Round 3 - Saturday 2 May 2009 at E.E. Gunn Reserve.
ORMOND v OLD MELBURNIANS
SENIORS, by Lurch.
1ST Quarter: OMs 8.2.50 ORM 4.3.27
2nd Quarter: OMs 11.3.69 ORM 8.5.53
3rd Quarter: OMs 12.8.80 ORM 12.9.81
Full time: OMs 17.11.113 ORM 18.13.121
Goals: Michael Davis (7), Steven Greene (3), Tom Seccull (2), Jeremy Beaumont (1), Sam Playfair (1), Tim Oman (1), Angus Lapin (1), Tom Paule (1).
Best: Michael Davis, Hamish Turner, James Beaumont, Will Harvey, Charles Wilmoth, Tom Paule.
Coming off the high of their win over Old Trinity, the OMs faced new B-Grade side Ormond, which was last year in C-Grade. The match was at Ormond’s home ground, with some predicting a tough game for the OMs. It proved to be just that.
Although the OMs got off to a great start with an eight goal quarter, Ormond soon showed it was going to fight hard all day. In a beautiful piece of play copied the following day by Gary Ablett Junior, Michael Davis burst from the centre and goaled within ten seconds of the first bounce. Both sides scored points before a great kick from Greene hit Michael Davis, who goaled. Jeremy Beaumont followed Davis with a goal, then Tim Oman got his confidence up with a nice goal. The score was 25-1. Ormond scored its first, but Lapin responded with a stylish mark in front of goal. He scored truly, and his silky skills drew no shortage of praise. One member of the coaching panel compared him to another member of the coaching panel in his prime as a player, drawing the response, “Yeah, but I was never that tall or good-looking”! Ormond scored two goals and was long in attack, with Captain Turner valiantly leading the defence to prevent further damage. From this point until the game’s end he was in the thick of the action, as it was the beginning of Ormond’s fight-back. Michael Davis found his way through heavy congestion to counter Ormond with another goal, taking the margin back up to 37-27. Seccull received an exceptionally rare OM free kick near goal, and kicked truly. Greene goaled to give the OMs a more comfortable margin by quarter time, but the margin concealed the threatening work done by Ormond.
Ormond opened the second quarter with three consecutive goals in a long time in attack. Michael Davis broke their purple patch with a goal snapped out of a contest. James Beaumont, in defence, took a fine mark over his opponent, and started a chain of OM possessions which ended with Playfair, and a goal. Ormond scored quickly from the centre bounce, but Michael Davis responded with a goal within minutes. The OMs had the footy in their forward line at half time. Although gettable chances were missed by Seccull and Paule, the OMs’ accuracy was keeping them in front.
Ormond opened the third quarter with a goal, but James Beaumont attacked from defence, sending the ball through Paule and Harvey to Michael Davis for a goal. Greene then goaled, but, after a lengthy period of considerable confusion and discussion between the umpires, it was deemed to have been touched. Ormond then took the footy to its end of the ground to score the first of several goals. At the final break Ormond led for the first time in the game.
It was obvious the last quarter would be tough, and fast scores were needed. Harvey and Morrison combined to give Greene the ball, and Greene gave them a goal to resume the lead. Ormond then goaled from the centre bounce, and went hard into attack from the next bounce. However, the OMs stood up to the attack, and when Greene took possession he kicked long at goal and correctly called it long before the ball sailed through the big posts. A feature of the game was consistently strong and high marking by the solid Ormond players, and they took three consecutive speccies to go forward and goal. Seccull came back into the game with a timely mark and goal from outside 50m, followed by yet another Michael Davis goal, but Ormond then scored two goals. The tension was unbearable as Ormond missed a chance, and the OMs attacked. There was a bounce in front of goal, the ball went to ground, and Paule crumbed and goaled to return the lead to the Dark Blues. From there, Ormond broke loose and, cheered on by a raucous crowd near its goals, goaled to regain the lead, and a further goal put the game beyond the OMs’ reach. It was the game’s longest quarter, but time ran out.
The OMs were well-served by their running players, with Paule playing a much-improved game. He attacked hard all day, and an Ormond player tackled strongly by him was taken to hospital. Harvey and Wilmoth worked well in tandem with Paule, and James Beaumont was again pivotal in attacking from defence. Michael Davis’ results speak for themselves, and he stepped up in the absence due to injury of two key forwards.
After two good victories, and a challenging game this weekend at the Junction Oval against Old Haileybury, it can only be hoped valuable lessons were learned from this loss, which showed there is a new competitive team in B-Grade, and no win will come easily.
