Round 6 against Carey produced weather the VAFA website later described as “one of those rotten old days that only Melbourne can throw up.” While the Oracle and fellow members of the throng hypothesised as to when was the last wet match at Badlands the grey skies showed no signs of abating as the 2pm siren sounded. Wet weather, wet ball, muddy centre – it would be interesting to see how we would go in the first real test of winter football in years!
Sometimes in sport nearly everything goes right and that was the case for the first 20 minutes produced by the Bloods. Paddy winning knockouts, Sammy and A. Brown clearing the ball from the stoppages and the forwards not missing an opportunity. Magee banged on the first two and all of a sudden Fluff had 3. Secc popped up for another and Vossy booted a long distance bomb from half forward. Young Lance got the ball to Laz and all of a sudden the boys from Bullen found themselves 8 goals down. To Carey’s credit they didn’t fold and despite the strong presence of Hammer and Jonno they were able to salvage 2 goals towards the end of the quarter. It was a purple (or should I say magenta) 20 minutes for the Bloods and their supporters and as the rained continued to fall it would prove to be the difference between the teams.
The second quarter saw the ball getting heavier and the number of ballups mounting. Magee booted an early point before Carey goaled for their third. Magee took a clever mark against the point post and he converted from a difficult angle. Sammy was still getting plenty of the ball and he was surely enjoying the sting out of the ground. Jonno was kicking the ball long and young Harro was right in the mix. Clever play from Laz got Secc his second goal before a smart tap from Paddy saw Laz slot his second. Half time saw the score 11.5 to 4.6.
At half time the faithful lined up for coffee and hot dogs from Wardy Caspers and as the third quarter started those gathered cast several glances at the canteen queue to see if some of our boys were still waiting to be served. With the rain continuing to fall and the light dimming the match took on the appearance of rugby with Frogger taking more tackles than a Melbourne Storm forward. It was simply a dreadful quarter and it was most fortunate that Carey only banged on three goals as we struggled to make our 2 points. The run, talk and spirit so prevalent earlier in the game was suddenly absent despite the tireless efforts of Hammer, Browny and Frogger. The siren sounded and the Carey boys were full of noise and spring as they sprinted to their huddle. Coach Shanahan put it on boys during the break and really challenged to produce their earlier form. It was also going to be interesting to see if their were any petrol tickets left in the Carey glove box as they had spent much in getting back to a 22 point deficit at the final change.
Nerves were on edge as the final quarter started and all assembled knew it might be a war of attrition. What unfolded next could never have been expected. After 4-5 minutes of fairly even play one of the field umpires went down with what later was diagnosed as a possible broken ankle. The game halted for several minutes as the injured umpire was carried from the ground. The teams formed huddles and everything went quiet. When play resumed under the solo umpiring of Leah Gallagher the Bloods regained their energy and spirit and played with renewed passion and commitment. We grabbed the initiative to get a major on the board through Secc. Despite being around in the time of Noah even the ageless Secc was finding the rain a pain with the ball resembling a bar of soap. Sammy was firing at both ends of the ground and A.Brown was providing some inspirational run and drive to continually get the ball forward, Vossy was back in the mix and Frogger was at the bottom of every second ball up. James Magee proved to be a focal point and when we got our second goal for the quarter the run had gone from the legs of the Carey boys and the Bloods were home with a 31-point margin. Weary bodies dragged themselves in to the changing rooms to sing the song and perhaps the smallest throng for the year adjourned to the clubrooms for the obligatory winners beers. As we would find out later our 8 goal first quarter was more than four teams would score for the entire match. This was one gritty, but not pretty win and would leave us well placed at third on the ladder. Best players for the Bloods were numerous with Browny, Magee and Sammy being bright lights on a mostly grey afternoon. Prez Bonners asked to throng to source their Melways for the following Saturday as we look to play Marcellin at Bulleen in a most vital match. According to Shandy it is map 32 reference grid E9 –really!
Last Modified on 26/03/2009 21:27