Well it was our last tilt to get a win on the board and try and scrape into the top four. South Melbourne had changed their team around a bit and had some good recent wins against the top sides. We knew we’d be able to match it with them if at our best. Unfortunately we had 3 drop out the morning of the game which left us without rotations.
Ben Hemingway played his 50th game. This kid is a star and a great little player who goes as hard as any. Well done buddy on 50 brilliant games.
There wasn’t more than a kick in it for the entire game. Our backline really gelled well together with Mikey, Maxy and James H all fighting hard and killing off most of the oppositions forward thrusts.
We had a couple of good opportunities moving into the forward line and it was up to Jack, Will and Hugo to show that relentless Rovers pressure and keep it in there. Ben H got on the end of one in his 50th and belted home a big major and at quarter time we had done everything asked of us.
The 2nd term was a belter. Matty B saw a heap of the ball at half back Geordie hit Will S lace out in a great passage of play. Will hit the post 3 qtrs high in a bit of bad luck. What that allowed to happen was Benny W kicking his first of 3 big goals and Benny H adding another one to his season tally. James P had a great qtr kicking us into the forward line a couple of times. Freddie S was everywhere and racking up the possessions as he’s done all year.At the half time break we had a big spring in our step and we were down by a point.
The 3rd term saw us score better than the opposition and finish the term all square. Ryan and Mitch R were working beautifully together. Both had a big impact on us getting ball forward. Huddy was a stand out with his never give up attitude and was bringing all around him into the game. Jack W was getting touched and Harry started to pluck them out of the sky. He had 2 shots on goal with 1 hitting the post and the other not far away. Benny W added his other 2 goals for the term and we had the close one @ Castlefield.
The last term was just a monumental tug of war. The emotions were both elation and utter disappointment. None of the boys threw the towel in, which was nothing short of amazing as no one had had a break. Ollie was still gut running picking up his man. Sandro almost killed himself throwing his tiny frame at the contest. I breathed a sigh of relief when he ran back to the contest and carried on. His courage and grit is amazing. So, they had the wind, they had a run on which we were holding up and then “the point” was given a goal! Nothing more needs to be said.
I’ve prided myself this year on ensuring our boys played our way. Fair, hard, pressure and most of the time exciting and skillful. The team we played on the weekend unfortunately doesn’t hold themselves to that quality in both person and spirit of the game. That is the message I really wanted to drill into the team after the game.
Our season unfortunately ends this week against Ajax on the big Boss James and we will hopefully do all we can to sing the song for one more time to finish off the year on a high. This will most likely be the last time this side all plays together with grading to happen next year.
Go Hampton Rovers – best mates!
Cheers
Wayno
