Round 2: Saturday, 16 April 2011.
Old Melburnians v St. Bedes-Mentone at Flack Park.
Seniors (By Lurch)
This is a game best appreciated by reading how it unfolded, rather than seeing the results first up. With the Junction Oval not yet ready for football, this game was moved to MGS’s playing fields at Flack Park. It was again a windy day, favouring the northern end to which the OMs kicked in the first quarter, but with the sun out it was a day for a tan.
Although St. Bedes goaled first, goals to Armstrong and Dunell put the scores level at 2.2.14 apiece when Lurch won the battle against traffic to arrive at the ground. The OMs spent a long time in attack before Kane Penhalluriack read the flight better and out-marked his taller opponent from behind. Kicking from the top of the goal square, he just missed. Michael Davis then kicked to Simon Taylor, whose shot for goal from 40m was accurate, giving the OMs the lead at quarter time.
Although the Dark Blues were first into attack in the second quarter, St. Bedes easily took the footy up the other end to register the first goal. From the centre bounce, Nathan Henley took the footy, ran out of the middle, kicked to Nick de Steiger, and he kicked 40m against the wind for a goal. St. Bedes responded by goaling from the centre bounce, and then inaccurately peppered the goals. Eventually the OMs ran the ball up the ground, with Michael Davis hitting up Captain James Beaumont, whose beautiful kick on the run from the SW pocket curved around, mimicking the boundary, and went through for a goal. It became very congested in front of goal, but Tom Paule eventually got the footy and hurriedly kicked towards goal. It fell well short and was rebounded, but he got a second chance when it came back to him, and he scored a major. St. Bedes responded with a lengthy period in attack which yielded it only two points before the OMs’ defence took the footy across the field, along the backline, before running it down the eastern wing to Dunell, who took a fantastic contested mark in the SE pocket. He kicked to Taylor, who missed a set shot in front of goals. When the footy next came into the OMs’ neck of the woods, de Steiger and Dunell flew together for the same mark, leaving the crumbs to Paule, who ran away from goal, wheeling around in a semicircle to avoid his pursuers, and kicking left across his body to Armstrong. Armstrong hit up Josh Freezer, whose set shot at goal did the trick. Against the wind, the Dark Blues had outscored St. Bedes and slightly increased their lead, although they were also fortunate St. Bedes had been so inaccurate, scoring 3.8, and indicating a lot of forward 40m entries.
The third quarter was something beautiful to behold. Soon after the first bounce, Dunell took a great contested mark from a Jonno Nash kick out of the middle (were any of his marks uncontested?) and from just inside 40m in the NW pocket kicked a frightening horizontal kick which just cleared the jumping St. Bedes’ defenders on the goal line. St. Bedes responded with a goal, then another and a swag of points to take the lead, 58-56. It was the OMs’ quarter with the wind, and this was not the way to make the most of it. The way to use it began with Nathan Henley on the west wing centering to Penhalluriack in the centre, to Dunell up forward, and he found Paule. When everyone expected Paule to line up for his shot on goal, Paule played on, running around everyone to run into an open goal. The lead was retaken. When the footy next came out of the centre Dunell went for a huge fly, riding his opponent, but uncharacteristically failed to take the mark. Nash kicked to Billy Irving in a hot contest at the top of the 40m arc, and Billy found a gap between a mass of players, kicked beautifully flat and straight, and goaled. Nash took a great defensive mark, the OMs ran it up the ground, and Henley threw it on his boot and roosted it through for a goal. Next act in the OMs’ show was Dunell, putting up his long thin arms, making the footy stick in his hands, and then kicking a magnificent goal from about 45m. It was 81-59. After a long time in attack, St. Bedes finally broke its drought with a goal in very congested conditions in front of goal. Josh Freezer responded beautifully, kicking from about 45, and just clearing defenders on the goal line. Although they protested it was touched by a fingertip, a goal was signalled. Finally, Taylor was the beneficiary of two 25m penalties, kicked long, and Lombardozzi took a huge run up, jumped on top of a pack, pulled down a magnificent mark, and finished it off with a goal. It had been a great quarter, with Dunell at his entertaining and high-flying best.
The fourth quarter opened with St. Bedes a long time in attack before goaling. The OMs then went forward, with Lombardozzi missing a set shot, but when the footy came out, Cam Beck was in the right place on the 40m arc, threw it on the boot, and goaled. Tom Hywood executed a great pick up, threaded a kick towards goal through a mass of bodies, and Beck pounced on the loose ball and goaled. For the first ten minutes the OMs remained firmly on top of St. Bedes, whose faithful had been losing their faith since the third quarter, and some of whom had left the ground. St. Bedes’ players, however, had not given up, and spent most of the remainder of the quarter in attack, scoring seven goals for the quarter without a miss. Most of their goals were from the boundary or other difficult positions, going with the wind. St. Bedes was going quickly and easily into attack with minimal opposition from the OMs, who had fallen into a false sense of security, thinking their margin was a winning margin. That margin, however, was rapidly shrinking, and the clock was still ticking. Suddenly, the scores were 106-103, and the OMs finally realised something had to be done. Phil Young took a critical defensive mark and sent the footy forward. Dunell marked and had a set shot at goal, but his kick kept curving around, across the face of goal and through for a point. St. Bedes then went down the other end and goaled to take the lead. The clock, which had been the OMs’ friend, was now its enemy. Almost immediately after the centre bounce, the siren sounded. Defeat had been snatched from the jaws of victory, and the hard lesson learned was that three and a third good quarters are not always enough to claim victory. Despite the result, the OMs climbed the ladder.
1st quarter: OM 3.4.22 SBM 2.2.14
2nd quarter: OM 7.7.49 SBM 5.10.40
3rd quarter: OM 14.9.93 SBM 9.11.65
Full time: OM 16.11.107 SBM 16.13.109
Goals: Sam Dunell (3), Tom Paule (2), Cam Beck (2), Josh Freezer (2), Nick de Steiger (1), Al Armstrong (1), James Beaumont (1), Nathan Henley (1), Karl Lombardozzi (1), Billy Irving (1), Simon Taylor (1).
Best: Nathan Henley, Simon Taylor, Karl Lombardozzi, Luke Casey-Leigh, Sam Dunell, Andrew Prowse.
Nathan Henley was incredible. He covered a huge amount of territory, got a lot of the footy, and used it very well. He is a great addition to the side. Simon Taylor’s size and experience once again was used to good advantage. Karl Lombardozzi did some very good work up forward, and competed with Dunell for mark of the game. Andrew Prowse led the OMs’ defence, and touched through one or two certain goals in the second quarter. He was well supported by Luke Casey-Leigh in his second game.
The VAFA competition now takes a break for Easter, with the OMs’ next game being their first for the year at the Junction Oval, against Collegians. May Easter bring with it new life and the resurrection for the Old Melburnians!