Lacrosse Reports
Men’s Division 3, MCCBendigo v Melbourne University/Brunswick at the Albert Ground 10 July 2021
After a competition Bye last week, we were back to business this weekend. Early in the week Saturday was forecast to be a cold and wet. However, it was a lovely sunny day but cool, ideal for playing lacrosse.
This week was a double header at the Albert, which MCC revealed their new reversible playing apparel. As we were playing Melb Uni/Brunswick (MUB) in Melbourne, and they wore their Blue/Black tops, MCCBendigo reverted to the red tops and blue shorts. The tops lock and feel great but the only downside was the sizing. The 4XLs are like the 2XL in the old uniforms., a bit on the small side of things.
After the Team photos were taken by Matt Mellor with his drone, we got into our warmups and pregame drills. Gino was back in goal again, while new bloods Josh Nichols (15 yrs. old) and Max Snow (18 yrs. old) were playing their first Div 3 match. Furthermore, Max hadn’t played lacrosse for three years. The Team had 14 players, while MUB just had 10. We were without a few regulars, such as: Matt Saxon, Mike Bell, Jarrod Topp-Lowe and Russell Crofts.
The first quarter was nervous affair, Matt Mellor shot the first goal for the Team with an around the goal cease run. MUB then pulled it back with a speculation shot which hit the top right corner. Alex Orr then received the pill from Nuggie who was behind the cage. However, MUB’s young gun long pole ran the entire field had a long shot that bounced over Gino’s stick, for another speculation shot! The quarter finished two all.
MUB had the same number of veterans as the MCCBendigo, but were missing some juniors with legs. Coach Adam wanted the team to calm down and be patient as the Team was making simple errors. The second stanza started with missed opportunities and sprints up and down the pitch. MUB struck first with another speculation short, which Gino thought he had stopped, but the ball cannoned onto both legs on its way to the back of the net. MUB was pressuring MCCBendigo for most of the quarter, but a quick break saw the ball move to the attacking third with Barry Nugent presenting and reaping the rewards with a goal to equal the match score. Again our forwards had hit the goalie at least three times which was soul destroying, but on the positive side at least we had those opportunities. At the main break scores were tied 3 goals apiece.
The Coach got out the helmet and gloves to illustrate what he wanted from the Team when in front of the goals. I believe this assisted the understanding of our plays to our inexperienced players. A couple of changes were made for the third quarter, Alex Orr was shifted to the midfield, Josh was placed in attack, Tim Davis and Jordan O’Meara were interchanging between midfield and D. Pat Guan was doing a fantastic job in the face-off position, ably assisted by the midfields. MUB was tiring and this was pointed out to all. The Team needed to cherish ball possession as well.
The Team got on top very quickly with great team defence and score pressure from the attackers. Matt Mellor scored two goals: with the highlight being Matt winning the ground ball in front of the cage and placing it in the back of the net. Alex Orr increased the score line with another goal with a lovely assist from Mellor. The Team headed into the last break 6 goals to 3 ahead.
The final term continued the same way as third, MCCBendigo dominated in the centre face-offs. This gave the attackers first option who plied on pressure with possession and ball movement. MUB was visibly exhausted with no bench, but MCCBendigo were relentless. Any MUB attack was repelled and on two occasions maximum pain was administered with two crisp goals. A clear by Gino to Jordan to Nuggie to Alex then goal, in less than 10 seconds. The second was from Jordan’s individual run from the centre line to bounce shot into the net. His earlier attempt was a practise run for this wonderful goal.
MUB were down and out, literally with a player cramping up late in the quarter, another player injuring their hamstring and a junior player receiving a corky. The final score was MCCBendigo 8 to MUB 3.
Progress scores were:
1st 2 All,
2nd 3 All (1 goal each),
3rd 6 to 3 (3 goals to nil), and
4th 8 to 3 (2 goals to zip)
Votes: 3 Alex Orr 2 T Davis 1 Josh Nichols
Goals: 3 Alex Orr, Matt Mellor, 1 Barry Nugent, Jordan O’Meara.
Assist: 1 Matt Mellor, Barry Nugent.
Thanks to Lester Young for his refereeing and carpooling, as well as Gino for the washing the uniforms.
Next week we have a BYE, with the following match against Altona at Bendigo’s home ground and not the Albert. This is yet to be confirmed.
Like the previous Bendigo game we had a great audience and hope to have this experience again. See you all then.
Scribe
Gino Iuliano
Last Modified on 12/07/2021 12:04