Round 3 Match Report: Seniors

On one hand it would be easy to lament another loss, letting the numbers tell the story and generally being a sad sack. I, however, prefer option 2. After a couple of drinks and some reflection, I feel that the game played deserves a more epic and entertaining story. So buckle in and don't judge, the keyboard is a bit fuzzy at this point.

It started as a classic David and Goliath story, the team dropping down from the division above wiping all comers before them and the plucky, good looking scallywags still searching for that first win of the season. Coming into the game with a number of quality players unavailable, the Blue's still had a confident vibe in the changerooms. We had a couple of players back in the shape of Sheldon and Lachie whilst also welcoming Keenan and Sam Noble for their first games in the Senior side. 

After a touching ceremony to commemorate Anzac Day we were straight into it on an overcast and sometimes rainy day. The ball was hot early and thanks to the boys in the middle we were on top in the first few minutes. Sheldon played in the ruck, don't think he won a tap all day but he halved most and his follow up work was first rate. If not for some wayward kicking we would certainly have kicked the first goal but worked hard to stay in the contest as Kedron kicked the first 2. Kratzy looked dangerous at full forward when we got the ball in quick and it certainly looked like we took them by surprise with our intensity. Obviously we didn't mind shooting ourselves in the foot pretty regularly with our "everyone at the ball" mentality particularly good at allowing them to clear the ball. I'd never question our endeavor but watching an opposition player handball over 3 of our guys running at him gets tiresome after a while.

Despite that though we were still in touch on the scoreboard with only our arch nemesis "Red Time" doing some damage at the end each quarter. On the plus side the one on one portion of the gameplan seemed to be working for large parts of the match with our guys willing to run back in defense. Some ripping tackles throughout as well as we really start to get the contested side of our game flowing. Watching blokes lay tackles and get up again and again chasing the ball and man is inspiring stuff. When the fitness gets up to scratch in a few more rounds we are going to be very hard to beat in the contest. The only downside to our willingness to get our heads over the ball was that Kedron were more than willing to sit outside the congestion and would more often than not get the clearance. They ran strongly in numbers all day and when our defensive pressure dropped in patches they found a lot of space. We went in at halftime well down on the scoreboard but certainly not overawed by the opposition. 

The halftime speech indicated we were still in it and the boys definitely hadn't dropped their heads. They came out firing again with Johnny starting to get a few more touches pushing into the midfield. Lachie was typically industrious around stoppages and Robbie started to really have an influence in the middle as well. Fairy saved us a number of times by cutting off the ball at half back but the weight of forward entries got the better of us as they kicked another handful for the quarter. Having been a man down after Dan was iced in the first with some dodgy ribs, we started to lose a bit of run from the bench. Couple that with Keenan going down with a knee injury and Watto with a foot we were looking a bit sparse for reinforcements. Liam and Psycho both got yellow cards in confusing fashion, Liam didn't really do anything wrong and I'm pretty sure they sent Psycho off thinking he was DJ.

At the start of the fourth we were in the unfortunate situation of only being able to get 17 on the field due to the aforementioned yellow cards. Liam got back into it after a few minutes down back and certainly would have taken a lot of the game. Positioning and bodywork are something that takes a while to learn and he is getting better each week, though it was tough this week against some quality forwards and entries. We got over run to a certain degree in the last though the guys just never stopped trying. We didn't make the most of our forward entries when we got them but one highlight was Kratzy's 4th goal. Lachie won a free about 50m out but could hardly clear the man on the mark let alone make the distance at that stage. Kratzy sensed his opportunity and made sure to get in front of Shon to get on the end of the handball and then duly converted. I think he likes paying forward.

In the end we came off second best but here is an interesting stat. Of the first 3 games against Kedron, an undermanned Blues outfit had more scoring shots than any other team against them. Our conversion rate wasn't great but it's a positive sign that we are starting to get some more results in the forward line. I felt for Keenan after he went down with his knee as he was having a great first game in the 1's. He really attacks the ball and the man hard and was playing a really crucial role before he was struck down. Rhys keeps improving every game and Wass was solid again in his second game in the 1's. Sam had a nice debut, getting through unscathed and contributing in some nice passages of play throughout. I was proud of all the mids as well, they didn't have a lot of chances to rest late in the game but never shirked. Shon backed up and even took a cracking one hand mark up forward before handballing it off to a rampaging Kratzmann.

In the grand scheme of things 3 losses to start, whilst not ideal, is not reason to despair. Some fixturing wzardry has seen us play 2 teams that finished in the top 4 last year and 1 that played in a division above. If anything, the games have galvanised our group and shown us exactly how far off the mark we are, and it's nowhere near as far as the score suggests. Fitness and gelling as a team comes through games, we are seeing incremental improvements so far and they will add up to a win in due course. We lost this David and Goliath battle but we get up, dust ourselves off and get on with it. Stick together, stay the course, the win is coming. 

Go Blues