It was cold, dark and wet in a day in which the rain never relented for a moment as every spectator clambered for any piece of cover that could be found. Thank goodness we were not at Roarcon Stadium back at Mont where the fenced off clubrooms would have been a disaster in the conditions as cover is a scarce thing at the moment. To be playing at Northcote Park which has the best surface in the NFL and an under cover grand stand was a blessing for the small crowd that was brave enough to venture out in the harsh conditions.
The day didn’t start off in the best fashion for Mont with the U/19’s going down in a very low scoring game. Though our boys tried hard, Northcote had too many winners on the day. Good luck for next week against the slime.
The reserve grade was a tough slug, but not on the scoreboard. Northcote barely had enough players to field a team, and in conditions like today you are not going to win a long game against an opposition with a full bench. Northcote scored only 2 points for the entire game as Hoffy’s men won by 90 points. Sam Floreani, Daniel Eifferman and Pat Cusack were outstanding in a day where there was never going to be pretty football while Aron Burns dominated the forward line kicking four goals and Ben Broadbent dominated the entire ground in a close to best on ground performance.
The senior game was always going to be a danger game in these conditions. So often the team that can kick straight early and put scoreboard pressure on early will win the game. Goals were always going to be a premium, and when Northcote had a goal inside the first minute, the Mont supporters sat up and took notice as this was not going to be a walk in the park.
The game was never going to be one for the high marking forwards, and the ball was going to spend a lot of time on the grass, so why both teams continually tried to pin point passes over 40 meters was beyond me. Northcote had 3 goals on the board by half way through the quarter, and two of those were from scrappy forward scrambles that relied on luck and opportunity. But then Northcote put the ball deep into the forward line to create those opportunities, something Mont just wasn’t doing as every inside 50 meters was repelled without Mont troubling the scorers.
Finally Mont was able to get a goal through a free kick to Brent Gutterson. Northcote made the fatal mistake of miss judging the distance Gutto can kick and didn’t have anyone on the goal line as Gutto kicked from outside the 50m line in the wet and cleared the pack that had formed at the top of the goal square.
With the quarter nearly over Mont was finally playing deep into the forward line and when Gareth Fricker was crudely felled he was well within goal scoring distance. Fricker kicked truly and Mont had closed the gap. Unfortunately from the subsequent centre bounce Northcote pushed the ball forwards and kicked a goal off the ground to instantly reply and regain an important two goal buffer which they kept till the quarters end.
Mont 2 1 13 Northcote Park 4 1 25
The second quarter saw Daniel Keenan continue his early domination of the game as Mont became more direct and started to kick the ball long to dangerous spots as opposed to trying to find the leading forward. Joffa Byron was also a big influence on the game and during a scramble 30 meters out from the Mont goal Joffa found his way though the bodies and handballed to Mark McGough, Mark didn’t let the team down and Mont had closed the gap.
Against the rules of wet weather football Mont through Derryn Stanley found Brett Hayes with a perfect pass on a long lead and he took a strong over head mark. Hayes then slotted through the goal to level the scores and Mont was well and truly back in charge. With the game not one for the spectators, the rain would not relent, Matt Cusack bombed the ball towards an empty goal square and found a running Brent Gutterson alone two meters out directly in front and now Mont was in front for the first time in the game.
Fricker extended the lead with his second goal when he intercepted a poor defensive pass from Northcote and when Marcus Yeo scored off the ground the game had completely turned. Mont had turned a twelve point deficit into a twenty one point lead at the half time break.
Mont 7 5 47 Northcote Park 4 2 26
Maybe Mont thought the game was over, but after half time Northcote came out and was again allowed to dictate the terms of engagement. Mont stopped the long kicking game that had served it so well during the second quarter and Northcote swooped. Mont didn’t kick a goal in the third term while Northcote was able to put on three and at three quarter time the margin was an even goal. The scene was set for a last man standing affair in the last quarter.
Mont 7 9 51 Northcote Park 7 3 45
The game was tense and the players were tired. The heavy conditions were taking their toll and it was now time to stand up and be counted if you were a serious football team. Andrew Pepyat, Ben Finnan and Jarrod MgGough did that. You could feel as they lifted their work rate the whole team lifted. Pep seemed to have a target on his head and Northcote spent more time trying to punch him rather than the ball. This suits Pep and he was able to tear Northcote apart and play his best game of the season. Finnan was unstoppable up back where he kept the Northcote forwards silent while Jarrod McGough just seemed to be everywhere. Although Jarrod was playing across the half back line, somehow he managed to slip into the forward line to kick Mont’s first goal of the quarter and put the first nail in the Northcote coffin. He then slipped forward again to intercept an errant Northcote clearing kick which he put through for his second goal and seal the win for Mont. His celebration will be long remembered with the double pump and head bobble. Mont had won its hardest game of the year and the roll continues, six wins in a row with hopefully more to come.
Mont 9 12 66 Northcote Park 7 3 45
Last Modified on 19/05/2008 23:45