After two big wins in the early matches the Blues were looking to continue the good fortunes for the Club with a tough encounter scheduled against Warners Bay at No. 1 Sportsground.
The Blues took in another tall side but due to a couple of late withdrawals had some players backing up from the 1st Division match. No excuses can be made for the tight loss; however the Blues intensity at the ball will need to be improved and more than anything else the sides inaccurate kicking from the 2005 season again came back to the haunt the team in the final quarter.
The Blues started well enough kicking the first two goals but it was the Warners Bay runners which had set-up the next two for the Bulldogs. This goal for goal football continued throughout the first quarter with a one point lead to the Blues seeing the game certainly in the balance.
It was again a see-sawing affair in the second stanza with the talls of Newcastle City being reasonably well held by the smaller but more determined Warners Bay back men.
A nine point lead at half time set the scene for a frenetic second half. Justin Kelly was playing well in the ruck, Mitch Niland was playing a great game and despite an off-the-ball clash the dogged Nathan Stewart was again putting in the hard yards for the Blues.
Not much had changed on the scoreboard during the third term with a five point lead to the Blues no where near good enough for the amount of inside 50's the Blues had managed to squander.
The final quarter saw the more determined Dogs take on and out-muscle the taller Blues line-up with some great running goals putting the Bulldogs in the box seat with ten minutes to go. The Blues weren't done with yet and managed to answer back with two goals of their own but the Bay again responded with two late goals putting the result beyond doubt with a dogged 15-point win.
As mentioned on a number of occasions the Blues and the Dogs are due to square off every two weeks until finals, and then expect to meet them in the First Elimination Final so the pressure will certainly be on when the sides next meet on 22nd July.
The Blues were well served by Niland, Cotter, Kelly and Woodhams with Courtney Knight kicking three to continue his great season in front of goals.
The side now looks towards Killarney Vale this Saturday with a tougher, harder and more determined Blues side hopefully set to take the field.
The 1st Division juggernaut continues to roll on with the hapless Wyong Lakes Magpies running into a pumped up Blues outfit. Fresh from the jumper presentation ceremony with Groover the Blues put on an exciting display of football eventually winning by 105-points to just topple the Under 18's winning margin.
Roger Laffery was potent up forward bagging four along with Captain Deedy who slotted another four and the new X-Factor Harro who kicked another three goals.
Resident goal sneak Tubs even slotted a lazy three to ensure the stories down at the pub where fact and not fiction for once.
Ben McCormack got the B.O.G from the coach in a typically speedy performance along with fellow speedster Roger Laffery who played a great game. The Rat, Ewan, BK and Joe took out the minor placing's in a very even team effort. The side maintain their top place on the ladder with the big win particularly useful for their percentage which is now looking a lot more respectable.
The Newcastle City Blues Under 18's side got the day off to a terrific start with a comprehensive 100-point win over the Wyong Lakes Magpies. In their previous encounter the Blues got over the line by a solitary point showing again the remarkable improvement the side is having as each week passes.
The side were asked to put in a solid effort for their ill Coach Steve Mitchell and the team certainly did that in the first half with an 83 points to 0 score line at half time. Hayden Kavanagh was having a field day rebounding the ball back from the half back line and with big Liam Keith proving elusive up forward the side were looking to record a huge win.
To the young Magpies credit they came out and displayed some great football in the third quarter to hold the Blues to one solitary goal and kick one themselves. The last quarter was again a fairly even affair with the Blues kicking a further four to Wyong's two to run out eventual 100-point winners.
Best players for the Blues were Hayden Kavanagh, Liam Keith who finished with seven goals, Mick Atkinson, Lucas Gorton and the ever reliable Tom Morey and Richard Antney.
A fantastic win for the young lads, especially considering the amount of Under 16's who had backed up from their Cup winning game the previous night. Now sitting neatly in third position on the ladder the boys will be looking to make all posts a winner form here on in and see if they can't sneak a top two finish.
A relatively quiet night down at the Cambridge on Saturday night, that was until 12.20am precisely when ambulance No. 2 for the season was called upon to pick up a battle weary Blues player.
Young Chilli Bear unfortunately damaged his knee quite badly in a freaky dance move incident that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons for quite some time. We wish Chilli Bear a speedy recovery and hope to see him ripping out those funky dance moves again in no time.
GO THE BLUES!
Last Modified on 08/11/2006 09:14