FINALS O8 – WEEK 2 REPORT
By Peter Booth
SENIORS 2ND SEMI FINAL
FINAL SCORE – VERMONT 20-12-132 def BALWYN 10-12-72
A wonderful way to celebrate Aaron Nummy’s 200th game. Starting rank outsiders Vermont played fantastic one on one football and still managed to kick 20 goals. It was a terrific coaching feat by David Banfield. Williams came in for Johnson but on match day Waller pulled out with a hamstring and Cassidy came in. Conditions at Bayswater were perfect - it was a fine sunny day with no breeze. The match was very even in the early stages with Balwyn kicking the first goal. Our first came from Bardon via Froud. Bowden was proving a handful for McCarthy with 3 goals. Millhouse slotted through a long angle goal via Frankish. Frankish was having a huge game using his strength to perfection and made sure nobody came off the line at the centre bounces to crash the pack. Unfortunately he came off in the 2nd term and never returned - he assures me he’ll be ok for the grand final. Greig goaled thanks to a 25 penalty via Cassidy. At ¼ time we led 3-3 to 3-2.
We kicked the first 3 goals of the second quarter. Millhouse kicked the first two then Greig goaled via Frankish. The back 6 lead by Rushton, Papillo. O’Grady and Frankish were on top. We were getting the ball out of the middle when Holmes got involved in 2 goals, the first by Webster then Talevski. When Talevski goaled again via Papillo we led by 33 points but 2 late goals by Balwyn saw us go in at half time with a 20 point lead 9-6 to 6-4. Better players for the half were – Rushton, Frankish, O’Grady, Holmes, Morse, Bardon, Millhouse and Mendes.
Like the 2nd quarter we kicked the first 3 goals after the break. Bardon received a free after a terrific tackle and passed to Talevski who goaled. When Greig goaled we were back to a 33 point lead. Hall and Ross were proving too much for the Tigers in the ruck. The Vermont fans went wild when Froud goaled on the run and reality was setting in that we were in this with a huge chance. Bowden kicked 5 on McCarthy in the first half but as you would expect Grant came back strongly in the 3rg quarter to keep him goaless. Papillo was perhaps our best player this quarter. Hall goaled then Greig goaled via Ross and Bardon. At ¾ time we led 14-9 to 7-9.
No goals in the first 8 minutes of the last quarter but Balwyn kicked two quick ones. Rushton then kicked one of his trademark goals on the run. A quick reply by the Tigers as we realised we were not completely safe yet. It was sensational man on man football by the Eagles. All of a sudden the game was over as we slammed on the next 4 goals. Greig goaled via Froud then Papillo was rewarded for his best on ground performance with a goal. Although Froud only kicked 2 goals he was roaming far and wide and created many opportunities. He goaled after a great build off the back line then Millhouse made a certainty of the result when he kicked his 5th via Talevski. The big Russian has been down of late but would have been happy with his performance.
Vermont in to the grand final with a 60 point win. Better players for the half were – Papillo, Bardon, Rushton, Hall, Greig, Morse, Webster, Davidson, O’Grady, Mendes and Froud. A special mention to Nummy with his 18 touches.
Goalkckers – Millhouse 5, Greig 5, Talevski 3, Froud 2 with singles to Papillo, Hall, Bardon, Webster and Rushton.
Best Players - Papillo, Rushton, Bardon, O’Grady, Morse, Holmes, Mendes, Hall, Millhouse, Greig, Webster and Davidson.
Possessions – Bardon 29, Morse 27, Rushton 22, Holmes 21, Davidson and Webster 19 with Mendes and Nummy 18 each.
1% - McCarthy 18, Papillo and Mendes 10, Ross 8 and 7 each to Morse, Nummy and O’Grady.
Coach’s Comments – Today we enjoy – today was a credit to you blokes – you deserve a pat on the back.
RESERVES 1ST SEMI FINAL
RESULT – VERMONT 14-13-97 def SCORESBY 13-10-88
The Eagles play East Burwood in next week’s Preliminary Final after a nail biter against Scoresby. We trailed by a goal or two all day but found something in the finish to progress to next week. Scoresby opened with the first 2 goals before Conroy kicked the first of his 5 for the day. Johnson kicked our second goal and shortly after Stewart put on a great smother. At ¼ time they led 3-0 to 2-2.
Gaul got the first centre break and goaled within 30 seconds. Smith goaled via Emley then later Conroy kicked his second. Through all this Scoresby matched us by kicking 3 goals. They had a couple of players up forward who were causing our defence problems big time. At ½ time they led narrowly 6-3 to 5-7. Better players for the half were – McLure, Davis, Stewart and Conroy.
It was a shoot out in the 3rd quarter as we kicked 6-3 and they added 6-5. We goaled in the first 15 seconds after McLure got the tap to Gaul who passed to Ford who goaled. Ford kicked another via Johnson. A big mention to McLure who rucked all day. Dressing goaled via Bordin then Davis goaled via Dorbolo after a Bordin spoil. Conroy kicked our last 2 goals of the quarter one of them via Dressing. At ¾ time Scoresby led 12-8 to 11-10.
Scoresby kicked their only goal for the term just after the break to lead by 10 points. Dorbolo goaled via Ford then Whitchell applied an inspirational defensive tackle.
Smith scored a half volley soccer goal from a ground level handball by Rosewarne. Smith was playing much better in the 2nd half in fact his last quarter was terrific.When Conroy kicked his 5th from a tight angle we were home. Just before the siren Davis applied a fantastic run down tackle as the Eagles won by 9 points.
Better players for the half were – Johnson, McLure, Conroy, Smith, Griffiths, Davis and a special mention to Gaul for 3 decisive centre breaks.
Goalkickers – Conroy 5, Smith 2, Ford 2 and singles to Dressing, Davis, Johnson, Gaul and Dorbolo.
Coach’s Best Players – Conroy, McLure, Davis, Johnson, Griffiths and Smith.
Coach’s Comments – Fantastic – you were really focused – enjoy the win.
COLST 2ND SEMI FINAL
FINAL SCORE – KNOX 18-12-120 def VERMONT 4-14-38
The colts were completely overwhelmed by a very enthusiastic and talented Knox combination. Having said that we were very competitive in the first quarter. Dore kicked the first goal of the match and throughout the term we had more of the play in our forward line. But with 14 seconds to go in the quarter Knox had a boundary throw in 55 metres out and with 5 seconds on the clock they goaled to lead at ¼ time 2-3 to 1-3.
Knox kicked 4 unanswered goals after the break and our only goal came with 30 seconds to go in the term through McInerney At half time they led 6-3 to 2-5.
Better players for the half were – Rogneda, McDonald, Bull, Handley, McInerney, Siakavelis, Dore and Quon.
We were still close enough if good enough and when Ryan kicked the first goal after the break we were only 16 points behind. Knox then kicked the next 6 goals with some of them coming too easily. Henderson goaled at the 31 minute mark only to be answered by Knox before the siren. The quarter was a disaster as they added 7-5 to 2 goals.
Knox completely took charge in the last term kicking 5 goals to nil. Perhaps the only light of encouragement was we kicked 9 behinds. Knox big winners by 82 points.
Better players for the half were – McDonald, Handley. Rogneda and Huisman.
Goalkickers – Singles to Dore, Henderson, Ryan and McInerney.
Coach’s Best Players – Greg Macdonald said only a handful of Vermont players deserved to wear the jumper today.
Coach’s Comments – There is not a lot to say after a performance like that. Their desire was streets ahead of us. We were physically weak and didn’t want it enough. We went through the motions – we sat back and watched. We went inside 50 on 32 occasions for only 4 marks. The colts play Norwood in the Preliminary final.
Last Modified on 08/09/2008 15:34