“Respect” from ‘The Outer Eye’
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find out What it means to me...” Aretha Franklin sang it in 1967, and Norwood supporters from near and far are waking from weekend-long celebrations to discover that what it really means first and foremost in the mind is one mighty hangover...... Because the Mighty Norwood Football Club is the 2014 EFL Division 1 Premiers.
REPEAT: The Mighty Norwood Football Club is the 2014 EFL Division 1 Premiers.
It has a nice ring to it doesn’t it? It brings a smile to the face and a warm sense of satisfaction and achievement floods over you. It is about success, it is about being the best; it is about beating the best to become the best. But mostly, collectively as a club of modest heritage that started simply as an off-shoot of the Norwood High School back in the 1960s – it is about respect. About respect gained by all the players coaches and officials who have performed so brilliantly over the last 12 months and indeed, much longer than that, to build the foundation for this success, and about respect given by the wider EFL community to one of its own, a club that has built its way from humble beginnings in 4th division all the way to the pinnacle of EFL Footy, a 1st Division Premiership.
By winning the flag, Norwood becomes only the 12th club to taste premiership success in the 53 year history of the EFL 1st Division, and we also break an 11 year stranglehold on the 1st Division Premiership held by just 3 clubs – Noble Park, Vermont and Balwyn, dating back to 2002, when East Ringwood were victorious. The “big 3” as they have become known, have ruled EFL Division 1 like giants for those 11 years, dominating the finals and the premierships. But not anymore. There’s a new kid on the block called Norwood who holds the premiership cup aloft in 2014, having dominated the season and dominated the finals, especially the Grand Final. Many scribes could not see past the shadow of “the Big 3” – this year in the form of Balwyn as our GF opponents, but if they’d scratched just a little deeper and analysed the season dispassionately, they would have been only able to come up with one victor from Saturdays game – Norwood.
The preparation for the game by the two clubs could hardly have been more different. We had taken advantage of our wins and the “byes” they offered to freshen up our players, going into the match with a full list of 30 to choose from, eventually going in unchanged. Balwyn were, at best, patched up, with fitness tests on several key players, one of whom – McMahon, miraculously passed and played, but to be honest without the effect he would normally have on a game. Pendlebury also, went from Hammy strain to missing a game to a “best-on” in the prelim then to the bench in the GF as his dodgy hammy gave way again, unable to keep up with the speed of Leroy at full-forward.
Game time on the Saturday seemed to come around agonisingly slowly with the extra pizzazz of having the ball flown in by Helicopter and with the line-ups and National Anthem. Eventually it got under way and immediately a curious pattern formed. Balwyn were playing keepings off, denying us the ball, but they were not going forward. Twice in the first few minutes they had strings of 6-8-10 passes around the backline, only to see the ball end up back in the goalsquare. Our forward pressure and intensity was up, but we missed early chances through Skave from long range then Leroy from 30 after a relayed free-kick with one he should have nailed. From this kick-in our pressure was finally rewarded as Gys got a hand on a shortpass, retrieved his own ball and popped it through from 15m out for our first goal.
1.2 – 0.0 8 minutes.
From the next centre clearance Holmer dished to Gys who went deep where Leroy took a towering grab in front of Pendlebury and goaled.
2.2 – 0.0 9 minutes
Holmer had a snap from 45 on a tight angle that sailed through for a point but soon after Zak centred one across his body to the hotspot where Leroy led Pendlebury to the ball, marked and slotted his 2nd.
3.3 – 0.0 12 minutes.
Balwyn got on the board soon after when Barker goaled with his second shot from the same spot in the space of a minute, then a few minutes later we turned the ball over across the middle working out of defence and Balwyn pounced, sending the ball long to Broadhurst doubling back for their 2nd. Macca tried to build on our lead, taking the ball deep on the flank but was given no room to free up his left foot shot, the ball always going narrow for a point. From the kick in Leroy’s forward pressure won us a vital holding the ball, but his shot grazed the post as our precision goalkicking from the 2nd semi deserted us. More pressure across our F50 forced Balwyn into a quick escape kick, but it went only as far as Kreuzzer, who took possession on the 50m arc and went for home with his biggest effort, the ball always having enough carry to register our 4th goal and give us a lead more commensurate with our domination in play.
4.5 -2 .0 25 minutes.
The quarter ended at the 27 minute mark, but not before Balwyn marked inside 50, the set shot unerring to restrict us to an 11 point lead at the break.
1/4T Norwood 4.5.29 Balwyn 3.0.18
The 2nd quarter started with the play exclusively at Balwyn’s end as they took their turn to dominate possession and clearances. They nailed one at the 5 minute mark to reduce the lead and then Barker had a shot at the 8 minute mark to take the lead, but thankfully his kick was astray. Finally we won some ball and Kreuzzer got it going our way, big COS leading out in front and marking strongly just 25m from goal. With his parents unable to watch, the young fella’s shot never looked like missing, a vital goal to settle us down.
5.5 – 4.1 11 minutes.
The momentum was back with the Wooders now as at the 13m mark Rej swept forward and tried to pick out Leroy in the pocket. The ball had too much on it but Leroy was first to turn, gather, and from the impossible angle slammed through a 20m banana to send the Norwood faithful into hysterics.
6.5 – 4.1 13 minutes
We launched our next offensive from deep at half back with a string of short passes from Bate Decler and then Bull, his kick finding Leroy simply out strengthening his opponent to mark uncontested 30 m from goal. It was his toughest set shot so far, but Leroy’s drop punt for his 4th was unerring, sending the lead out to 22 points as we began to take a grip on the match and Balwyn’s headache on how to stop him began to thump uncontrollably.
7.5 – 4.1 17 minutes
A great clearance from the next centre bounce had the Norwood fans in anticipation but Fingers long shot was touched right on the line to prevent a goal. Good clearance work from Monky found Brenter to Bully whose kick was nicely roved by Ace who fed Brenter following up on his own work, but from a tight angle running into 40m but his usually reliable boot was astray, the kick just registering a behind to the near side. Zak had the next chance but from distance his kick also registered just a behind. Balwyn attempted to clear their defensive lines but their kick to the wing was intercepted easily by Matty Decler who went by hand to Bully right in the centre of the ground. Bully’s low left footer was a dream for Leroy who marked in front of his eyes as hapless Balwyn defenders floundered around him. Leroy’s 45m drop punt split the middle for his 5th goal of the first half as we turned the screws hard.
8.8 – 4.1 23 minutes
The last few minutes were played out with no score as we went to the main break in a controlling position, the telling statistic being 16 shots on goal to just 5.
1/2T Norwood 8.8.56 Balwyn 4.1.25
With our onball brigade dominating, led by Monky and Holmer, and with Leroy on fire with 5 first half goals, I’m sure many pundits were marking this one as “over”, but the Norwood faithful could not afford to give themselves this luxury, despite the powerful position we found ourselves in.
With dreams of winning a 1st division slowly starting to crystallise before our eyes, the Norwood fans were desperately hoping for a good start to the 3rd quarter to squash any hopes of a Balwyn comeback. For the religious amongst us the prayers were answered immediately from the 1st bounce when Monky tapped to Holmer, then marked Holmer’s high kick and fed it back to Holmer again on the run. Macca flew, but the ball went over the back into a dangerous spot where Leroy one-touched it at ground level, zigged, sold some exquisite candy to the Balwyn defender whose desperate lunge came up with nothing but fresh air while Leroy banged through his 6th and our 9th.
9.8 – 4.1 20seconds in!
With Balwyn under constant pressure Lochie Dickson found some space in typically magical fashion in the middle after a high ‘kick and hope’ clearance, then spotted Macca precisely on the lead at 50. The kick just failed to make the distance and was rushed for a point. From the kick-in Balwyn should have thought better than to kick it nearly Leroy, who marked imperiously just beyond range, pumped it back in to the square where Matty Jessop hit it a top pace, the spill falling directly to his boot and through from 2m for a sensational goal.
10.9 – 4.1 3 minutes
It was all one way traffic at this stage as our pressure forced the ball forward again. Balwyn were under immense pressure, both perceived and real as the Norwood tackles just kept sticking. Another kick in hope was marked courageously by Fingers who dished to Lochie who spotted Macca on the lead again 35m from goal. His spearing left footer found the mark as we stretched the lead to 50 points. This was breathtaking stuff, three goals in the first 4 minutes of the quarter, the only problem being now that there was TOO MUCH game time left.
11.9 – 4.1 4 minutes
The Norwood chant started, but it was quickly shut down as nervous types pleaded that it was too early. In reality, it probably wasn’t, but we still couldn’t let ourselves think that. To give Balwyn credit, they steadied after this onslaught and controlled the ball for the remainder of the quarter. They had several chances to goal, and managed two, but a point blank miss from Barker at the 13m mark seemed to indicate that this was going to be our day. Later in the quarter we had a couple of chances, but Bater’s attempt to squeeze one through from a tight angle registered just a behind, as did Leroy’s long effort from 45m after a strong mark and pass from Macca. Kreuzzer had the last chance from an impossible angle but his kick also registered just a behind with the last score of the quarter. We led by a very handy 39points, double Balwyn’s score.
3/4T Norwood 11.12.78 Balwyn 6.3.39
The Norwood huddle was abuzz at 3/4T as voices of encouragement rang out. What was obvious was how much run the boys had put in as many were having their legs worked on by trainers, keen to work out the lactic acid to allow the boys to go again. And this was the simple call from Denis, just run, run, RUN for 30 minutes and the ultimate glory will be ours. He dictated to the boys to not allow Balwyn the easy one ‘out the back’ from clearances, and to ‘defend by attacking’. Finally, he said the clock was our friend, and if he had the chance to run some time down later on with possession footy, then do so.
The final quarter of 2014 started with Balwyn having the upper hand. Their skipper Gilchrist had a flying shot in the first minute, but from a tight angle he could only manage a point. Broadhurst won a rare battle with Aver two minutes later, but when they needed goals, he too, could only register a minor score. As if to underline the difference in the two teams on the day, we forced the ball forward with good use of handball and overlap into our F50 for the first time in the quarter. Leroy’s attempt to mark was spoiled but an errant handball was sharked by Monky who released Ace into an open goal to the rapturous applause of the Norwood faithful. It was nearly ours.
12.12 – 6.5 4 minutes
At the 8 minute mark the lid was nearly about to blow off when Zak marked and with the aid of a 25m penalty found himself just 30m from goal straight in front. Annoyingly, Zak’s usually reliable boot let him down just when the celebrations were about to start. A minute later Lochie stormed into goal after a quick release handball from Kreuzzer, but his drop punt, despite bending back beautifully, was touched right on the line. Balwyn scored another point, then 6 minutes ticked happily away with no score. The anxiety was finally replaced with relief at the 15m mark when another good sequence of play saw the ball inside 50 where Rej roved, handballed back to Bully who kicked high to the goalline where Matty Jessop marked unattended and popped through the absolute sealer.
13.14 – 6.6 15 minutes
We went into celebration mode as Bully fed Lochie but after a neat sidestep his kick went just to the left for a minor score. Leroy followed suit with a hit up on 50 from Kreuzzer. Deciding he was too far out he sold some more candy but his kick also went narrow. Balwyn got one at the 20m mark through Barker, but the best sight at this stage of the game was Denis appearing at the Norwood bench and being hugged by all and sundry in Norwood uniforms. Ace took a great slips catch and went inside 50 where Gys marked. His goal from 40m book-ended the day with the first and last goals of the game.
14.16 – 7.6 21 minutes
5 minutes later the siren rang to bring down the curtain on a historic day for the Norwood Footy Club and for the EFL.
FT Norwood 14.16.100 defeated Balwyn 7.7.49
The team had 22 honest contributors on the day, with every single player making a decisive contribution to the team in an emphatic win. Leroy was awarded the medal for best afield with his 6 goals when the game was there to be won. Holmer, Gouldy, Monky, Hilly, Matty Aver and Gys were probably best of the rest, but it might have been fairer to list all 22 names in the best players on this day.
All 22 players plus the coach received a rousing reception as they climbed the dais to collect their premiership medallions. The change rooms were packed to the rafters as the players returned for the traditional singing of the club song. Tears could be seen in the eyes of strong hard men – including the Prez – and why not. This was the culmination of 15 years of hard work by Mark himself, aided and abetted along the way by too many people to be mentioned here, but they know who they are. The celebratory drinks were flowing as beer sales records were absolutely smashed back at Mullum later that evening. First Mark gave a speech and in a lovely gesture, awarded extra premiership medallions to key personnel who had made outstanding contributions to the club’s success over long periods. Knighter got up and introduced the players – each to raucous approval in a ceremony that probably took only 10-15 minutes, but I think many had wished had gone on all night.
The night itself flew by in a flash and celebrations continued into the wee small hours of the morning, with many supporters returning for a very pleasant Sunday for a few more sips. The sight of bleary eyed premiership players doing silly things on zero minutes sleep was a laugh for all, though not without the concern that “Best Off The Ground” players such as Skave and Newmo might be in far more danger of hurting themselves in the skylarking than actually on the field.
The season finishes off on Friday night with a Presentation Night that should be bigger than Ben Hur.
In closing, let’s just revisit the concept of Respect one more time. As a club once regarded as a ‘minnow’ in the EFL, subject to the old slur of “Not having a Postcode”, we’ve craved respect and recognition for a number of years. As our build towards a 1st Division flag has gathered momentum, bigger clubs including the “Big 3” have had to factor us into their own calculations more and more. The Respect has to be earned, and with this flag it has. The challenge now is to maintain the respect, carry ourselves like a premiership Club, and go again.
So long for another season to that small band of Norwood supporters who get some joy from reading this weekly rant. We will be back again to do it all next year as we tackle the next almighty challenge for this mighty Club – going Back to Back. Wow-wee, what a thought.
Cheers, T.O.E.
Last Modified on 18/01/2016 13:32