Sat June 16- The writing was on the wall before the game today. Here we are, round 7 with a record of 3 wins and three losses with the three inform teams above us yet to be played. North Heidelberg were unbackable favorites as the prospect of Monty losing 3 games in a row loomed large. Just to make matters worse for Mont, Brent Gutterson was a withdrawl and the atmosphere had a forboding feel for the Monty side.
The day was cold and still. Hardly a breath of wind blew on the Para Rd oval as the threat of a late afternoon fog lingered in the thoughts of those at the ground. Many "old" players from both clubs came to watch two sides that have always put on a tough spectacle when playing against one another. Who can forget those finals series in the seventies that really stamped the two clubs as bitter rivals. It was great to see players from that era in the crowd, Adamson, Burge & Massey just name a few.
The only psycological advantage Monty had over North was the simple statistic that North have not beaten Monty at Para Rd since 2001. North however had the real statistic that so far in the season they had lost only one game. So the scene was set for a titanic battle between one team desperate to keep a finals dream alive, and another wanting to smash the old enemy. The game started at an unbelievable pace with North striking early for the opening goal. Mont hit back and the quarter seemed to be going Mont's way as they opened a three goal buffer only to see it reduced to four points at the first break. Daniel Keenan and Mat Neill had plenty of the ball while Harley Ryan and Jason Dean were dominant for North.
The second quarter was a blitz by North when in the first three minutes they slammed on three goals to take a commanding lead not only on the scoreboard, but on the play in general as well. It seemed Monty couldn't even get their hands on the ball. North got as far as 26 points in front before Mont kicked into gear. The quarter did even out in the general play but the damage was done and by half time North had a twenty point lead and it was not looking good for the Monty faithful. The crowd was building by this stage, and if they knew what was to come, they would have brought all their friends along as the second half was an absolute classic game of pace and skill by both teams. There will be some dissapointed fans that find out they missed today's game.
The third quarter saw Monty score a goal in the opening minute to Matt Neill and the scene was set for a game that was not going to be handed away on a silver platter. Ben Finnan stepped up and controlled the backline along with Andy Owen who was perhaps the best on ground for Mont. Harley Ryan was still proving a thorn to Mont with his pace and sheer skill, and no matter what the instruction was from the coaches, it seemed that the Mont team wanted to give him the ball and watch him run. With Tim Watson, Finnan and Owen constantly turning North Attacks into Mont counter attacks, players like Cuthbertson and Stanley started to take control of the forward line kicking crucial goals to make sure that there was only a six point difference at three quarter time.
The last Quarter started much the same as the third with Mont scoring early to level the scores. North hit back only to see Mont again level the scores. Mont finally took the lead only to see North take the ball from the centre square to goal to level the scores again. The game was going to break, the question was who would wilt first with the intense pressure. It seemed that the umpires were going to have a huge impact on the final outcome of the game as both clubs cried foul at the inconsistent decisions. The only consistency in the umpires, except for the orange tops, was that the crowd from both sides held its breath everytime the whitle blew as no one was ever sure what the umpire was going to say. Finally the game broke with quick goals to Stanley and Cuthbertson, followed by the game sealer from Tim Watson and the icing again from Dizzy and Cutho. In the end Mont ran over the top kicking nine goals to North's 4 in the last quarter in another all time classic game.
The passion showed by the Mont boys when the chips were down to turn around the four goal deficit into a four goal win will no doubt be remembered for some time. The home crowd was estatic, we were back, we are still in it, dont write off Mont just yet.
Hoffy's Reserve team had a huge win to come back from last weeks shock Sunday loss. The return of Sam Floreani was a breath of fresh air as he dominated the first quarter through the middle of the ground. Sam went on to kick 5 goals. After the first quarter the game was never in doubt and this gave Hoffy full flexibility to rotate the players though the lines. All day different players were dominant, though players like Webster and Anver were consistent all day. A good bounce back win, but we are still out of the final four, so every game becomes important now.
The U/19's let go of a win. It must have been frustrating for the coaches to see basic errors cost so much. It was great to see players such as Dale Seiler have a great game, while Trajanovski ran his heart out all day in probably a best on ground performance. I know it can be difficult for the NFL to find umpires, but goodness, some decisions were terrible and totally unjustified. Some people should be aware that they control the game, not the universe. Peter Moore got a week penalty from the umpire for having a 70's hairdo that intimidated the North Heidelberg players, and after Peter looked in the mirror he scared himself and realised he wouldn't win at the tribunal so he accepted the penalty. I'm sure i heard him in the back room saying "nobody touches the do".
All in all it was a great day at the club and we look forward to the bunnies this week as again a team above us comes down to the nest to play.
Last Modified on 19/06/2007 23:19