If last week against Lalor had us feeling ten feet tall and bullet proof, then this week against Balwyn, Division 1 EFL, was a reality check. This game had it all, sunshine, cold beer, hard hits, high marks and lots of great play resulting in a 27 goal game.
Jack Cole could not have asked for better football conditions or a better team to play on the eve of our football season to give our boys a true match hit out. Balwyn had a team that consisted of Daniel Hartford, Joel Smith, Patrick Bowden and Alan Murray just to name a few of the ex AFL players, and they were not at full strength (apparently).
We also had some players out of the senior side either unavailable or playing in the reserves side, but in a show of depth that our club has not had for the past couple of years, we covered our losses and fielded a very competitive team.
The story of the game however was our inability to kick early goals and create scoreboard pressure. As with some games last year where we gave starts to the opposition then chased the rest of the day, today we let Balwyn get out to an early three goal lead before we managed to peg one back through Brett Hayes. While the mark to Hayes was probably fortunate, (the umpire blew the whistle as the ball slipped from Brett’s grip), the lead up play including new players Jake Whitling and Daniel Santoro was encouraging to see. Balwyn quickly put on another goal but immediately saw Mont reply from the centre bounce without Balwyn touching the ball in a great goal to Justin Banbury. Late in the quarter from a boundary line stoppage deep in Mont’s forward pocket, Joffa Byron gave the good Mont crowd a highlight as he snapped truly to bring the crowd to life and Mont to within 5 points of Balwyn which was to be the margin at quarter time.
Mont 3 2 20 Balwyn 4 1 25
The second quarter opened at a hectic and bruising pace. Make no mistakes that this was just a practice match, both sides wanted to win, both sides had pride on the line. The ball went end to end for the first three minutes with both defences on top. It wasn’t until an errant shot at goal from Balwyn went right across the face of goal and was marked deep in the pocket on the boundary line that either side had a real shot on goal. The umpire was then “lenient” in his interpretation of the angle the Balwyn player should have been on for the shot on goal, and sure enough with the resulting goal; scoring for the quarter had been opened. Balwyn quickly added another goal through a Mont defensive turnover and the lead was back out to 3 goals. The next ten minutes saw the ball going from half back line to half back line as the arm wrestle was on. Neither side gave up the ball easily, and it took a pin point pass from Brent Gutterson that hit Hayes lace out 45 meters out for either side to have a set shot. Hayes didn’t miss and again it was game on. Balwyn then seemed to lose it’s radar as three set shots in a row missed their mark from inside the 45, only to have Hayes, again on the end of a pin point pass this time from Whitling, kick truly to close the gap to eight points. After some more misses on goal, some individual brilliance from Allan Murray finally gave Balwyn the breathing space of a 16 point lead. Mont hit back from the centre bounce to reply immediately as Daniel Keenan found Wayne Pavitt with a long kick who then handballed to a running Gutterson who didn’t miss the goal. The siren blew and Mont was 10 points down at half time.
Mont 6 2 38 Balwyn 7 6 48
The third quarter started in the worst possible fashion for Mont with Balwyn opening the scoring with a goal inside the first minute to regain its three goal buffer. The next five minutes then produced more stoppages and more push and shove between the teams than had been apparent in the whole of the first half as neither side backed down from a challenge. Emotions were high as both sides wanted to impose themselves in the “championship quarter”. Unfortunately for Mont it was Balwyn that managed to break the deadlock and after some good play Balwyn put on a goal to push out to a four goal lead. Mont was able to reply quickly through Banbury but still that three goal margin could not be breached. With the game still in the balance and the hope that two minutes of Gutterson brilliance might turn the game, two undisciplined acts gave Balwyn free shots on goal. Balwyn duly scored and the match started to look like it was slipping away. Mont couldn’t buy a goal as our radar was now turned off and shots that would have normally gone through missed. It wasn’t until the 23 minute mark that Joffa Byron after receiving a great pass from Pavitt put through Mont’s second goal of the quarter, much to the relief of the crowd. With seconds to go on the time clock Balwyn received a lucky free kick in the goal square and the resulting goal gave them a 23 point lead.
Mont 8 7 55 Balwyn 12 6 78
It seemed both sides looked at this game as a true indicator of where they are. Both sides had good crowds around their three quarter time huddles and there was no doubt this game was going to go to the final siren. Both sides had early shots miss as the ball travelled up and down the Para Rd ground. It took another defensive error from Mont as the ball was kicked out of bounds on the full in Mont’s back pocket to give Balwyn the opportunity to score the opening goal of the quarter. After a good mark in the goal square Balwyn had opened the scoring and the game seemed to be too far out of Mont’s reach. Even though Balwyn returned the defensive error kicking the ball out of bounds on the full in their back pocket, the time clock was always going to beat Mont. Derryn Stanley put the ball through the big sticks from the free kick but 10 minutes had ticked by. Both sides then put on quick goals, Mont’s to a great running effort to Matt Neill, but Mont could not string two goals together. Unfortunately Balwyn did and they put another two goals on before a late reply by Pavitt, but in the end it was a comfortable win on the scoreboard by Balwyn though I am sure they were pleased more about the quality of the game rather than the final score.
Mont 11 8 74 Balwyn 16 9 105
In all today’s game was thoroughly entertaining and was a game that both sides can be proud of. It was great to see so many Balwyn people stay back and enjoy a beer and we wish you all the best for 2008 and look forward to a return match next year.
Last Modified on 07/04/2008 18:38