With black overcast skies, today’s game against West Preston Lakeside was played in some of the darkest conditions imaginable. By the time the senior side came out to play the conditions almost called for the lights to be turned on and the game finished with only minutes of daylight remaining. Despite this Monty waked away with the win and kept the march to the finals rolling on.
West was top of the ladder in the 19’s and everyone knew that this game on their turf was going to be a challenge. After the hiding Mont received in round 1, the boys were able to put up an amazing effort which if they had kicked straight in the last quarter they could have easily have won. They went down honourably with a 17 points loss and will have learned a lot from this game.
The Reserves also had a challenge with West being undefeated and equal top of the ladder with Mont. The game was soured by injuries to Jai Cesari, and Daniel Trajanovski, but the bitter taste of the day was the injury to Stuart Enright which was a disgraceful “coat hanger” behind the play witnessed by this writer. I only saw the incident because I wasn’t actually watching the game as such as I was engaged in a conversation with my West friends just near the incident. I can only hope the judiciary throw the book as we don’t need that in reserve football. Hoffy’s team went on to win comfortably and I can only wish the best to Stuart, Jai and Daniel.
The senior game was always pencilled in as a win by our supporters as West had only won one game for the year so far and that was against an undermanned Lalor. The Mont coaches and players however knew how dangerous this game could be after last years efforts proved. With this trepidation, the game started in a slower than expected pace with the umpires flexing their muscles and being whistle happy, but soon the run from both teams meant the ball was flying end to end of the ground. It took more than five minutes for the first goal, and it was West that took the early ascendency.
With more than half the quarter gone, neither team had scored another goal. The game had become physical, not just in the tackles, but there seemed to be a tactic by West to try and upset the Mont players in a tactic that could be seen as unfair and against the spirit of the game. Although Daniel Santoro was given a red card for his reactions to these tactics, on the whole the Mont players showed more dignity and just played the game as it should be played and didn’t look like a punch drunk fighter fighting above his weight division.
Finally Mont scored its first goal with five minutes left in the quarter when Wayne Pavitt handballed to a running Jake Whitling who ran into an open goal. The umpires then enraged the Mont crowd when giving a free kick to West in front of goal which even after watching the video of the incident 3 times, I still can’t work out what the umpire saw. No point in arguing, the decision was made and Ben Finnan could only wonder what was going on as West regained the lead. With a minute to go Pavitt crashed the pack and took a wonderful mark and gave Mont the lead to correct the balance on the scoreboard and the scene was set for a big game.
Mont 2 5 17 West 2 2 14
No one player was dominating the game for either side, though Piraina from West was proving a thorn while for Mont Josh McLellan was doing well in the ruck in his second senior game. The quarter started with Brett Hayes marking strongly from a Joffa Byron pass then slotting through the first of his goals. Hayes soon had his second goal as this time Mont got the free in front of goal, much to the displeasure of the West crowd. Hayes had a third goal a few minutes later as Pavitt’s shot went wide to find Hayes on the point post. Hayes must have had his eyes on the 13 goals kicked by Harvey last week against West as the defence couldn’t contain him, and when Matt Cusack intercepted a defensive handball and ran into an open goal the question was by how far would Mont be in front at half time?
Inaccuracy was costing Mont the chance to end the game by half time. Even Hayes on a repeat shot of his third goal missed for a point, then a minute later after taking a great one handed mark 30m out, his kick didn’t make the distance and West was again let off the hook. The umpires then had a go at letting West off the hook as Matt Cusack was again the recipient of an intercept that he put through for a goal only to see the umpire pull the ball back in what can only be described as one of the worst decisions ever seen on a football field.
Cusack was later felled after marking strongly 50m from goal and had to leave the field. Pavitt took advantage with the aid of the 25m penalty to break the run of points and put through Mont’s fifth goal of the quarter. Pavitt again put through a major as he was free kicked in front of goal and Mont was well in control.
Whether this control caused a confidence problem or just a lapse in concentration by the Mont players, West managed to hit back with three unanswered goals and gave themselves a sniff that the game was back on at half time.
Mont 8 9 57 West 5 3 33
The third quarter was going to decide the game. Matt Cusack had returned after treatment and celebrated with a strong mark and goal in the opening minutes. West couldn’t penetrate the Mont back line as Matt Neill dominated while the West players went missing. Last years’ League best and fairest McFerran didn’t go in for a hard ball all day as he sweated the packs waiting for the easy kicks, and while that happened West was never going to have a chance of winning.
Hayes was again marking strongly but he had seemed to lose his goal kicking confidence as two early shots missed. He had now kicked 3 goals and four points while three more shots had either gone out on the full or not made the distance. A tally like Harvey’s last week could have been achieved as the West back line cannot handle a strong marking forward. Marcus Yeo moved to full forward and had two goals in a few minutes with strong marks as Mont was now humiliating West. The humiliation was complete when in one of my favourite football moments, Brent Gutterson ran down West captain Damien Smith who had “touched” Gutto earlier in the game. Gutto from 2 steps inside the centre square and probably 65m out landed the perfect kick to see the ball sail through at mid post height for a goal then “stick it up” Smith who had lost the plot. Marcus Yeo scored his third goal for the quarter after the siren as Mont had held West goalless and put the game beyond doubt.
Mont 13 12 90 West 5 7 37
The last quarter was a non event with only four goals scored for the quarter. West got the opening goal from the opening centre bounce then didn’t do any more while Mont got three goals, two to Hayes who finished with five and one to Matt Neill in what was at times a spiteful last quarter. Smith, the centre of attention for the Mont crowd as he picked on the smallest player on the ground (Tim Watson), gave everyone great pleasure as he tried a torpedo that landed in Gutterson’s lap. The game was won not only on the scoreboard, but the battle of the minds had been an annihilation as Mont walked off proud with West having a lot to do to stay in division 1.
Mont 16 13 109 West 6 10 46
Last Modified on 13/05/2008 22:39