Dentists aren’t open on Sundays, which is a shame because booking in for a root canal may well have preferable to reporting on what occurred at Marcellin on Saturday.
On a sunny, beautiful afternoon we took the long journey to Bullen, adjusted our watches to New Zealand time and looked forward to playing at venue that had been very kind to us over the years. What we witnessed was only a patch of the previous form of the Bloods of 2008. Points go to Marcellin – they had certainly done their forward scouting and in all departments of the game they outplayed, outran and outbustled us.
The large wings were always going to be where a fast team like Marcellin would take to the ball to. They avoided one on one contests and started the match by making their runners sprint to open spaces, feeding the ball down the wing and seeking out their leading small forwards with precision. After their first goal we hit back with Chis narrowly missing and later in the quarter Critta got our first after Harro stood tall in a tackle and gave a terrific assist. Vossy was everywhere and Morrison, Brew and Tony Brown were working hard. Thommo displayed great courage and was heavily crunched as he backed into an oncoming pack. Marcellin continued to run hard and when the quarter time bell sounded we were perhaps lucky to be 1.1 to their 5.3 considering the percentage of play they had controlled.
After an inglorious first term the Oracle and throng were eager to see if the Bloods (playing in their first ever official away strip) could over come their sluggish start. The prognosis wasn’t good as Marcellin banged on an early major. BT now up forward kicked a timely major on his left foot and Brew, Vossy, TB and Stef were all working double time to break the shackles and stem the tide. Considering the dominance the boys from Bullen had, some were surprised at half time that the scoreboard only read 7.6 to 2.7. We had some real chances in the second stanza as we were forced to kick long to break the tight reins of the opposition.
For the second week in a row we didn’t score a major in the third quarter. The bounce, 50-50 decisions and the wind were all against us and all we could do was watch as Marcellin piled on 6.2 to our five points.
The coaching staff told the boys some home truths at the final break and pride was on the line as the final quarter started. Tempers flared in this final quarter as frustration took over after several dubious decisions. We couldn’t take a trick and poor discipline lead to us give away several 50 metre penalties. Injuries were also taking toll and despite the efforts of Harro, Frogger, Browns A and D we were able to make little headway on the scoreboard. Dan Brown kicked a beauty on the run and Fluff bombed in one from a set shot. The bell sounded to end what was an excruciating and agonising afternoon in the eastern suburbs.
Our performance wasn’t great and we will have to really dig deep if we are to face a resurgent St Kevins in next week’s crucial match at the Badlands. The white jumpers had had an ignominious first match but we will be much more at home when the magenta and black is on full display next Saturday at 2pm. Everyone be sure to be there in full voice and support.
Last Modified on 26/03/2009 21:29