v Melbourne University @ A.H Capp
Premier Reserves
Darebin 0.4, 1.4, 1.4, 3.6 (24)
Melbourne Uni 0.0, 0.0, 1.4, 1.6 (12)
Goals
Darebin: G. Hammond 1, R. Hatahet 1, P. Cardona 1
Melbourne Uni: R. Coulson 1
Best
Darebin: A. Porter, V. Pettit, S. Portway, N. DeGiorgio, J. Wilson, K. Scodellaro
Melbourne Uni: T. Rollnik, R. Coulson, R. Allchin, M. Bastiaan, V. Lewicki, J. Wieselmann
Having won every game since our last meeting with Melbourne Uni in Round 2, a win against a MUGARS side that had lost their last two in a row would put us in a great position going forward into the deep end of the season. Considering the muddy conditions and the desperation shown by our opposition, a 12-point win in a close match is exactly what we needed to prove we can win when our back sare against the wall.
Even though the ball was trapped inside our forward 50 for most of the quarter, Melbourne Uni’s tackling and pressure around the contest made it hard for us to get space. As a result, we could only manage a couple of points going into the first break with a sloppy, muddy contest on the cards.
Although the MUGARS did all they could to get forward, the continuous half-back marks from Katie and Layna kept the ball out of their forward 50. With a chance finally dropping to Frenchy on the run in our forward line, she made no mistake and gave us a slender margin going into half time.
It was expected that Melbourne Uni would come out firing in the second half and that they did, tackling hard and making life hard for our mids, earning a couple of goals in the process. Going into the final quarter, the game was there to be won as the scores were level.
Requiring something special after the MUGARS scrapped a couple of early points, the likes of Sommer, Jem, Nic, Rievers, Swede and Max stepped up their games in the middle of the field to get the ball in our forward 50 and lock it in. Georgia eventually took a mark in the goal square to put us up by five points and Paige’s incredible solo run and snap deep in the pocket put the icing on the cake as we locked the ball into contests and let the clock do the rest of the work for us.
A lot of credit needs to go to the defenders for keeping Melbourne Uni to such a low score. The work of Layna, Tory, Dash Nikki across half-back was inspiring.
In a muddy game, it was most likely going to come down to who wanted it more. With the desire shown by all on the field, especially in the final quarter, the final score show just how much we wanted it.
With a small break to look forward to, we can enjoy having next weekend off and focus on taking on VU St Albans at home in two weeks.
Premier Division
Darebin 5.5, 10.7, 12.10, 15.13 (103)
Melbourne Uni 0.0, 0.0, 1.2, 1.3 (9)
Goals
Darebin: S. Hammond 3, S. Egan 2, K. Brennan 2, A. O’Connor 2, N. Callinan 1, N. Wood 1, K. Zacharopoulos 1, D. Pearce 1, E. O’Dea 1, T. Ashby 1
Melbourne Uni: K. Ashmore 1
Best
Darebin: N. Callinan, K. Brennan, T. Ashby, A. O’Connor, D. Pearce, M. Hickey
Melbourne Uni: E. Kearney, L. Spark, N. Stevens, G. Anderson, E. Phillips, A. Eva
Although deemed last year as the ‘wet weather specialists’ it is safe to say when Richo flooded the ground ahead of Darebin’s clash against Melbourne Uni, he may have taken things a little too far. Realising last minute that birds aren’t too fond of water he headed to the game early, rolled up his sleeves and got to work amending his mistake.
After receiving a constant stream of abuse since the publication of last weeks edition of the newsletter (for his involvement in a number of ‘disturbing’ photographs) the club feared for Richo’s sanity (more than normal) and set about gathering the flock together to help clean up the havoc Dal Pos aka the Merri Creek had on their oval. By the end of it A.H Capp literally was ‘The Nest’
Sporting their ‘Sunday bests’ Melbourne University would be forgiven for thinking the Falcons were making a mockery of the days ‘top of the table’ clash, as studs were swapped for steel caps and stubby shorts were the preferred attire over skins. Soon realising that this wasn’t in fact the case, merely Richos most recent team bonding idea, the game got underway.
Although the boggy conditions at AH Capp Reserve meant that the naturally skillful Falcons style of footy would be slightly reduced, the Falcs still had little problem disposing of Melbourne Uni to the tune of 94 points.
The tone was set in the first quarter when a 35-0 start gave Darebin the ascendancy.
Looking like she could go a few rounds in the ring, Janeo’s enthusiasm boiled over just as the siren sounded to signal the end of the first 25 minutes of play. In what can only be assumed as a last minute effort to catch the eye of state selectors, Jane made the Uni defence look motionless. Dancing around a number of Mugars (all of which were actually headed to their 1/4 time huddle) she slotted a lovely 6 pointer and set off celebrating as if Plugger had just kicked his 100th. Appreciating her passion, the Falcons didn’t give Janeo too much grief for her post siren indisgression, as they all knew the Victorian forward coach would give her a dressing down in the pocket for the remainder of the day.
Figuring the best way to win a game wasn’t during the quarter time breaks, Aasta once again worked tirelessly around the ground providing great service for the mids who continued to deliver quality footy to their forwards.
New recruit Hammo created headaches for the opposition and Vanja’s ability to run down players along with Stepho and Woody’s linking prowess saw the Falcs register 7 scoring shots to 0 in the second quarter and take a 67-point lead going into half time.
In the second half Hickey once again did a marvellous job directing traffic down back and JC was taking the footy like a tall marking forward, out positioning her opponent on almost every occasion.
Feeling left out Dani aka ‘Greenie’ set about leaving her mark on the game. Taking ‘unsociable football’ to a whole new level, in what initially appeared an apologetic gesture (apon accidently letting fly a hand to the face of an unfortunate Uni forward) the Green Machine walked up to her opponent and made sure she knew who her sparring partner was, giving her a little bump to go on with. Ahhh Green Dog, there is no other!!
Attempting to make amense for her earlier work and with the ball parked out on the creek side of the ground, Janeo decided to move things inboard. With time on her side she summed up the play and carefully pin pointed, lace out, a Mugar midfielder. Being the compeititve beasts that they are, the Darebin support staff proceeded to take bets on wether or not it was a miss kick or simply Jane had just lost the plot. Keen to know who would take home the wager, the bench grilled Janeo on the 3/4 time whistle. Now credit where credit is due Nicky ‘everywhere’ Callinan was having a blinder but Jane’s description of her ‘hit and hope Nic is in fact everywhere’ approach many would say was flawed.
Although the game had been all Darebin, the MUGARS hung in with the Falcs for the remainder of the third quarter and restricted the natural midfield movement with some great pressure. Ultimately, it was a bit too late.
With no rotations left on the bench in the last quarter due to injuries and with the condition of the ground deterirorating, it was pleasing to see how well Darebin ran out the game. With two players from the cream of the Melbourne midfield tagging the Falcons tagger, it is fair to say the headaches keep mounting for Darebin’s Premier Division oppositions.
Hammo had no problem getting herself back on the scorer’s sheet with three goals in her return game from injury with rucks Shan and Aasta combining for a further four goals. Katie’s forward presence caused significant issues all day in the forward half while the defensive work of Hickey and Trashy in close at contests ensured a Falcons win.
In the end the Falcons ran out 94-point victors and continued their undefeated streak going into the Queen’s Birthday break.