Blues win a case of the "Men versus the Boys"
A full strength Blues took the park on Saturday up against a Cougars outfit weakened by a loss of players to exams and injury, but the first quarter was no sign of what was to come. With the aid of a 2-3 goal breeze the Cougars took a narrow three point lead into the first break. The Blues had been a little over physical in the opening quarter leading to some costly free kicks to their opponents. The breeze picked up a little in the second quarter and the crowd looked for cover as the temperature dropped. Once the Blues got it to their end they kept it there. They amassed an incredible 15-behinds for the quarter and could have put the game beyond doubt if they had kicked straight. The swirling cross-breeze played havoc with the kicking and the Cougars defense equally struggled to hit a target. The Cougars had no answer to the Blues' zone defense; obviously never discussed at training. It had been a problem all year for the Cougars and this was no exception. Had they not heard of the "huddle", or the "flood" or even playing on from the square with a "pick and go" to a team mate?
The Blues maintained their supremecy in the third quarter, matching the Cougars with three goals. Much of the hard work done by the Cougar's defense was wasted on an inept forward line that failed to lead to the ball, allowing the Blues to take many uncontested marks. The defensive mode of the Cougars was hard to understand, given they had to score to make up lost ground. The bigger bodied Blues outfit were more potent into the wind.
The last quarter was a procession for the Blues. Again the Cougars failed to make it into their forward-50, while the Blues found leading targets in Bradley and Marsden who kicked 7-goals between them for the game. Burgess was now on top in the ruck and Bowden drove the ball forward at will.
For the day, the Cougars handed at least 5-goals to the Blues through botched up kick-ins. The Blues had a superior game plan and with a team loaded with experienced players had the skill to close out the game. Their aerial superiority was obvious, highlighting the advantage of being able to read the flight of the ball and take an overhead mark. As one cougar was heard to say after thegame, it's hard to teach a new game to a bunch of newbies in 10-weeks. Good luck to the coach!
Bulldogs get a fright
With both teams down on numbers due to exams, it was a matter of who had the best depth. The early quarters suggested that it was the Eagles who responded the best and their 3-goal lead at half time was looking ominous for the Bulldogs. When captain Langridge went down with a knee in the back it was looking grim. Injured Craig Smith, who until then had been sitting on the sideline, pulled of the bandages, Lazarus style and took the field. The half time break was a reprieve for te Bulldogs against the younger Eagles who had clear winners in Carden, Scrimgeur and Smith. Coach Keating gave the Bulldogs a spray at half time and they came out like men posessed. They kicked 4 7 to 2-points and wrested the lead from the shell-shocked Eagles. Marcus Balchin was in everything and got better as the game went on. Old Harry had his kicking boots on this week and kicked a few handy goals when needed.
The Eagles kept coming in the last quarter, but found it hard to link a sequence of plays. Both teams battled manfully, not wanting to have their name inscribed on the wooden spoon. As with the main game, the older and stronger Bulldogs prevailed in the windy conditions, running out 19-point winners.
Last Modified on 11/08/2017 14:08