
Old Scotch 13.17.95
Goal Kickers: R. McDonough 2, A. Kneebone , C. Hyde , T. Parker , T. McMahon , J. Fisher , D. Lowe , J. Oakley , L. Godhino
Best Players: T. Parker , T. McMahon , J. Oakley , D. Millwood , J. Ramsden , S. Hogan
19 Blues
This week Blues were at home to Old Melbournians. Unfortunately we had lost a few players with injury and other commitments, but this offered a great opportunity for several of the younger brigade from the Golds to show their stuff, with Liam McClusky, Will Mackie, Jake McGaw all in for the game and Scotty Vawser returning after a broken thumb. It was also Hamish Ramsay’s 50th game and all wanted to celebrate with a win. The Dairy Bell ground was in great condition and our boys were pumped as they hit the ground
The first quarter started with our boys up and about. Our back half were giving us plenty of run into forward line with Jack Gava, James Howard and Hamish Ramsay all scoring goals. Aaron Hay was providing run thru the middle and our Rucks of Nic Halliday and Aaron Wheatley were well on top. Blues had 6 individual goal kickers for the quarter and scored 8 goals and Old Melb failed to score.
2nd quarter saw Old Melb lifting and starting to win the contested ball. They scored an early goal and our boys needed to meet their challenge. Sef McGraw and Jake Pirovano began the fight back and getting on top at stoppages. Our young forward James Cook slotted his 2nd and was looking dangerous. Blues scored 3 goals for the quarter and Old Melb 1.
After the half time break both teams came out hitting the contest hard. Matt Dumbleton was showing his customary strength at the ball and Jamie O’Sullivan was charging out of defence to push us into attack. Scot Vawser was getting alot of the ball forward and looking dangerous. Blues scored 4 goals and Old Melb 2.
The last quarter needed our players to show their strength and push on for a good win. Our leadership group had worked hard all day and had been well supported by the younger brigade and they continued on thru the quarter. In the last we had another 6 individual goal scorers and Old Melb failed to score. By end of the day the Blues had 13 individual goal scorers, with James Cook top scoring on 4.
De La Salle 21.23.149
Old Scotch 3.4.22
Goal Kickers: J. Cooke 4, H. Ramsay 2, J. Howard 2, M. Martinez 2, J. Gava 2, A. Wheatley 2, M. Dumbleton , J. McGAW , J. Pirovano , D. Marchese , A. Munday , B. Cranage , S. Vawser
Best Players: J. Cooke , H. Ramsay , J. Howard , J. Pirovano , A. Hay , S. McGraw
19 Golds
After a miserable loss earlier in the year when we played Peninsula, and having to make a 2nd road trip for the year to Mornington, only made our resolve to put in a better performance that much stronger, because let's be honest Peninsula are a 10 goal better team at home. That may because of travel, that may because of opposing teams just psyching themselves out about the day trip, blah, blah, blah, but whatever, it was evident early the Golds decided to come and play.
Wins and losses provide opposite ends of the end of emotional spectrum, and at the end of the game it was plain to see, elated De La players with drained and somewhat bewildered Peninsula players.
When you look at what happened this was a game where it could be argued the team that was braver and the team that played for the longest won. Sometimes in a low scoring game when you are ahead you can put the cue in the rack a little early and think that the game is done and dusted and maybe that is why De La were able to kick 3 goals in the final 8 minutes to win a game they had no right to do so.
The match was peppered with some verbals being offered by players on both sides about the merits of individual players and their ability (some witty, some not so and some just unnecessary) along with some particularly perplexing decisions and non-decisions by the officials all which only served to make this possibly more tense than was necessary given conditions were not conducive to open free running footy.
There was plenty of feeling due to the stakes affecting both teams, but that said there were some great battles along with some terrific efforts by players on both sides, and in the end it came down to what looked like a team with some really silky players against 22 committed players from De La and in this occasion the 22 fully committed were successful.
The game started with De La being strong in the middle and getting the ball forward, but just not being able to hit targets, conversely when the home side went forward they had a couple of taller more sure forwards with sticky hands. That said the scoreboard reflected we had built a healthy lead, albeit not as much as our overall dominance suggested.
We probably had more of the 2nd outside of a 10 minute period where peninsula were able to get the game on level terms despite not really enjoying as much of the all in their forward 50. We went into the break a goal up, but it was 4.10 to 4.6 which only served to demonstrate how many more scoring opportunities we had.
The break afforded the home team a chance to regroup and the 3rd was the best for them, but they were also receiving far too many 50-50 decisions from the umpires which was only serving to frustrate the players and officials alike. There were some great efforts by both sides and despite some very wet and slippery conditions some terrific skills. Towards the end of the quarter the De La boys looked to try and be more competitive and Matt Howard laid a crunching tackle and all of a sudden the temperature went up!
To the credit of both sets of players after some argy-bargy which was offered in retaliation to Little Howie's tackle they settled down and looked to play footy.
The last quarter was unbelievable in many ways - peninsula looked to have the game won, they had a couple of boys who were winning clearances, they had a little more cohesiveness across the middle and in the front half and then for whatever reason the game changed. And it can only be said it was player led, the Golds kept at it, they ran, they had some momentum and they worked just that little bit harder and somehow like all these things - the adage of you make your own luck rings true - Dylan Cowan, the big 'Dozer, ran onto a deep ball, marked, converted, Mick Lee marked and converted, Dozer again and again he kicked truly, and then Joel Whitehead marked, missed, but a huge transformation had occurred and suddenly we were 4 points up and no-one seems to know how.
In the last few minutes both benches were receiving and distributing different messages - allegedly there was 5 minutes, or was it 3, and then when there was allegedly 2 minutes which then became 30 seconds and then it was all over.
A win and one the players should take great heart from for it was there efforts that won the game. Terrific team performance and a great win which we hope will give us confidence going forward and give us some momentum and allow us to build towards finals.
De La Salle 9.13.67
Peninsula 9.9.63
Goal Kickers: D. Cowan 2, M. Lee 2, T. Hyland , T. Still , M. Laoumtzis , M. Mullaly , J. Dennehy
Best Players: T. Still , J. McLoughlin , J. Cox , D. Kelly , L. Carracher , H. Wardlaw
Last Modified on 27/07/2014 19:20
