Seniors
A great day for the Club, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 1984 “A” Grade Premiership, arguably the clubs best ever team. The day’s events were overshadowed by the death of John Bolt, a Club stalwart and champion bloke, who was recruited as treasurer to our committee in 1984 has been a constant ever since.
QTR 1
A huge crowd was in attendance to witness this crucial match and it appeared that the VAFA were expecting “fireworks” as there were 3 field umpires who in turn appeared anxious to assert control. 3 of the first 4 goals came from trifling free kicks close to goal!
With conditions and the ground in near perfect condition for football on this most crucial of games for both Clubs, Old Brighton, kicking to the city end which was favoured by the mild breeze, got off to a spectacular start goaling within the 1 minute. DLS responded when Tom McMahon, who from ball up beside the gaol square, palmed to Steve Hogan who snapped truly.It was a spirited display and OB appeared “up” for the contest scoring the next 3 goals with very accurate kicking both field and for goal. In contrast DLS squandered opportunities until David Lowe converted after playing on from yet another free with both sides guilty of over exuberance with their tackles. The DLS defence headed by Ben Oakley and Tom Humphrey was on top but the almost constant supply of quality entries culminated in OB scoring again to take a handy 17 point lead into the 1st break.
QTR 2
In contrast to Qtr 1, DLS stormed forward from the initial centre bounce for young Adrian Indovino to weave a path through traffic and snap truly. The intensity was befitting a match crucial in the relegation stakes! OB’s formidable accuracy faded with 3 shots yielding only behinds with DLS backs Tom Moloney & Michael Stizza exerting strong pressure on the kickers. Eventually the impasse was broken when Tom McMahon, who was rucking superbly, played on from a boundary ruck infringement to kick a much needed, skilful goal.
At the half time break OB held a 6 point margin and supporters of both teams would or could not make a confident prediction as to the eventual outcome.
QTR 3
A determined DLS dominated play early but could only manage behinds. Charlie Haley who had a half of footy he will NOT treasure, goaled after eluding several desperate defenders to give DLS the lead for the 1st time, albeit by only 2 points. Strong play from McMahon landed ball to Jake Gotch at CHF who was run down in a great OB tackle. However he was able to handball to Sam Williams for what seemed to be a vital goal. DLS up by 10. Indovino, who was proving too quick & elusive for a series of OB opponents, missed twice uncharacteristically for him. Haley apparently responding to some half time “advice” was back to his elusive best goaling from the Dairy Bell pocket and DLS had established a handy 16 point buffer.
The game had developed into a free flowing affair and OB’s Dan Fallon (son of former DLS major sponsor Gavan) kicked their 1st goal since the 30 minute mark of Qtr 1. Mitch Carney, who had been quiet, skilfully turned his opponent “inside out” to score from close range and the 16 point margin had been restored. Great play by Haley ( I think) on boundary when he eluded opponents to pass to captain Matt Fieldsend who marked 30 meters out directly in front as the 3rd qtr siren sounded. However his kick just went right but DLS had established control of the game kicking 4.7 to 1.1 and hold an 18 point margin.
QTR 4
The tension was high with each team trying to assert ascendancy. DLS missed and OB swept the ball forward to goal through Jakobi. Margin back to a very gettable 13 points! Mistakes were common. But a poorly executed OB tackle resulted in Tim Kovess, who required some assistance, recovering to goal from medium range.
Skipper Fieldsend won a vital & fiercely contested ball on the centre wing to send the DLS supporters in raptures. He delivered to the “hot spot” where Aaron Kneebone, who was having a fine game, gathered, skirted the looming pack and ran into an open goal. Lead extended to 25 points at the 10 minute mark. Haley cleverly out marked opponent deep in the forward pocket and casually kicked his 3rd goal with a check-side disposal. With the lead now 31 points the pressure sub sided and aided by the enthusiasm of young players such as Liam Wood and Michael Stizza and the run of Tim Kovess, DLS dominated play from here on. Gotch, roving the pack from a clever top of square kick by Dan Close, snapped his 1st and DLS’s 12th goal. Close, who is having his best season, continued to extract the footy from tight packs. He was enjoying the ruck work of Tom McMahon. Close to Indovino for DLS’s 13th and the lead had blown out to 43 points. OB kicked their 3rd for the qtr after the final siren and the DLS supporters gave their players a resounding ovation as they left the ground for the penultimate time in season 2014.
It would be remiss not to record the superb display of the DLS “back six”. To hold the talented OB forward line to 4.4 after quarter time while DLS scored 11.14 was a significant achievement. Ben Oakley was in vintage form. His run is back!. Tom Humphrey did as he has done all season: just beats opponents one on one hands down. The remaining backs all contributed. Great to see Aaron Kneebone turn in a fine display on the wing.
De La Salle 13.17.96
Old Brighton 9.6.60
Goal Kickers: C. Haley 3, A. Indovino 2, S. Hogan , T. Kovess , S. Williams , D. Lowe , M. Carney , A. Kneebone , T. McMahon , J. Gotch
Best Players: , B. Oakley , T. Humphrey , J. Gotch , D. Close , A. Indovino , M. Stizza
Reserves
Another spirited display but alas the boys again just fell short. While wins have been scare the improvement has been outstanding. In our last meeting OB reserves slaughtered us so to get within in kick while disappointing was a pleasing effort.
De La Salle 11.6.78
Old Brighton 12.6.84
Goal Kickers: M. De Luca 3, N. Hyland 2, B. Pratt 2, S. Lowe , S. Harrington , J. Oakley , R. McDonough
Best Players: , L. Jarvis , M. De Luca , H. Haley , N. Hyland , J. Oakley , S. Woodcock
19 Blues
It was a sad day for all when we heard John Bolt had passed away just before our game was due to start. Baz Howard gave out the black arm bands and made the boys aware of the great loss and John’s contribution to our club over many years.
In the reduced Premier division draw, of only 8 teams, it was our 3rd game against Beaumaris, who were holding onto 4th spot on the ladder. This week Beauy had a few of their TAC players drop back , (with the private school kids back in at Dragons). The previous 2 games had seen Beauy with wins and we were out to cause an upset on their home turf.
The weather conditions were great for footy and the ground was in good nick. The first quarter started with both teams hard at the ball. Aaron Wheatley scored our 1st goal early and Matt Dumbleton was picking up plenty of touches through the midfield, Nic Halliday looking good in the ruck and Jack Gava again proving strong down back. Beauy put on 2 goals to our 1.
2nd quarter saw Beauy come out firing, with a couple of early goals and De La unfortunately wasting several opportunities in front of goals. Dave Commins and Mase Martinez moved back to help strengthen our back half and give us some run out of defence. James Dennehy, up from the Golds, kicked his first goal and was looking dangerous. Sef McGraw was giving us drive out of the stoppages. De La scored 1.4 to Beauy’s 4.
At the break De La were trailing by 4 goals and our players needed some composure with the ball to get us back into the game. Our young brigade of James Cook and James Dennehy scored a couple of goals for the quarter. James Howard was also getting plenty of ball down back. But Beauy kicked 5.1 goals to our 2.3 and pushed further ahead.
Going into last quarter Jack Gava moved forward and immediately kicked a goal. Jake McGaw was nippy at the base of the packs and also scored. But Beauy’s TAC players added some class late in the game with 4 goals to our 3.4. Our errors in front of goal thru the day proved very costly.
De La Salle 7.12.54
Beaumaris 16.9.105
Goal Kickers: J.Dennehy 2. J.Gava 2 . J.Cook. A.Wheatley. J.McGaw.
Best Players: J.Gava, J.Cook. D.Commins. M.Martinez. N.Halliday, M.Dumbleton.
19 Golds
There is a great rivalry going back between De La and Ormond and they have always been fierce contests between the teams and despite it being Under 19 South the match was again fiercely contested.
There was genuine sadness being felt by the coach at the loss of ones of the great servants of De La when he was told of the passing of John Bolt about an hour prior to the game commencing. As a mark of respect the Golds wore the black armbands and when told of his work for the footy club overall able to consider the efforts Bolty put in allows them to just play footy.
The game started at a frenetic pace and there were some pretty fierce contests – it was played a little like a final with basic skill errors being the norm rather than the exception with dropped marks, fumbling and players snatching at the ball as they felt pressure and lacked the time they thought they needed. I’m sure there was also a little bit of players from both sides worrying about their spot in the upcoming finals series, but it should be noted that both sets of players ran hard and straight at the footy and there was respect between the players and officials of both clubs.
It took quite a while for the 1st score as the ball seemed to swing between the respective forward halves and then get turned over, get held up in the middle and get pushed out wide to where it would then be bundled out of bounds.
Both teams had good passages of play where there was fluid movement of the ball to their leading targets, but it was more hard won footy than free flowing.
At the end of the 1st we could probably say we had done enough to show Ormond that the game was going to be in the balance all day and that the younger De La boys were up for it.
The 2nd was highlighted by some crunching tackles and big hits where the home team was looking to impose themselves over the visiting Golds. There was nothing outside the laws of the game, and it only served to show the courage required to play the game, but also it showed the boys what is required if you want to succeed. Hamish Wardlaw had the stuffing knocked out of him when he and his opponent collided – he then decided he liked the physical part of the game so much he doubled up in the 3rd in another fearsome crash!
When looking at the score at the end of the 2nd it could be argued that the game started to get away from us, and for 17 or 18 minutes we were certainly not at our best, but for the last 7 or 8 minutes we had Ormond on the back foot but just couldn’t score, and then with virtually the last 30 seconds on the clock they were able to get free, got the ball up the other end and score one to give them some breathing space.
The 3rd was not a great quarter from De La but again it wasn’t that Ormond were dominant, rather it was a case of being able to get that little bit of space to be able to get the ball to their taller marking target, whereas the De La delivery was not as good or we panicked with kicks.
In the last we were able to finally get some run, or maybe it was a case of our persistence paying off and we started to get a bit of momentum and have the home side running second, and not having the assurance with the ball in their hands.
At one stage we had somehow crept to within a goal with ‘Dozer getting a goal as he gathered the loose ball, then Stilly got one, then another as he roved another, skirted the boundary, and there was plenty of time. The whole game had changed and it was well and truly in the balance with De La full of running and Ormond looking to keep the Golds at bay. However, just as in the 1st half Ormond were able to squeeze a ball free and have their stay at home forward get onto the end of a bouncing ball which broke over the head of the De La defender and kick what would prove the match winner.
The bell went and whilst we were disappointed to lose in what was a good standard game the Golds players realize they are able to compete against the best and that a couple of boys are now able to see they can play at the level against the bigger bodies.
Next week we play Collegians at home at 11.40 and we are looking forward to finishing the home and away season off with a win.
De La Salle 10.6.66
Ormond 12.6.78
Goals: T. Nicholls 5, T. Still 3, J. Short, D. Cowan
Best: S. Taranto, H. Wardlaw, J. McLoughlin, T. Nicholls, T. Hyland, T. Still
Last Modified on 18/08/2014 16:47
