Those of us that turned down Kevin Rudd's offer to be at his 20/20 love fest so we could come to the footy at Montmorency were the luckiest people in Australia. We were able to enjoy beautiful sunshine with a gentle breeze on a perfect day for football with friends and foes and share a wonderful game, while all the people at the Rudd Fest could come up with was a bionic eye to aide the in development of umpiring decisions. And they are the brightest in Australia?
For the first time in living memory Heidelberg turned up to Para rd with three teams, in what can be only good for football, and of course will only make Heidelberg stronger in the years to come, (help us all). Our U/19 boys had been thumped by Bundoora last week while Heidelberg had a good first up win and the scene was set for a good encounter. What we got was a one sided affair with the Mont boys exacting pride after last weeks humiliation and winning by 102 points. A great start for the club with a long day of football ahead.
People often give lip service to the reserve grade turning up just before the senior game showing a fleeting interest in the reserve game as they get their beer and hot dogs. Today anyone that did that missed one of the toughest, hardest and more skillful reserve grade games ever seen at Montmorency. Our boys lost the Grand Final to this team last year and you could feel there was a need for revenge. Both sides were coming off good wins in round one and today the depth of both clubs would be tested. The game was tight, the lead was never more than 3 goals and you felt either side could win. In the end it was Hoffy's heroes that did the job winning by 15 points in a game that those who saw it will remember for a time to come.
The main game of the day started in front of a good crowd. The Heidelberg people had come out in their numbers to watch the juggernaught roll on expecting to add another Montmorency hide to the impressive collection they have pinned to the wall at Warringal Park. Jack Cole and the coaching staff at Monty however wanted to be the first team to beat Heidelberg since the formation of the NFL last year. The task would not be easy; some would say impossible going by the bets on "Big Footy" as the Heidelberg faithful thought they were going to fleece not only the 4 premiership points but also the pockets of our devoted lot.
In this game last year the Heidelberg players all looked 2 inches taller and 10kg more muscular as they were very intimidating, this year they didn't seem as tall and it wasn't 10kg of muscle we saw as the intimidation was gone. Last year Heidelberg jumped out of the blocks like a 100m runner kicking four goals before anyone knew what had happened and again today Heidelberg had a goal on the board inside the first 90 seconds. That was where the comparison to last year ended and Monty wrote a new chapter for season 2008.
Within a minute of the Heidelberg goal Daniel King swooped on the loose ball on the half back line like a seasoned rover belying his height and with a long precise kick found a running Daniel Sage who was given a brilliant clearing shepherd by Jonathon Byron which allowed Sage to slam home a goal on the run from 60m. This game was going to be different from last year.
Both teams were playing on and running the ball in a fast paced and skillful game. The ball was moving quickly from player to player as lighting handballs and precise kicking had both back lines under pressure. Heidelberg cracked first as Sage this time turning provider found Brett Hayes on a long lead. From outside the 48m line Hayes kicked long and straight to put Mont's second on the board. You could sense that there was something going to happen when there wasn't a Nolan on the end of every Mont forward attack. In fact it took till half way into the quarter that Dale Nolan took his first mark only to see the ball come back way over his head a few seconds later as Brent Gutterson long bombed Mont's third goal.
The game was physically tough as bodies crashed in fierce bumps and grinding tackles. The pressure meant both sides were finding it difficult to finish off forward movements with precision as both backlines choked up the small Para Rd pockets. Heidelberg was so concerned about the lack of marking power inside the forward 50m that Dale Nolan was moved from defense to attack. It took a crunching bump from Daniel Keenan to force an error in the Heidelberg defense that allowed the loose ball to be delivered to Wayne Pavitt who marked deep in the pocket and from the set shot put on Mont's fourth goal. The Mont pressure and tackling was intense and two minutes after Pavitt's goal Gutterson found the loose ball 30m out in front and he slotted through his second and Mont's fifth goal to give Mont a commanding lead.
While King was winning most of the ruck duels, it was Heidelberg that was now getting the clearances. Heidelberg started to show why it has three flags in the past four years as the Bergers seemed to take control of the quarter, the only thing they couldn't do was put the Sherrin between the big sticks as they squandered opportunities. This gave Mont the opportunity to reset and attack the Heidelberg defense, and with Sage kicking the ball almost past the centre from full back, Heidelberg was under siege. Tim Watson was gutsy as ever and after being crunched in a marking contest he just got up, shrugged it off, and sent the ball to Marcus Yeo who found Hayes again on a long lead. Hayes goaled and Heidelberg was in trouble. The quarter finished with Gutterson running around his opponent and kicking from 50m a split second before the siren blew to register his third goal for the quarter and Mont's seventh in a dominant first quarter.
Mont 7 3 45 Heidelberg 1 5 11
The second quarter started with both teams peppering the goals with no reward on the scoreboard. The ball was up and down the field as the on ballers carried the ball breaking tackles but not hitting targets in the forward lines. It took five minutes, but finally a goal was scored but unfortunately it was to Heidelberg. This goal seemed to awaken the sleeping giant and it didn't take long for a second goal for the quarter, both to Mick Gay and Heidelberg had reduced the margin to 21 points. Within a minute Heidelberg had another goal and things were starting to look a little shaky. The Heidelberg crowd had come back to life now the margin was under three goals and our players didn't help the matter by making mistakes that fired up the black and yellow army. This taunting seemed to gel our players into a stronger unit and soon Brett Hayes had kicked his third goal to restore some momentum for Mont. A second goal within 30 seconds to Brent Gutterson then a third to Daniel King a minute later silenced the Heidelberg crowd and another goal to Gutterson a minute after that and Mont was accelerating away with the game.
Heidelberg was able to reply with a goal but there was no momentum and shortly after Andy Owen was able to sneak forward and find himself alone 30m from goal. Stanley picked him out with a perfect pass and Owen put through another Mont goal. Near the end of the quarter Stanley again marked strongly, and again he passed off instead of going for goal. This time he found first gamer Jake Whitling on the boundary 30m out. Jake kicked perfectly to put through his first goal for Mont and didn't the senior players let him know. The half time siren blew and Mont had a 44 points lead and looked strong.
Mont 13 5 83 Heidelberg 5 9 39
The myth of Heidelberg's invincibility was now being challenged and every one was wondering what Heidelberg was going to do after the half time break. Logic said the game was over, but history reminded us that 44 points may not be enough, at least that is what the tiger supporters were hoping. The conditions for football were still perfect, the breeze had picked up but was blowing across the ground giving no advantage and the crowd had built up and the atmosphere was inspiring. Heidelberg coach Phil Plunkett started the quarter with Dale Nolan in the forward line and the move looked to pay dividends when he took a screamer early on that resulted in the forward pressure that created the first goal of the quarter with only a couple of minutes on the clock. Heidelberg could have had a second goal in a minute when Cahil marked 15m out but played on under pressure and Tim Watson was able to corral him forcing the error and Mont was able to clear the defensive line.
Heidelberg was losing across Mont's half back line as Josh Slattery was giving everyone a football lesson in defense. Heidelberg now had Chris Hall and Dale Nolan across half forward and it took a one handed mark to Hall and pin point pass to get Heidelberg back into the game with the second goal for the quarter. But that was where the challenge stuttered. As Gutterson was lining up for a difficult shot on goal, a hold free kick was awarded to Stanley in the goal square and the subsequent goal was nailing the Heidelberg coffin shut. As expected Heidelberg didn't throw in the towel and if not for the efforts of Slattery Ben Finnan and Swindon Heidelberg could easily have put on more goals. Against a lesser team Heidelberg would have intimidated and worn down the lead and most likely gone onto victory. They did scramble another goal but more than ten minutes had passed and the margin was still 31 points.
Mont had plenty of opportunity to extend the lead as the mid fielders kept bringing the ball into the forward 50m, unfortunately shots that earlier in the day split the middle were now going astray. The inevitable goal was finally scored when Pavitt broke a tackle in the goal square and the fat lady was clearing her voice even with a quarter to go. Heidelberg managed to break the Mont defense and goal but this was quickly answered by Daniel Keenan and the three quarter time lead was thirty eight points.
Mont 16 7 103 Heidelberg 9 11 65
Even though Heidelberg had won the third quarter on the scoreboard, the reality was they were too far behind to win. The question now was would Mont extend the lead or would Heidelberg make a respectable dig at the margin and have an honorable loss. The answer came when Andrew Pepyat laid the perfect tackle which resulted in the ball traveling downfield to end up in the hands of Hayes and a goal to Mont. Another goal to Whitling a few minutes later and it was all over. Heidelberg finally got the ball to Nolan for two quick goals but these were cancelled out when Gutterson goaled twice, firstly from Sage who kicked long and found Gutto alone 30m out from goal and the second goal was with a reverse banana kick from 35m. Then Marcus Yeo goaled from a long way out and the lead was extending.
In a last gasp Heidelberg managed three goals in two minutes to remind everyone that they are a quality outfit, but that was all she wrote as Mont answered back with goals to Gutterson (his eighth), Pavitt and Keenan to record a 55 points win. There was a large crowd ovation as the Mont boys left the field to the change rooms to sing the song loud. The unbeatable had been beaten.
Last Modified on 23/04/2008 23:16