Old Melburnians Football Club

Angus Waddell - 200 Games

August 13th, 2008

Saturday wasn’t a great day for the Magoos. Again we played well in patches, but lapses in concentration, albeit brief, cost dearly. The most costly came in the 10 or so minutes after half-time. Read the rest of this entry »

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Round 15: Old Melburnians v Marcellin

August 9th, 2008

Round 15 - Saturday 2 August 2008 at the Junction Oval.

OLD MELBURNIANS v MARCELLIN.

SENIORS, by Lurch.

1^ST Quarter: OMs 2.2.14 MC 3.7.25

2^nd Quarter: OMs 9.5.59 MC 4.9.33

3^rd Quarter: OMs 14.8.92 MC 6.12.48

Full time: OMs 17.10.112 MC 9.13.67

Goals: Ben McKie (3), Tom Bennison (3), James Beaumont (2), Jono Miller (2), Ned Morrison (2), Chris Righetti (2), Tom Seccull (1), Heath Thompson (1), Tim Davis (1).

Best: James Beaumont, Jono Miller, Ned Morrison, Nick Russell, Ed Mitchell, Tom Bachet.

Eighth-placed OMs met fourth-placed Marcellin on the Junction in what was – on paper – a tough game. It proved to be a tough game for Marcellin….

Marcellin scored first, after a lengthy defensive effort by the OMs. In a fine chain of play which characterised the OMs’ play in this game, Wilmoth got the footy out of the centre to Morrison, who found Millsy, who passed to Riggers at the top of the goal square for the OMs’ first goal. After Marcellin goaled again, a long kick found James Beaumont, who ran in for the first of his two goals for the day. His skilful play and ability to set up forward forays was largely responsible for the OMs’ great start to the game. Although the OMs finished the quarter eleven points down, and were fortunate Marcellin was off-target, the OMs were playing better football.

In the second quarter the OMs kicked 7.3.45 against a team which will play in the finals. At the other end, Marcellin could only manage 1.2.8 for the quarter. Ed Mitchell was at his non-preferred end of the ground, but did an excellent job in defence. Nick “Vodafone” Russell effectively folded up and pocketed the dangerous Maclaren, who only scored two goals for Marcellin: a far cry from the eight he kicked against the OMs last time.

Morrison scored the first goal of the second quarter. Bennison, who had worked hard but who had had a frustrating first quarter, finally got results. He scored his first goal from a set shot, and minutes later a clever tap by Hawkins was snaffled by Benno, who snapped truly for his second. Joining the OMs’ goal feast, Beaumont scored his second, McKie the first of his three, and Thompson and Davis scored their only goals for the game. Bachet and Morrison were working at a frantic pace through the middle, setting up the forward attacks.

At half time the OMs found themselves 26 points in front, and the rattled Marcellin players clashed verbally with the OMs as they left the ground. The third quarter was a true test of the OMs, which they passed with flying (Dark Blue) colours. Within the first minute, Morrison extracted the footy from the middle, passed it to Seccull, and he goaled. Seccull continued his great form of recent games, with his strong overhead marking being his key attribute. Unfortunately for Seccull and the OMs, he left the field with an injury which was later diagnosed as a season-ending collarbone fracture.

Marcellin quickly responded with a goal from a free kick. After a tussle in front of goal, Wilmoth passed to Millsy, whose set shot was taken directly in front of goal after his Marcellin opponent overstepped the mark. Marcellin goaled again, but Millsy was having a purple patch, and had another shot. Although it hit the goal post, minutes later he scored truly from another set shot. When he was not scoring goals he was setting them up. He has missed most of the season due to injury, and his return to the OMs is most welcome. McKie ran into goal for his second, and Ned scored from the goal square after Handley handballed cleverly over his opponent.

The OMs found themselves in the all-too-rare position of having everything going their way, and scoring goals with ease. After a lengthy battle, McKie was awarded a free kick and goaled directly in front whilst some argy bargy went on behind him. Riggers marked just inside the 50m arc, but was crunched as he marked. Two consecutive penalties against Marcellin put Riggers inside the goal square, and he scored truly. It was becoming the type of cakewalk to which the embattled OMs have often been subjected, and it was relished. The OMs’ intensity throughout the game had been unrelenting, and when it was briefly relaxed, Marcellin scored two easy goals. Morrison was then crunched twice, and his free kick found Benno, who scored his third and the OMs’ final goal for the game. It was a fitting win for Angus “Guus” Waddell’s 200^th game for the OMs. He was chaired from the ground.

As exciting as the narrow wins over St. Kevin’s were, this game was probably the OMs’ best game of the season so far. It was a 45 point victory against a quality opponent. Although fierce tackling and continuous pressure was a feature of the OMs’ game, the game remained comparatively free-flowing, and was a joy to watch.

1	OLD ESSENDON	15	13	2	1767	1100	52	160.64
2	ST BERNARDS	15	12	3	1663	1240	48	134.11
3	OLD HAILEYBURY	15	11	4	1446	1147	44	126.07
4	MARCELLIN	15	9	6	1317	1099	36	119.84
5	OLD CAREY	15	7	8	1217	1163	28	104.64
6	ST KEVINS	15	6	9	1257	1272	24	98.82
7	OLD CAMBERWELL	15	6	9	1361	1465	24	92.90
8	OLD MELBURNIANS	15	5	10	1080	1421	20	76.00
9	CAULFIELD GRAM.	15	3	12	1161	1699	12	68.33
10	BEAUMARIS	15	3	12	952	1615	12	58.95

The OMs play Old Carey at Carey’s sports grounds in Bulleen this weekend. Old Carey will be looking to avenge its defeat at the hands of the OMs. The OMs then play St. Bernards at the Junction Oval, and finish against Caulfield (away). Caulfield plays Old Essendon, Beaumaris, and the OMs. Beaumaris plays St. Kevin’s, Caulfield, and Old Carey. It will be a tight finish to the season. The OMs need your support.

Melbourne Grammar School won the 2008 1^st XVIII Premiership and the Cordner Eggleston Cup with a 72-62 win over Scotch College at the MCG on Friday 8 August 2008. Full details to follow.

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Rd 15 Overview

August 4th, 2008

OM’S SEAL EMPHATIC WIN WITH SECOND QUARTER BLITZ

Too often this year we have written about a promising start to a game which has been blown with a lacklustre second quarter. Trailing 4th placed Marcellin at the first change by just 11 points, nobody could have predicted what was in store for the home crowd at the Junction on Saturday. Not only was the potential finalist restricted to just 1 major by solid defensive work from the OM’s, but we slammed on 7 goals in our best quarter of footy for months. The inclusion of James Beaumont added pace and aggression at the contest, and our usual on-ball contributors thrived on the additional support. Aggressive football, fluent ball movement, straight kicking, OM’s leading by 26 at half time. The 3rd quarter showed that the OM’s were on their game and would not be denied the win that is so critical to our situation – another 5 goals to 2 put the result beyond doubt, and although we faded slightly in the last 10 minutes, a 45 point victory over a Top 4 side was just the medicine the doctor ordered.

OLD MELBURNIANS	2.2	9.5	14.8	17.10-112
MARCELLIN	3.7	4.9	6.12	9.13-67

Goal Kickers: B. McKie 3, T. Bennison 3, J. Beaumont 2, J. Miller 2, N. Morrison 2, C. Righetti 2, T. Seccull, H. Thompson, T. Davis
Best Players: J. Beaumont, J. Miller, N. Morrison, N. Russell, E. Mitchell, T. Bachet

So where do we stand now?
Still 8th, but with 3 games to play, we are 2 games and almost 8% clear of Caulfield in 9th place. The significance of this win over Marcellin cannot be underestimated! Our remaining games are Carey (currently 5th, away), St Bernards (currently 2nd - home) and Caulfield (9th, away). Ladders and match reports available on www.omfc.com.au

Congratulations Gus Waddell – 200 Games

For some time Gus Waddell has been considered somewhat of a stalwart of the OM’s, and now it’s official!! Saturday’s win over Marcellin saw him carried off the ground triumphantly celebrating his 200th game for the Club. This has been a monumental year for Gus, also celebrating the birth of his first child just a few weeks ago. Everybody admires the quiet, unassuming, reliable defender, and we are pleased his milestone game was celebrated with a huge win. The Committee of the OMFC would like to congratulate Gus for this fine achievement, which qualifies him to receive Life Membership of the football club. Well done Gussy!!

Other Results

Marcellin 2nd XVIII 14.7.91 def OMFC 2nd XVIII 5.16.46
Ormond U19’s 17.15.117 def OMFC U19’s 15.11.101

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CALL TO ARMS – OM Under 19’s

August 4th, 2008

It’s great to see that even though we all take our Football seriously on a Saturday afternoon that young men still have the time to think of more serious and life threatening issues such as Cancer.

An initiative first touted by Jeremy Nichols leadership organisation “The Mettle Group” who thought it would be beneficial and rewarding for the Under 19 group to undertake some sort of charity/community work during the year to help raise awareness for those less fortunate than themselves.

Driven by the Under 19 OM’s leadership team of Matt Collister, Marty McCoy and Tim McLardy, the playing group thought of many ideas but the most strongly supported and football relevant charity suggestion was the “Call to Arms”, a charity set up by The Cancer Council and Adam Ramanauskas to assist in preventing men’s cancer.

The first step involved registering the club’s details and deciding which match day to complete our charity duties. Whilst the official “Call to Arms” game was held on the weekend between Essendon and Melbourne, the OM Under 19’s decided to do it a week earlier on Saturday 26th July against traditional school rivals Old Hailebury at the MGS school grounds at Port Melbourne.

To endorse our support on the day, every player and coach who participated in the game from Old Melburnians wore a yellow arm-band, with every member contributing $20 each towards the charity. With also a strong following of parents from both Old Hailebury and OM’s the day was a great success with over $750 raised, which is a tremendous result and typifies the seriousness in which all the boys have taken it.

Finally all members of the OM’s Under 19’s should be applauded for the way they have gone about the charity work and the spirit in which the game was played on the day.

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