Week 2 - Eastern Football League

PerFeCT ParK OrCHardS
By Ben Waterworth
There is nothing sweeter than leaving a lasting
impression in a debut performance after being
immediately thrown in the deep end.
Take Adelaide for instance, who convincingly won its
first AFL game against Hawthorn in 1991.
Or Australian fast bowler Damien Fleming, who took a
hat-trick on debut against Pakistan in 1994
Or US President Barack Obama, who blew the world
away with his first speech after being elected to US
Presidency in 2008.
But how about Park Orchards? It went one better last
Saturday.
In fact, it went two better.
All three Sharks teams – Under 19’s, Reserves and
Seniors – registered wins, with the latter two notching
debut EFL victories in what as a memorable and
historic day for the football club.
The Under 19’s side defeated South Belgrave by 52
points, the Development Squad beat Canterbury by
the same margin and the Seniors pulled off a gutsy
13-point win over the Cobras’ senior side.
A number of emotions were rolling through President
Stephen Harrington’s head at the end of the day.
‘There was a sense of euphoria after of what had
transpired during the day,’ he said,
‘To get three wins on our first day in the EFL really was
beyond our wildest dreams.
‘There was also an enormous sense of relief as the day
went down with no major issues.
‘In fact it really was just a relief to get three teams on
the park. But for all of them to perform so well gave me
a sense of great satisfaction.’
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Harrington says his ultimate highlight from the day was
the huge crowd who turned up to Domeney Reserve.
‘There was a strong level of support throughout the
day,’ he said.
‘We estimate that there was around 1000 people at
Domeney Reserve, which is a very significant thing for
the Park Orchards community.’
The Sharks president puts the club’s strong following
down to hard promotion over the pre-season.
‘We’ve directly promoted ourselves to the Park
Orchards community, Harrington said.
‘We’ve reached out to sporting clubs and even done
letter box drops to every Park Orchards home. It is
a small suburb in terms of size, but it has a strong
community focus and always supports its own.
‘We have also had fantastic support from the junior
footy club. There are around 17 teams there and players
and parents with those teams have gotten right behind
the senior club.’
Despite the encouraging signs last Saturday, Harrington
says it is far too early to predict where his senior team
might finish in 2012.
‘We’ve set a small benchmark to win more games in
the second half of the season than the first half, he said.
‘That could become quite difficult if we win three or
four games in the first half of the season.’
Harrington says the step up from Under 18’s level in
2011 to senior footy in 2012 has been ‘immense’.
‘Three or four boys who played Under 18’s last year
played their first senior game on Saturday and all
commented on the huge increase in pace and intensity,’
he said.
Park Orchards travel to Lewis Park to take on the
Eastern Lions in Round 2.