Sunday August 12th- For the second week in a row Monty has come up against an "old" enemy. This week it was Greensborough, and like Eltham last week, Greensborough had a mathematical chance of making the finals if it defeated Monty. Instead Monty had the great pleasure of elimanating Greensborough from the finals race of 2007, a small revenge for the loss earlier in the season.
The traditional Sunday game between the clubs has always been a feature of the League calendar, after all it was Monty and the Boro that started Sunday football in the League as a regular fixture. All the signs were there for a big day; Monty needing this win to stay alive for the finals and Greensborough wanting to eliminate the old enemy while keeping themselves mathmatically alive for finals in their first season back in division 1. What better premise for a suburban duel?
Unfortunately the weather didnt play its part with rain all morning in bitterly cold conditions. The thirds copped the worst of it in perhaps one of their best games of football for the year. Although they didnt win, they were playing the second team on the ladder and for all but the last 30 minutes played all over them. The game was tight with Monty leading till just before three quarter time when Boro took a 4 point lead. The boys were pumped and the crowd was excited about the prospect of an upset. Joran Daley was playing like a man posessed and Kent Ohanessian was brilliant. Peter Moore kept his purple patch of form going and big Matty Searle was teaching the Boro how to play football. Unfortunately the Boro won with some game breaking luck, but top sides will make their own luck. Well done to the boys for pushing a likely grandfinalist to the wire.
Hoffy's reserve side also had the pleasure of starting in poor conditions, but by games end it seemed we almost needed the suntan lotion as the sky cleared and all the red heads at the club ran for the shade. With Boro second on the ladder and our boys fourth, this game was critical as a win would give Hoffy a shot at the double chance while a loss would see the possible danger of dropping out all together. I'm sure Hoffy in his poetic style would have let the boys know the equation, but I'm also sure he told them to forget about the finals, this game is personal, it's the slime.
They responded with a resounding win. Scott Pepyat was dominant through half back and the centre line as he ran all day ignoring his packet a day smoking habit. "Ratta" McCabe taught Greensborough that he has professional acting training as they continually "touched" him and he continually practiced his academy award routines. The irony was that the one time he got smacked hard from behind the umpire called play on. All joking aside Ratta was one of the best for the day and he must have felt great in a return to serious form. Amobrose also made a return to football after a broken hand and he showed that he still loves to "fly" as he climed over everyone in the goal square to take a juggling mark. All round the ground Hoffys team shut Greensborough down and it must have almost brought a smile to his face to beat the slime on our patch of sand.
The senior game started in sunshine but with Greensborough kicking with the aide of a 3 goal breeze. Mont started well but missed some very easy shots on goal which would have set the scoreboard pressure and could have seen the game almost won in the first quarter. Brent Gutterson obviously still in shock that he handballed in the goal square last week, missed two set shots from 20m out dead in front and also missed with a snap from the goal square. The home crowd were worried and the Boro were certainly letting Gutto know he was missing. But in true Gutterson form he blasted from 50m later in the quarter to get his kicking back on track. Fairchild for Boro was marking every kick that came into the Monty forward line while Finnan was doing the same for Monty down the other end as the ball seemed to go end to end for a good part of the quarter. At the end of the quarter Monty held a handy 7 points lead.
The start of the second quarter saw the wind almost disappear and conditions were perfect for football. The crowd had built up, but with Monty and Greesborough playing in both the U15 & U17 Junior Preliminary finals there was always going to be fewer people than expected at the ground. Those that were at our game saw the game start to turn in the second quarter as Monty kicked 6 goals to the Boro's 4 goals giving Monty a handy 3 goals lead at half time.
The third quarter was loud for a few minutes from both clubs as the umpires became whistle happy. Mont had scored 2 quick goals before Greensborough replied though a free kick awarded infront of the Mont crowd. If this wasn't upsetting enough, as the ball was returned to the centre one of the umpires who was on the blind side of a push and shove then paid against Mont for a "too high" that he clearly didnt see, which resulted in a "free" shot and goal for Greensborough. Both sections of the crowd were livid and for a while the game had real passion and emotion. I think the Boro thought that this run of two goals would constitute a comeback, but this was snuffed out when another 2 goals to Mont tempered the crowd back into decent human beings. By quarters end Mont held a 41 point lead and looked home and hosed.
The last quarter was more of the same for the Boro, as Mont pulled further away. Boro had a mini resistance of two goals in a row only to see Monty return the favour with interest. Unfortuantely the Boro saw that their seaon was over and became undisciplined giving away needless 25 m penalties. When even Jai Cesari scores a goal from a 25m penalty you know the opposition is rattled. Mont kicked 8 goals in the last quarter to continue with the form of the past 2 weeks. A comfortable 69 point win as we now head in the last three weeks in what effectively becomes the start of the finals for Mont.
Last Modified on 15/08/2007 17:43
