Men’s Division 3, MCCBendigo v Malvern at the Albert Ground 26 June 2021
Driving to the ground from the U17’s match, which was at Chadstone, the day looked bleak with grey clouds floating above. The one shining light was that the senior game was going to be played at the Albert. Coming from Chadstone’s waterlogged and muddy ground it was a welcome relief to play on a field that looked like a bowling green.
When I got to the iconic ground, the sun started to peek through the clouds, and it stayed out for the whole match.
As Div. 1 had a bye, MCC only dropped one player and we had 5 U17s turn up. MCCBendigo had 18 players while Malvern eventually had 13 players.
The last time we played Malvern, the score line was 17 to 5 and Malvern’s Croll and Laidlaw scored three quarters of their goals.
The first 10minutes of the quarter it was an even contest with 2 goals apiece. One from Joe Shobbrooke and another from Alex Orr. However, Malvern put their foot down in the next 10 minutes and scored 4 unanswered goals. The coach highlighted the dangerous Malvern players, which were Croll and Cook this time. Tim Davis and Rhys Burgess were assigned to them for the rest of the match. Malvern led at the first break 6 goals to 2.
The second period saw the team make some simple mistakes which Malvern capitalised on and scored 4 goals to 1. Our only scorer was Barry Nugent. The same story of stray passes and dropped catches. A few offsides and illegal interchanges cost the team dearly.
However, the third quarter was a different story with better concentration by the team who scored 3 goals to Malvern’s 3 goals. Scorers were Angus Anderson-McKenzie with 2 goals and Clyde Pander, with his first senior goal in his very shot senior career (2 games). It was an individual goal, running from the centre line and dodging players to slot the goal as he was falling to the turf.
The last period was nothing to write home about as Malvern scored the only goals for the quarter, which were 4.
The final score line was 17 to 6. The team battled hard and showed snippets of brilliance, but the frustrating 1 percenters killed the team.
The forwards moved the ball around the goals and ran to receive the ball. They were patient but still needed to cut through once they offloaded the pill. The defence improved during the game, but they still had trouble neutralising Malvern’s play makers. Our midfielders, on limited occasions, got the ball to our advantage but not enough to make a difference. Frank, goalie, was a welcome return to the team, but he needs more time to perfect his clears and learn to not rush his passes.
The main destroyers from Malvern were Croll with 7 and 2 assists, Cook with 8 goals and 2 assists and their centreman McLachlan with 2 goals.
More food for thought, Malvern had to give their Div1 team 3 to 4 regular Div3 players this weekend as they were short.
There is still plenty to learn for the team, but to put it in perspective the team played the top team that hasn’t lost a match this year and will make the grand final again.
Progress scores were:
1st 6 to 2,
2nd 10 to 3 (4 goals to 1),
3rd 13 to 6 (3 goals each), and
4th 17 to 6 (4 goals to zip)
Votes: 3 Alex Orr 2 Matt Mellor 1 Frank Eekhof
Goals: 2 Angus Anderson-McKenzie, 1 Barry Nugent Ale Orr, Joe Shobbroke and Clyde Pander.
Assist: 2 Alex Orr, 1 Ron Lowe, Matt Mellor, Barry Nugent.
Thanks to Lester Young for his refereeing and carpooling, Jarrod for scoring, Paula for the washing the uniforms and Tim Davis for carpooling.
Next week we have a BYE, but the following week we will have Melb Uni/Brunswick at the Albert.
The bus is still out of action so we need a couple of people to volunteer to carpool, which they will be compensated.
Scribe
Gino Iuliano
Last Modified on 28/06/2021 11:23