"Black-Burned" From 'The Outer Eye'
Norwood travelled to Morton Park to take on Blackburn in Rd 10 of EFL 1st Division action, looking for an away win to consolidate their position in the top 4. After a dominant but wasteful 1st term, the team really warmed to the task in the middle 2 quarters, slamming on 15 goals in this time to set the stage for a commanding 64 point win.
A perfect winter's day greeted the teams as they strode out onto the ground for this game, with the state of the ground an absolute credit to the Blackburn Football Club. After a few minutes of early Norwood domination which did not produce a goal, Blackburn posted the first major with their first entry into forward 50. We replied immediately when Matt McCormack doubled back under his own lead, gathered and snapped truly from 25. Soon after Stewy Hill marked strongly at centre half back, went through the middle and spotted Zak Carroll loose, who set sail directly for goal and scored from 45. Centre clearances were proving crucial on the small ground and from a Norwood turnover Blackburn looked set to score before a wonderful tackle from Matt Decler spilled the ball free right in the middle of the ground and turned the opportunity on its head. David Trotter took advantage of the unlikely spill, running into an open goal and making no mistake from 35m. Several more good chances ensued but were wasted as we went to the quarter time break with a small lead, 3.4 - 2.1.
The second quarter began brilliantly for our boys as we slammed on 4 quick goals. Skipper Long-John Holmes snapped the first from a tight angle 25m out. At the centre bounce Skayve - who would play much of the game in the ruck utilising his huge leap, jumped high and received the free for a shepherd. Holmes sprinted forward more quickly than anyone and Skayve found him, his conversion from 45m precise. We surged forward again and Brenter pounced on a loose ball at 40, took half a dozen paces and set sail from 30m with a kick that was never going to miss. The next pasage of play saw big Brute Bernard - Troy Armstrong, resting up forward, lead out, mark and convert nicely from 30m on a tight angle. The quarter began to resemble a shootout as both sides found goal scoring relatively easy in the perfect conditions. Zak Carroll penetrated deep and kicked over the back where Brad Kelleher had his man beaten. His shot from 20m split the middle. Blackburn nailed a couple without much trouble before Dale Bull executed a beautiful one touch gather at bootstrap level, releasing Zak Carroll, having his best game for the year. His pass found Spuzz who hitup BigBrute with a nice finger-tipper low down, the big man registering his 2nd major for the quarter. Blackburn responded gamely with 3 more, making it 5 for the quarter, but late goals to Kelleher from a mark and Zak McCubbin running into an open goal meant an 8 goal to 5 quarter as the Wooders took a solid 29 point lead into the half time break: 11.7 - 7.2.
If Blackburn were to have any chance they had to score the first couple of goals in the 2nd half, but our boys response was both emphatic and clinical. Big Brute tapped to Zak Carroll who forced it forward, ran onto it himself and goalled from 40 to open the quarter. The two Zaks combined for the next goal, Carroll gathering cleanly and dishing to McCubbin, his quality lefthanded handball setting Fordy up to bang it home from 20. At this stage it was "how far Norwood", and thats how the quarter played out. Kelleher took a nice mark and goalled from 50m with a booming kick and this was followed up by a strong kick to the top of the goalsquare from Trotter, with Zak McCubbin roving his own crumb and snapping truly on the left. Macca took a strong contested grab 15m out and converted as the game resembled one-way traffic. More pressure at the hotspot saw a loose ball grabbed by Brenter at the top of the square, his left foot snap a foregone conclusion. He followed with a strong grab and with everyone thinking he would have a crack from 45 he handed off to Skayve, whose long floating snap went through for our 7th goal of the quarter. At 3/4 time the oranges could hardly have tasted better as we led commandingly 18.9.117 - 9.3.57.
Coach Denis Knight's words at 3/4 time were the most relaxed for the year. Acknowledging the game was won he demanded that the boys finish the game off as good sides do. Blackburn nailed two goals at the start of the quarter, but their efforts were mostly in vain, Jesse Newman playing a great game at fullback all day, never beaten in a one-on-one and often prevailing. Our response was a 5 goal to 4 last quarter, ensuring that we won all 4 quarters of the game. Brenter nailled the first after a good clearance from Holmes, Rhett Jordan - our leading goalscorer, got on the board with a nice mark and goal from 35m on a tight angle, and, not to be outdone, added a 2nd moments later after strong grab. Players were going through the mon=tions long before the finish, but Gouldy scrapped one through from within the goalsquare and then immediately after worked hard for a free kick on 50m. Advantage was paid and Trotter closed proceedings with a quality finish.
Final scores Norwood 23.11.147 def Blacburn 13.7.85
The 64 point win was just what club and coach would have been looking for at the start of the day. Of added value was the form of Zak Carroll, returning to 2012 form with an eye-catching game, featuring in many of our goal scoring plays. Brenter too played possibly his best game for the year with 3 goals, plenty of clearances and a stack of the footy. Zak McCubbin lit up one wing, while Newman was the standout defender, ably assisted by the ever reliable Stuey Hill. The skipper was his usual reliable self and Big Brute Bernard was another fine player both in the ruck and up forward. Of some note was the spread of 12 goalkickers within the team, Kelleher and Brenter leading the way with three each, while McCormack, McCubbin, Carroll, Jordan, Armstrong, Trotter and Holmes all kicked 2.
The win made up for agonising losses for the 3rds (2 points) and 2nds (3 points). The Seniors maintain 4th spot on the table, just percentage behind Noble Park and out of the crucial "Double Chance". We travel to Scoresby next week, a team that started the season poorly but have steadied of late and have 3 wins to their name. No EFL trip is easy, but if our boys put in a perfromance like that they will give themselves every chance of another vital "Away" win.
Go Wooders..
Last Modified on 01/07/2013 11:53