The boys headed into this week’s game full of confidence after a good win last week. We celebrated Peter’s 50th game by naming him co-captain with James B. Great recognition for James after a terrific game last week. Peter led the boys out after running through the banner.
We got jumped early in the first quarter. The Vampires had turned up ready to play. Peter was leading from the front – winning a lot of the ball through the middle of the ground. James C was helping direct the ball to Peter out of the ruck, whilst Max was covering a lot of ground, working hard from one wing to the other attempting to cut off East Brighton’s attack, often starting one kick behind the play.
Jack W was looking dangerous in the first quarter and Niko kept up his form from last week – firstly a snap at goal that nearly saw us register our first for the game and even more impressive was his desperate 50 metre chase out of our forward pocket. Niko’s man had a good head start on him and plenty of space ahead. He took off towards the wing and Niko almost chased him down. Great example of never say die, fantastic determination – inspiring for the rest of the boys (and the coaches!). Well done Niko.
Matthew C was off to a great start in defence. Nearly every time the Vampires attacked; Matt seemed to be in their way. Will has been given lots of responsibility this year, spending plenty of time at full back. He is doing incredibly well for someone playing game number nine. His first quarter was excellent. I love his ability to pick up the ball and take off out of defence before sinking his big right foot into the ball – a few more games and a little more confidence and Will is going to be a real asset as a rebounding defender.
After being overrun early, we fought our way back into the game, but still trailed by a goal at quarter time. Accountability in the second term was going to be key to our success. Unfortunately, we lost Nate at quarter time, after sustaining a knock to the head, Nate was assessed and ruled out for the remainder of the game.
We welcomed the arrival of Mitch G in the second term for the first time this year. Mitch was busy and straight into the play down back. James P, Geordie, Ollie F and Matty G were working hard as a defensive unit and worked really hard along with Matt C, Will and Jake to repel the Vampires, who continued to push forward.
Thomas was showing just what a strong running player he is, capable of breaking the lines. Once he got enough confidence to run and bounce the ball there was no stopping him. He had an outstanding game and must have taken at least a dozen bounces over the course of the game. Stefan moved onto the ball and took a terrific contested mark out on the far wing, followed by a raking long kick.
Robbie had a great first half, initially as close checking defender and then up forward, holding some structure. We are seeing more out of Robbie each week, today I was particularly impressed with his tackling efforts.
Although this was a close quarter, we leaked a couple of goals and trailed by three goals at half time.
We played our best football in the third quarter. Matty G was winning the ruck contests, Sidney’s attack on the ball through the second and third quarter was inspiring, Peter continued his run and link work, while Bailey S showed some strength in the contest when moved into the middle.
Today I put a number of the boys into unfamiliar positions. Their attitude and effort were very pleasing. Bailey M was coming off a good second quarter in the back pocket and was moved to a wing. Small in stature, but lacking nothing in effort and intent today, Bailey consistently led his man to the ball and put his body into the contest. He is now farming the ball out of packs by hand and really starting to rack up some good stats. Today was a big step in Bailey’s football journey.
Out on the other wing was Ollie F. When offered the opportunity to play on the wing in the second term, Ollie declined (I think not having played there before). I put the challenge to him again to give it a go in the third quarter, which he accepted, and he didn’t let us down. Ollie is a no-frills footballer (which I love) but he gives it everything and is getting plenty of the ball. He has been an important contributor in all three of our games this year.
James B found himself down back in the third quarter. Last year when this happened, he was all at sea. Not today though. James was fantastic, stuck to his man and cleared the ball out of the danger zone on a number of occasions. James had some mates down back in the third, Geordie continued his fine work from the first two quarters, Mitch continued to work into the game, Will S was impressive and Matty C continued his great game.
Up forward we were pushing hard and creating opportunities. We broke through for our first goal when James C’s pass to Jake resulted in a goal at the far end. Great reward for perseverance. Jake was really dangerous up forward today and could have had another one or two goals. James P ran hard on the half forward line and was important in our drive forward through the quarter, collecting quite a few touches.
So, it came down to the final quarter. We were trailing by two goals, but had momentum and were right in the contest. The boys broke from the huddle with lots of confidence and intent to run the Vampires off their feet. We pushed hard in an effort to catch up on the scoreboard, however, we were caught on the rebound and conceded a number of goals in the first half of the quarter.
Stefan, James P and James B worked hard up forward. Jake continued to create chances, he sent a ball into Jack W who marked, played on in traffic and kicked truly for an inspiring goal. Daryl’s response was priceless and before I could tell him to get out and give Jack a pat on the back, he was already gone doing cartwheels on the way out to give Jack a big wrap and a hug. This type of moment is why we are all doing this job. Congratulations to Jack, this goal has been building for a couple of weeks and is well deserved.
Max capped off a terrific game by finishing in the backline. Max spent most of the year in the backline last year, often holding down full back. This year he has not missed a beat converting to a midfielder. He played a great game today, covered plenty of territory and showed just how versatile he can be.
Thomas also capped off a BOG performance continuing to run his heart out in the last, as did Peter in his 50th Matt C was selfless in the last by insisting I play him back when I had planned to send him up forward. James C battled hard all day and refused to give up in the last, even as the game was slipping away.
We didn’t get the chocolates today, however, I’m really proud of the boys. We are slowly coming together. A better start would have put us in a much better position to challenge for the points. We’ll keep working on some of our structural play and accountability which probably cost us a couple of important goals across the day.
Having said all this, we are seeing some really good signs. I’m very excited to see a number of the boys start to take some big steps forward this year. Just as I did last week, I would like to congratulate Matty G for helping out the U13’s this morning who were short again. Matty kicked their only goal today. We will be looking for some more boys to fill some holes for the U13s in the coming weeks, so please give it some consideration.
Coach – Damo
Hampton Rovers – Best Mates!
BTW – Boys, make sure you touch your football 100 times each day!!
