Parents and boys woke to delightful conditions Sunday morning……With all initially unsure whether the game would go ahead, by 8.15 the decision had been made and we quickly got set to face Bentleigh at Boss James. While initially having 22 boys signed up to play, Bentleigh were left short with only 15 players ready to face the conditions. To our boys credit all 18 boys were up and raring to go which meant we were able to lend Bentleigh one player and rotate another through the bench.
The early confusion meant our boys were caught a little off guard and before we knew it Bentleigh had registered a pair of goals. The boys steadied and mounted a fight back in the second half of the quarter. In his first game back after 3 weeks away, Isaac didn’t seem to miss a beat owning the last line defence at full back. Thomas did what he does best winning the ball out of the middle and pumping it our way. Up forward Anthony was proving a handful for the Bentleigh backs. Louis was able to capitalise on this great work and snag his first goal of the season. Lucas followed up quickly with a sausage roll of his own.
The boys kept the momentum going into the second quarter. Eddie, Jack T and Tom W were as dangerous as ever down forward and combined well for a great team goal. Kieran’s work on the inside was fantastic as he won plenty of contested ball and fed it out to his team mates.
As the 3rd quarter started the heavens opened. Again our boys proved their metal as the rain only spurred them on to lift even more. With Harry setting up deep in the forward line, he was quickly able to capitalise on the good work of Sam in the middle and kick another goal for the team. Jack P had a great quarter for us with plenty of work around the packs. Finn was working hard across half forward and was able to put a nice ball out in front of Parker, where he swooped and kicked truly for another great goal. Baxter, who had been in the thick of it all game, was desperately unlucky when he did all the hard work to win the ball on the goal line only to be beaten by the 3 quarter time siren before he could kick it across the goal line.
The fourth quarter showcased the boys poise and skill as they made a mockery of the wet and slippery conditions. With Mannix and Caelan already having great games a move back into the mid field for both boys meant we were able to mount a number of forward attacks. Harrison provided plenty of movement and speed up forward and was able to assist Lucas and Louis from joining the multiple goal kickers list.
With the morning starting with question marks over whether we would even get out on the park, it was great to see the boys take on the challenging conditions with such enthusiasm and belt out the song in the rooms after the game.
Special thanks to Harrison, Sam, Kieran and Jack P who helped out Bentleigh with their numbers and Tom W, Finn, Mannix, Anthony and Harry who spent some chilli time on the interchange. Great team work boys!!
