The morning was a fresh one but 16 of our boys plus Toby from U10 arrived at Murrumbeena Oval full of spirit, pep and ready for what was sure to be a great game.
Murrumbeena JFC started strong and put our defenders to the test early. That didn’t deter consistent Kieran who continued to do his job and play hard at the ball.
We witnessed more goals from the opposition during the second quarter but with excellent clearances from our midfield the ball spent some time in our forward third and saw Caelan creatively kick the ball to the Rovers. Alas Murrumbeena were just too strong at this stage. The new rotation of defenders Baxter and Jack P were put to the test as the ball furiously headed towards the opposition’s goal posts. Trainers from both teams had to have their wits about them due to a few injuries but it was the formidable Louie who copped a beauty to his left cheekbone that saw the end of a scoreless half for the Rovers.
Encouraging words and a refreshing drink had lifted the spirits of the boys when the third quarter was due to start. Eagle-eyed Eddie cleared the centre toss straight to our forward third, Finn marked and went on to score putting the Rovers on the board at last. With this recent score the Rovers were energised and intercepted from the opposition giving Finn another chance at goal, which he converted magnificently, his first of two for the day!
Ball back in the centre where Murrumbeena were keen to continue their scoring streak from the first half. But not before a few were taken down by the lethal tackling machine Lucas. Murrumbeena scored again but that didn’t stop tall Thomas tapping the ball to our forward third to Toby who put another through for a tasty 6 points.
Rovers were on a roll and knew what they had to do and repeated these easy steps. Ball goes up, centre taps to forward, forward kicks to JACK TREGEAR! Quite possibly grab of the year and then a goal! Repeat the above and here’s another two goals, one each to the dynamic Jones boys duo, Harry and Harrison. I don’t know what was in those halftime oranges but by the end of the third quarter we were 8 points ahead and 38 points MORE than when the quarter started!
Murrumbeena had their work cut out for them by this stage so at the start of the fourth quarter the opposition came out strong but it was not enough, the Rovers were just too good! Strong centre clearances saw Tom mark and kick to Mannix who magically moved it to our forward third again! Using his skills set Sam shepherded the ball allowing Parker to perfectly place the ball through the centre posts.
The roar from the parents was deafening but not nearly as loud as the boys arms around each other belting out the words to the Hampton Rovers Club song.
In no particular order game day awards went to Baxter, Finn, Kieran, Louis and Tom W for their consistent approach to each quarter.
