2 games Sunday and unfortunately 2 losses but as I have said often, it is not that you win or lose but how you win or lose. Yesterday I thought both teams were terrific in defeat and there are really no gripes from me with either team’s performance. Let’s look at Gold’s game first.
A bright an early start at 9.00am up against a very strong 3rd placed Kedron Grange who to date are still the only team to beat the top placed Zillmere Eagles. Once again numbers were tight, Thursday night we had 22 but come Sunday morning, due to a combination of reasons for not playing, we were down to 19. Hodgey was our sole bench player and he had a sore back too so probably wouldn’t play a big part in the game. Once again a huge thank you to the boys who volunteered to play 2 games, Matty Iervese, Matty Leadbeater, Lachy Willaton, Jack Leahy, Peter Bourke, Rhys Murdoch and Alee Ingabire, well done fellas your willingness to help out your team mates in the Gold team is so much appreciated by everyone. A lovely morning greeted us, the ground was in good nick so it was all set for a good game.
The boys, as they did a couple of weeks ago, came out of the blocks hard to kick the first couple of goals through Matty Iervese and a tremendous piece of small, front and centre, roving from Sean Himstedt. We had another couple of chances to be further ahead as well but couldn’t convert. Kedron seemed to wake up half way through the quarter and dominated the second half of it, fortunately for us though they a missed a few chances as well and we went into the quarter time break 4 points up 2-2 to 1-4. Vossy, as he should have been, was really happy with the effort in the first quarter, the tackles were good and we were having a real dip. What we lacked in polish we made up for in endeavour and it was a very promising start.
Unfortunately the second quarter belonged almost totally to our opponents. They really gave us a bit of a lesson in their work through the midfield as they won the clearances in there consistently and that put our defence under huge pressure. They tried their best to hold the Kedron boys out but it was like holding back the tide and it was just matter of time. We did manage to kick one though against the run of play, through a smart piece of soccer work from Brock but at half time we were down by 23, 3-2 to 6-7, and had a mountain of work to do to get back into the game. The half time mood as you would expect was a little subdued but some good words of advice from coach Voss and some tweaking of the line ups and we were ready to go again.
The 3rd quarter was by far Gold’s best of the year and proof that the boys, even though they don’t have a win on the board yet are on the right track and improving week by week. Alee Ingabire totally dominated the middle, the 2 Mattys lifted significantly and the rest of the group started to lift in confidence as a result. By the quarters end we had bridged the gap to just 4 points, 6-5 to 6-9, via keeping the opposition goalless and us kicking 3. We were an inch away from being 4 goals for the term and a lead at the break but Matt Leadbeater’s shot from close to 50 right near the end was touched millimetres in front of the line. Nevertheless the boys were really pumped at ¾ time and we all believed we were in with a real chance of breaking the drought.
The final quarter started with both sides hard at the footy knowing that the first goal was vital. Both teams had some chances early but unfortunately for our boys it was our opposition who goaled first and that put us under pressure. With all the momentum and a touch more class than us the Gorillas boys kept pressing and were able to snuff out our challenge. Heads dropped a bit and combined with some tired legs and Rhys off the ground injured Kedron were able to kick some late goals and run away with game by 33 points. In no way does the scoreboard reflect how tight the game was and how well the boys played. To win 2 quarters against a very good team on their home turf was a mighty effort. Really well done boys, keep your heads up where they deserve to be, you have no reason to be too disappointed.
Best players and there were many but again Ryan Davies had a 4 quarter game, Alee inspired us with his second half, which included 10 tackles and a goal, Matty Leadbeater battled hard all day for 4 quarters, Benny McDonald was tireless in the ruck all day, Peter Bourke must have had 20 touches in the first and third quarters, Tristen was solid, Omar again pressed his claims for most improved player with a gutsy effort (I say that because not too many people know that he is fasting at the moment so cannot even drink water during the game) and Brock worked hard all day to give the boys a target up forward.
Final scores Kedron Grange 10-15-75 defeated Springwood Gold 6-6-42
Goalkickers Brock Meredith 2, Matt Iervese 2, Alee Ingabire, 1 Sean Himstedt 1
On the road and back to Lowe Oval for the top of the table clash with Everton, and what a game it was. Some personnel changes as we lost Rhys Murdoch (rested after taking a bit of a knock in the Gold game) and Alee (family reasons) just before the game, 2 boys we would miss greatly as it turned out. Everton were at full strength and it promised to be a great battle with top spot on the ladder at stake, although we were a game and percentage clear a big win by the Wolves would have seen us drop to second. This game was a great opportunity too for both sides to size each other up before our first finals meeting in 3 weeks, neither of us could be dislodged from the top 2 spots so there was no pressure in that regard.
I guess the way to sum the game up was missed opportunities. Taking absolutely nothing away from Everton but from where I stood I thought we were a bit unlucky to lose. We had 5 more scoring shots (19 to 14) and about 25% more inside 50s but we just could not convert that into scoreboard pressure. We wasted too many chances and ended up with 5 goals 14 and that simply allowed Everton to stay in the game. 3 or 4 times we would have the ball camped in our half of the ground for 4 or 5 minutes, only managing 2 or 3 behinds and then they would clear it out and kick a goal down the other end totally against the run of play. That’s footy though and we have to learn some lessons from that, maybe the way we brought the footy in at times was a bit sloppy and we might have to look at that.
I love after a game chatting to parents and spectators about what transpired and it is always interesting to hear the contrasting views. Some were very upbeat about the loss while others not so much, certainly not in any negative way mind you and it was all good advice and absolutely perfectly fine by me. There are some very astute footy judges amongst our parents and friends, some of them way more knowledgeable than me and I love hearing from them any time. Of course we all might see things a bit differently and that’s what I love about footy and sport in general as it always makes for interesting chats post game. Everyone I spoke to had some really good feedback on the game and I always take as much of it as I can on board and try to use it to help make the boys better players and Navy a better team. Keep the advice and the support coming people, every little bit helps.
My personal view on the game yesterday is that I really can’t be too disappointed with the outcome as the only real negative, in my mind, was our inability to convert forward 50 entries. Sure there were mistakes made under pressure and there were certainly some boys down a bit on their normal influence but overall I think it was a good performance against a very, very good team who have now won 7 in a row. This was in no way like the Ipswich game where, with all due respect to Ipswich, we played just a poor brand of football, everyone was disappointed with that and quite rightly so. No, yesterday we played some fantastic footy against a very strong team and probably should have won it.
It was pleasing to see too that never at any stage did we drop our heads and I think we showed great character to not get frustrated by the scoreboard and to manage to get back to within a goal with a couple of minutes left. Our discipline was excellent and we had 44 tackles for the game and that’s where we need to be against the top sides. Overall it was just a great game of Div 2 footy and both sides played the game in great spirit which was also great to see. I cannot wait for our semi-final in 3 weeks it promises to be another cracking game. Boys, these are the types of games you want to play, you learn nothing in one sided games but plenty about yourselves in games like this one. Challenges like playing Everton are what will make you a better footballer.
We will have team chat tonight, as will the Gold boys, and work through areas of the game that we can improve over the next 2 weeks. That becomes the focus of the games coming up against Aspley and Ferny Grove, getting the little things right as well as trying a few different things (not too much) so we have plenty of options come finals time. This is the pointy end of the season and it’s always an exciting time, let’s embrace that and do everything we can for the next few weeks to work hard at training and give ourselves every chance during our finals tilt. We are still on top of the ladder and maybe staying there should be our goal for the rest of the season, that is always something to hang your hats on. It means we have to approach the last 2 weeks as if they were dress rehearsals for finals. We can do that.
Final scores Everton 7-7-49 defeated Springwood Navy 5-14-44
Goalkickers: Dan Willaton 2, Aidan Dipietro 1, Ben O’Sullivan 1 and Jacob Mitchell 1
Best players and even in a losing side there were plenty of contributors, Aidan Dipietro all day, Dan Willaton up forward was a strong target (although no doubt he will be at training early doing some goal-kicking practice), Jordan Bacic in his first game back was a constant threat all day, Rhys Bernhagen was solid at half back again (and would have learned a hell of a lot playing on arguably the competition’s best player in the first half) and Nate Murcutt, Lincoln Opbroek and Jacob Mitchell as always led from the front. Everyone played their role, as always some better than others, so well done to all. Also a quick congrats to all the boys in defence who go sometimes unnoticed (not by me) but you kept the highest scoring team in the comp to just 7 goals, their lowest score for the year, so well done to all of you for that effort.
Congratulations also to Nathan Murcutt and Matty leadbeater on playing 150 games for the Pumas, well done boys. This week sees Jared Denny reach the same milestone and Dan Willaton the week after that. Hopefully we can get a good result for these boys.
See you all at training. Steve
Last Modified on 06/08/2012 12:17