A pleasant Spring-like afternoon in Bendigo greeted my car load of kids and dogs on Saturday. And I was heartened to see a good turnout in maroon and even more so to see lower numbers in green and white. Footscray sent up ten players, with stalwart Greg Mollison forced into a bench coaching role with a crook hand. Bendigo fielded 14.
I believe a quarter by quarter breakdown is unnecessary for this game, as they were all fairly similar. Footscray were a characteristically close-knit team, who were able to put together nice attack plays, and with some veteran forwards up front, they looked relaxed and settled most of the day. However, with only a bare ten, they ran out of legs later in the game, especially in their defence. This meant fairly easy transition out of defence and more time in attack for the Warhawks, but they were not able to score, despite plenty of shots and some good control in the forward line.
The only Bendigo goal was a beauty (and it really looks great when it works): John Webb passed to a cutting Alex Orr who drew a man and passed to Vincent "Joel" Fitzpatrick cutting from behind, who finished nicely.
Despite great pressure from the Bendigo backline, who forced many errors, and Gino Iuliano in goals who saw off many shots, Footscray scored steadily through confident forward play (which became plain cocky towards the end) and their scoresheet reads Q1: 6, Q2: 4, Q3: 6 and Q4: 5 with a total of 21 to 1. I can only wish them well in the finals.
Votes went to Brett Ruiz (three club) for a gallant effort in the centre, along with Russ Crofts; two club votes to Vincent "Joel" Fitzpatrick for a gutsy effort on the forward line and one club vote to Gino in goals for keeping it together (well, almost) in the face of a barrage.
I should thank Roy Preece for again stepping in to be our club ref, amid some refereeing controversy which had him looking concerned and muttering to me at one point, “Not too sure about THAT call, Webby”. It’s a tough gig, and we shouldn’t forget it.
I should also thank my lads Angus and Sando for scoring for us, and making me feel proud of them by immediately agreeing to the request to do so by Gino, rather than the whinging I would have expected had I asked.
On a side note, Gino asked me to mention that our “junior with no place to go”, Will Kenny is becoming quite the pushy goal scorer as part of the Moreland U15s, scoring 5 of the team’s 11 goals posting a win against Camberwell, which scored 3. Well done and hope to see you playing in the Warhawk maroon strip very soon (before half of us retire!).
John Webb, Senior Player
Last Modified on 15/08/2016 14:21