Sun 16th September- In stark contrast to the perfect conditions played in last week, we turned up to Preston City Oval to wind gusts reminiscent of finals played at Epping. The main difference being at Preston there is "cover" from the wind for the spectator making the viewing experience better than the best day at Epping's Arctic Park.
The wind was gusting through the grandstand making people hold onto their hats for fear of them blowing off while on the ground scraps of paper were blowing from the goal square at the market end to the other goal sqaure at such a rate that would break land speed records. It was obvious that skill would not be the only factor in todays game. We watched the umpires toss the coin in the middle before the game to see the West Preston Captain (Sprigg) point with the wind and the Monty fans could feel the first loss of the day. I turned to the supporter next to me who told me the conditions were similar to last Sunday and on that day the wind had died in the last quarter. I bit my lip with worry.
The game started with West scoring a goal inside the first minute of the game, definately not the start Hoffy would have been looking for. With the use of the strong wind West bombed the ball in long to their forward line for the first five or so minutes, but fortunately this style of play did not give them the accuracy needed to capitalise and gave our backs a chance to spoil. Players such as Cusack, Pepyat, Lovett and Kochevatkin continually repelled the ball from the West forward line but could not get a clean break from defence to turn into attack and a scoring opportunity. After several attacking moves that resulted in points to West, Mont was finally able to break down the grandstand side of the ground with some brilliant running and passing from Pepyat and Van Leest with the ball ending up in Cuthbertson's hands 25m out on a slight angle. His goal against the run of play and against the wind certainly lifted the Monty crowd and made sure that West knew it was game on as the scoreboard had the teams at a goal a piece. For the remainder of the quarter the ball would rebound from the West forward line to as far as centre half forward for Mont, but the conditions made scoring near on impossible. By quarters end West had put on four more goals with out Mont troubling the scorers and West held a 29 points lead after scoring 5 5 35 to Mont's 1 0 6.
The second quarter started with Monty, Cuthbertson, scoring his second goal for the game inside the first minute of the quarter. This was quickly followed by another to Cuthbertson and it was starting to look like the "Cutho" show. From that centre bounce after Cutho's third goal ,D'Agastino was on the end of some good work from Addison Parker and Pat Cusack to unleash a monster kick from around 70m that scored a goal, which by the end of this week will be told to be 900m out against the boundary. Monty now had three goals for the quarter with only around 8 mins gone and it was looking like Mont would steam roll over West. West however had other plans and had dropped an extra defender into the "hole" to clog up the Monty avenues to goal and it seemed like it was paying dividends as Monty couldn't sustain the opening momentum and had stalled on the score board. Worst was to come when West managed to break from the Monty 50m line and score a goal against the wind. A late goal after a brilliant mark in the goal square to Sab Ciavola kept Monty in the game but by half time we were still behind by four points. West 6 6 36 Mont 5 2 32.
I don't know what Hoffy could have said at half time, but the feeling outside wasn't one of over confidence amongst the Monty faithful. With the prospect of a big West quarter with the wind, the possibility West could get enough of a lead they could flood the Monty forward line in the last and kill the game off was a real possibility. What ever was to happen this quarter was going to decide the game. I said to the supporter next to me that if we are not within three goals at three quarter time then we will be in real trouble, he just nodded and by the look on his face I could tell he wished I'd just shut up.
After half time West came out firing and had their first goal on the board within 90 seconds. I don't know what Hoffy was thinking, but I know I was now having that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The game then took another turn as the Mont boys defended and pressured West into mistakes and turn overs. Instead of the game being played in the West forward line as expected, it seemed the ball was spending all its time between the two half back lines. Pat Gates had started the quarter in the ruck and was presenting across the centre while Whitcher was having the quarter of his life racking up possessions deep in defence. A cruel decision against Taygen Sage gave West their second goal for the quarter, but by now we were getting close to half way through the quarter. A rare Whitcher mistake gifted West their third goal for the quarter and a 29 points lead with plenty of time left to further increase the lead.
The wind was starting to die down and Mont were now going inside 50 regularly, just not scoring as Hoffy would have liked. David D'Agastino was having a huge impact as he started to dominate around the centre, he had both West and the umpires bamboozled as he dived quicker than an Italian in the penalty box during the world cup and beautifully manufatured a double 25m penalty to give the Mont forwards a chance. Travis McCabe missed from a tight angle and when Matt Reinke missed his target with a short pass West managed to clear the ball the length of the field for a goal. With around five minutes to go West had blown the game apart by more than doubling Mont's score of 31 and taking a 34 points lead. The game was slipping away but to the credit of the team, the boys never gave in trying and when Derek Van Leest found himself on the end of a Joffa Byron handball, a goal against the run of play resulted and the crowd lifted. With the quarter all but over Mont were happy to play the boundary and prevent West from scoring. The ball was worked up the field to the Mont forward pocket when a piece of brilliance from Matt Reinke saw him tackle the West defender causing the ball to spill which he swooped on, blind turned his man and slotted through Mont's second goal for the quarter. The siren blew and Mont was 23 points in arrears with one quarter to go. West 10 8 68, Mont 7 3 45.
The last quarter was simply do or die, everyone knew that, and the crowd was really starting to come to life. Mont dominated the opening minutes but couldn't score a goal to get back in the game. Joffa Byron missed twice, Adam Kochevatkin missed and D'Agastino missed, all shots gettable and all the while the minutes were ticking away. With nearly ten mintes gone Mont hadn't scored a goal and things were looking worrying until a rare D'Agastino handball after blind turning his opponent released Whitcher who slotted through the goal from 45m. From the very next centre bounce Scott Pepyat burst through the centre and the West defence and kicked a long goal to lift the team and the crowd was vocal. Mont again pushed foward from the centre bounce only to have the ball rushed for a behind. The resulting kick in was brilliantly marked by D'Agastino who threw in a dive for good measure, this time however he didn't get a 25m penalty. His shot strayed to the right and Mont were now only five points down with time on their side. The resulting kick in was again marked by D'Agastino in almost the same spot. This time he didn't miss and appropriately the lead was taken from West by the Captain of Montmorency who was having a blinding second half of football.
West coudn't get the ball past the centre line as Parker, Cusack, Webster & Reinke exerted control over the ball and the game continually kicking the ball into the Mont 50m zone. West did their best to defend, but they had no more to give and no more run out of defence as the game became a Mont shoot out. Whitcher put the first nail in the West coffin followed by two goals from Cuthbertson and a late goal to David Attard to route West and turn a three quarter time defict of 23 points into a 25 points win.
Now it's Grand Final time and we all know anything can happen in a Grand Final. So see you all next Sunday for is going to be a cracker of a game vs Heidelberg at 11:30am at the Preston City Oval.
Last Modified on 19/09/2007 01:05