VAFA ROUND 21_Col.indd - Victorian Amateur Football Association

PREMIER B
NO-GO HOES! STUDENTS DELIVER THE LESSON
Fraser Cameron
As the new fibres on Blacks’ skipper Mark
Bolton’s troublesome hamstring continue to knit
neatly into position, he can thank his lucky stars
his team-mates attacked last weekend’s 1 st semifinal
against Old Ivanhoe with such tenacity as to
set the fancied Old Ivanhoe back on its heels from
the outset, ultimately a position from which the
Hoers never recovered.
Following solemnly in the footsteps of Luke
Mahoney, upon arrival at the front of the canteen
queue @ 1.10pm Neil Weatherson greeted me
warmly and I gleefully invested in my first ‘Wick
Burger for the season (a keenly anticipated delight
after the intense furore in R7 when Ormond’s home
game at Sportscover Arena was an apoplectic ‘Wick
burger-less affair). The good oil from my sources -
Chris McLennan, father of gun forward coach Pat
and the Godfather of Catholic football, John “I’ve
sired more Ammo games than most” Mount - was
that the Fruit Tingles had been jumped early by the
Krushers, but Dan Mahoney and Tim Duggan had
righted the ship by half time, and everything was in
order on SKOB Hill.
Still, true to script here were more than a few
scares in the SKOB camp in the final term when
the Krushers dragged themselves back from a 40
point deficit to within three goals before screwing
up two brilliant chances to narrow the gap further.
Paul O’Brien was great in mopping up a kick
behind play and delivering calmly by foot to
enable SKOB to wrest back control and finish off
with a comfortable win with goals to Tim Trewin
and Sam Ryan.
As we all waited for the main fixture there were
furtive glances upstairs as the Inner FM lads
heard whispers of a late change for Old Ivanhoe
(Sutherland for Meikeljohn). Dr Harry Costello
kindly gave me a quick tutorial on the Blacks’ fleet
of University six footers, and said he was quietly
confident they could out-run the tall timber from
Pine Lodge. I started to think maybe they had
planned things perfectly (save for that untimely
twang), as I’d earlier had a peep out the back
and noticed the Hoers were somewhat top-heavy.
Further Scott Curatolo was in deep discussion with
his coach, sporting a hip to ankle white leg-stocking.
Such is Curatolo’s value to the Pine-people, he was
to take the field despite being below his physical
best, as his leadership and footy-smarts would add
plenty to his young team.
The match itself started as a dour affair, with both
sides’ half back-lines clearing regularly, but then
failing to deliver effectively to their own forwards.
A few chances to the Hoers, particularly to Owen
Weatherly, weren’t capitalised upon, and after 12
minute the Blacks pounced and started to pile on
the pressure. After Josh Gaylor opened scoreboard
proceedings, BOG Charlie Richardson kicked the
first of his 4 goals, followed by a couple more as
the Blacks established the 4 goal lead they would
hold for the balance of the day. It was clear that
they were keen to move the ball swiftly by foot and
try to keep things simple as Jordan Foster proved
a useful target, despite close attention. What he
didn’t mark fell to their classy crumbing forwards
in Lacey and Drysdale, and they happily finished
off when required. The Hoers pegged a couple
back through Baldwin and Delmonte, but they still
trailed and weren’t able to bridge the gap.
For the Students, Nick Dubois did a terrific job
switching between centre-half-back and the ruck,
shading Butler and Bolzan in the process. Hamish
Guthrie, ostensibly supporting Walsh, proved
an inspired promotion to the senior side only the
previous week after 17 straight curtain-raisers!
However, the key area where the Blacks won
was the tireless running of the back-flankers and
wingmen such as Weekley, Batten and Torney.
Their defensive pressure was great, and their
offensive rebound even better. For the Hoers,
Stuart Low wouldn’t lie down and Ben Tremellen
was an effective target up forward. Otherwise, they
were comprehensively outplayed and now lick
their wounds until April 2011 arrives.
THIS WEEK: Now we turn our attention to the
quest for promotion, and another week off before
the Big Dance. It’s almost everyone’s flag favourite
in Old Carey seemingly with one hand on the cup
4 THE AMATEUR FOOTBALLER 2010