Division 3 lacrosse, Bendigo vs Camberwell at Dorothy Laver Reserve, 6/7/19
With midfielder, Mason Matheson and centre-man, Russell Crofts ruled out for the day, the Warhawks were pleased to welcome back Paul Iuliano into the side and lined up 14 to start against a Camberwell side of 15. Bright sunshine persisted for most of the day and the ground conditions were excellent.
Bendigo opened with a quarter of quick scoring, with possession being dominated by the Warhawks. Brett Ruiz was able to compete admirably with the Camberwell centre-man and Bendigo enjoyed the lion’s share of the ball out of the centre draws and a blitz on goal by Paul Iuliano (3 goals) and Alex Orr (2 goals), with no answer from Camberwell until late in the quarter when they scored two.
In the second, there was a huge turnaround and Camberwell stopped the bleeding and held possession in their forward line for long periods and robbed Bendigo of their momentum. The Warhawk’s scoring dried up and Camberwell were able to score 5 to zero in the quarter giving them a half-time lead of 7 to 5.
After the long break, Bendigo regrouped and the play was much more even. Bendigo still tended to rush in attack, in their frustration with losing a good lead, while Camberwell became patient and moved the ball cleanly and waited for chances.
The Warhawks scored twice through Alex Orr and once again through Paul Iuliano and Dylan LeClercq argued his case to be called a shooter when he drove home a another goal with a rearing long bounce shot. Camberwell matched the Bendigo scoring with four goals of their own for the quarter, giving the small crowd an interesting prospect for a close last quarter with the score on 11 to 9 at final beverages.
With the sun in the eyes of Warhawk forwards, movement out of defence wasn’t as clean as it could have been and Camberwell continued to hold the ball in their attack, with Bendigo having difficulty in keeping possession for much time. So Camberwell added four more, while the Warhawks could only manage two. Paul Iuliano jagged his fifth for the day, off a great assist from his cousin Gino, while Ian Lock was fed a great pass from Mark Reader, on a run out of defence and the former shot true, to give Bendigo a final score of 11 to Camberwell’s winning tally of 15.
Thus ended the winning run, but there’s no reason to lose heart. Compared with the last time we played them, Camberwell definitely had more experience in their ranks. I guess we just have to accept that this will happen as we move towards finals. Such is the fate of the single-team club. But we’re still definitely in it!
Votes were awarded to Gino Iuliano (2 Association and 3 club) for a great day in goals. He kept us in the game when the wheels fell of in the second quarter and his game included some sparkling transition out of defence that led to 2 assists against his name, both supplying his cousin. Mike Bell caught the refs’ eyes with two votes for a tough day in defence, and Brett Ruiz attracted a single vote with his lone-hand battle in the centre against a top flight Camberwell centre-man.
Thanks again to Lester Young for reffing for us (and a reminder that having someone regularly ref for our club effectively buys us an extra player each week – so thanks!!) and thanks to Mark Saxon for scoring.
Next week we take on Surrey Park at Surrey Park.
John Webb
Senior Player
Last Modified on 10/07/2019 09:30