WOW WHAT A WIN - Six goals down, with our ruckman Will Gordon unable to come back on and young Tom Burkitt off to hospital in an ambulance with a suspected broken leg, the tigers have rallied to record one of the clubs all-time great victory’s in extra time to advance to next week’s preliminary final.
After an early onslaught from Heathmont, the Tigers found themselves 6 goals down mid-way through the second quarter. After working themselves back into the game with light fading fast (we did have to ask to turn the lights on) and the rain coming down, Mitcham were still two goals down as we entered time on in the last quarter. Late goals to Marro and Smyth tied up the scores at Full Time. The first 5 minutes of extra time was a nil all draw but another goal to Smyth in the second 5 minutes of extra time along with that important point sealed the deal. NEXT SATURDAY we have all 3 teams playing out at East Burwood in Preliminary finals and the boys would again love to see the Tiger Army out and about supporting - Of course Dress code is strictly Yellow and Black
Once again BIG THANK YOU to ALL those who turned up over the weekend to support the club and to Debbie Stingell for the Magnificent Photos of ALL there games from both days #strongandbold
Coaches Report
This week we played our elimination final at East Burwood reserve against Heathmont. As usual it was a windy day at East Burwood meaning it would be crucial to take full toll when kicking with the breeze. We won the toss and kicked with the breeze in the 1st quarter, unfortunately we got off to a slow start getting beaten around the ball and allowing far too much space for their forwards, Heathmont took full advantage and went to the 1/4 time break with a 23 point lead. In the 2nd quarter we started to pay better footy against the breeze but conceded the first 2 goals of the quarter to be starting down a 36 point deficit at that stage, we got on top in the back half of the quarter and trimmed the margin to 21 points at half time. In the 3rd quarter we continued to play good footy having a majority of the play keeping Heathmont scoreless and cutting their lead to 7 points at the last break. Coming from behind against the breeze in the last quarter was never going to be easy as the heavens opened up making it hard to transition the ball out of defence cleanly. We hung tough as Heathmont missed some chances and extended their lead to 12 points at the 20 minute mark of the last quarter. 2 late goals to Jesse Smyth and Lou Marro tied up the scores forcing extra time. We managed to hold Heathmont scoreless in the 5 minutes they kicked with the breeze with some tough hard defensive footy. When we had the breeze Jesse Smyth stepped up to the plate kicking a miraculous left foot snap in tough conditions to seal the remarkable victory. Riley Nicholas was outstanding after 1/4 time and Zac Carrol was very important late taking a number of marks deep in defence. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us and help us get across the line, we hope to see you all out there again on Saturday as we play Boronia for a shot at earning a grand final spot.
Neil Winterton Senior Coach
Last Modified on 03/09/2019 18:33