Round 12 Vs De La Salle.
By Stuart Baker.
Back at home on Oval 1 for our round 12 fixture the boys were pumped to show De La why we are undefeated after they gave us a shock in the first half in our Round 6 meeting before we ran out eventual winners.
To motivate the boys on this beautiful Saturday morning Voyage decided to employ the help of the great and holy YouTube. Team work was the main driving focus with “Lay Down Sally” showing us how one member not committing themselves to the cause can have disastrous consequences. The inspirational tactics were not over yet though. Bring on the legend of Jimmy Glass. For the Voyage family this man is somewhat a cult hero. The last minute goal by the Carlisle United Goalkeeper saved the English club from relegation and kept their professional status. After this buoyant display the boys were rearing to go, the only lingering questions was will there be a “Lay down Sally” or will Jimmy Glass save the day again.
From the first bounce the OM’s pounced with Jimmy fresh in their minds, we had a clearance and goal to Angus Clark with his new improved set shot kicking. With a slight wind advantage the boys piled on 4 more goals to De La’s one in the first term with great midfield work from Owen Webb and rucking by Sam Buultjens.
The second quarter saw much of the same resolve from our ever reliable back six with George Hangar and Ed Tomlinson, back for his first game, having good runs from out of defence. The swirling wind was making it difficult for the forwards to judge the flight of the ball but our courage shone through with nobody taking their eyes of the ball which lead to a few big hits including the Clash of the Titans between Simon Arden and Andrew Haralambous which would have even brought down the great Jimmy Glass. We went into the half time break 5 goals clear and confident of more to follow.
It wasn’t to be though; the boys came out very sluggish after the break and the De La mids were starting to get clear and were running hard and giving their forwards multiple opportunities. Their forward pressure resulted in a few early goals and if not for the resilience of the likes of Schofield and Conomy streaking out of the backline the damage could have been greater. A few late goals helped pull us back for the quarter with a great running goal from Cooper out of the centre square the highlight.
After a bit of a spray at the final break the boys came out firing, Stu Wettenhall created some good run and hard hitting through the middle and Will Christian was throwing his body into everything. The team came flying home with a 6 goal to 1 last quarter which would have seen the Carlisle United faithful storm the pitch all over again in what was a gallant display. An “Injury” to Angus Clark aka Lay Down Sally was the only sour note of the quarter.
Running out 17.8.110 to 7.11.53 victors Coach Voyage was a lot happier with the all round performance by the boys and our improved accuracy in front of goals in the blustery conditions. With only 3 weeks until finals the team is looking to hit their peak and start playing our best footy.
Coach: Ant Voyage
Best: Will Christian, Ed Cooper, Angus Tandy, Owen Webb, Tom Schofield, Stuart Wettenhall
Goals: Ed Cooper 4, Angus Clark 4, Stuart Wettenhall 2, Angus Tandy 2, Andrew Haralambous , Andrew Ray , Will Christian , Owen Webb , Theo Code