It was colder than a mother in law’s kiss at Newcomen Road on Saturday as an icy blast swept through Melbourne. With neither sides form tremendous leading in to the match, it would be fair to suggest that both sides fancied their chances.
A good start looked like being squandered as we peppered the scoreboard with points early on. Our opponent however was having trouble compromising our defence, led by Paul Murphy.
Once we were able to manage our first major, we got the taste for it and went in to the main break with and 11 goals to 2 advantage. Scoring slowed in the second half as conditions deteriorated. Once again we lost the radar and piled on 12 behinds in the second half which undermined the side’s general effort.
Jason Hall was back to his best and was well supported by Travis Skidmore and Nigel in the middle. Big Ty ensured first use of the ball with clever ruck craft. Great to see Brad Heuvel back with four goals providing a mobile target, with Gav chipping in for three.
A relieved Coach Hughes thanked his players for their efforts and ability to stick together. He challenged the players to start collecting the scalps of clubs that everyone thinks we can’t beat, starting with Chelsea Heights this Saturday.
Riley’s reserves were victorious by a similar margin, 78 points. They were never really troubled by the doggies and were well served by some experienced players. Lukas (are we training Tuesday?)Bray was terrific as was John Charles, Luke Woolrich, Marc Fullarton and Kris Thompson. There is a real feeling starting emerge amongst these players which is full credit to the coaching staff given the number of new faces.
It was great to see Luke Swan Back in action after the best part of two years troubled by injury. Luke got through the game well and we all hope to see him back to his best in 2008.
Last Modified on 19/05/2008 09:57