As the season gets deeper, our side gets thinner. Our little team of Div 1 battlers has been whittled away by injuries and illness. 2 more this week took us down to only 17 to line up. A big thanks to Josh Cameron from the other U11 side played back to back and made a huge impact.
Tom Westerbeek led us out on Sunday, celebrating his 50th game. Joe shared the captaincy and led by example, giving the boys a passionate on field rev up just prior to the bounce.
We started off with a powerful burst out of the centre and a resulting first goal. But the Vampires were quick to respond. By quarter time they had taken the lead. In the second we showed more effort but knew we had a lot more to offer. After a spirited message by Assistant Coach Chris Gleeson, the boys rallied, lifted and won the third quarter easily, showing the fight we knew we were capable of. At three quarter time we were a goal down and keen to sing the song again.
The final quarter was an arm wrestle with every boy showing desperation and extraordinary efforts. Taj Hotton took mark of the year, and worked well with a tireless Jem Thomas to provide exciting forward pressure. Joe Webber and Orlando Lynch were a dynamic duo in the ruck, Orlando sneaking in a great goal. Some of the new boys in Seb Riddoch and Marco French-Medic displayed brave efforts and desperate chases. The ever dependable Tuffleys played both effective roles up back and also forward in the second half. Matt Gleeson also played a dangerous role up forward kicking 3 beautiful goals.
While we didn’t quite get over the line in the end, we were so proud of the boys effort. They were hard at the ball all day, and with a depleted side, it was an amazing result. The game was played with tremendous spirit from both sides. It was a brilliant game, and a close contest right to the final siren. Ultimately again the boys took another step up in their growth and improvement and most importantly had fun doing it.
Tim Sutherland
Coach
