Round 13: Diamond Creek vs Darebin
Premier Reserves
Darebin 2.0, 4.3, 4.6, 4.8 (32)
Diamond Creek 1.3, 1.4, 1.4, 1.4 (10)
GOALS, Darebin: Cath Rees 1, Victoria Pettit 1, Alanna Porter 1, Rebecca Hickmott 1 Diamond Creek : Kimberley Hickey 1
BEST, Darebin: Taryn Escreet, Til Van Riel, Emily Campbell, Cath Rees, Kate Scodellaro, Anna Brown
Diamond Creek: Megan Purvis, Danni Bromley, Renee Grant, Charlotte Dillon, Courtney Merbis, Tiahn Cowan
Anyone could have mistaken last week’s game of football for an organised mud wrestle, with conditions far from perfect for footy. If the uniforms weren’t similar enough in the beginning clean and fresh, players had no idea who was who by the end of the match, literally covered from head to toe in the Diamond Creek mud.
The Falcons knew the Creekers would come out firing, with a win vital to secure a finals berth, however with Potter back in the coaches box, the Falcs were instructed to play their own game, and set the tone early with a quick goal.
Despite the wet conditions making it hard for Darebin to move the footy with ease and flow, it was a game where players such as Spana, Taz and Til demonstrated how their continued efforts and one percenters not only influenced the score board, but also inspiring their teammates around them. By half time, the Falcs had pushed the lead out to 17 points.
Scoring dried up in the second half, with heavy conditions, the Falcs not allowing Diamond Creek to score in the remainder of the game. Despite not being rewarded on the score board, Darebin continued to work hard, with Socksy and Kateo the work horses in the ruck all day. Up forward, Bec and Cath presented well whilst Sommer was a welcomed addition to the backline. Although it wasn’t a pretty day for footy, the Falcs were happy to get the 4 points on the board.
Premier Division
Darebin 2.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 (23)
Diamond Creek 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 (0)
GOALS, Darebin: Jane Lange 1, Sarah Hammond 1, Aasta O’Connor 1
BEST, Darebin: Sarah Hammond, Tracy Ashby, Daisy Pearce, Emma Kerry, Melissa Bibby, Kristen Douglas
Diamond Creek: Stephanie Chiocci, Shae Audley, Amelia Barden, Natalie Stalder, Lauren Morecroft, Laura Corrigan
For the second time this season, Diamond Creek and Darebin faced each other in atrocious conditions. Last time, the wind, rain and hail were the enemies on a fairly playable pitch. This time, the rain stayed away and the sun peaked out over what can only be described as a mud pit. The senior sides took to a ground that had seen a week of rain and a day which had already hosted two games of footy. Operation “mud flap” was about to begin!
Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be said for a game whose score line only boasted three majors for the day, with one team failing to bother the scorer altogether and a second half that produced only 2 behinds. The game was always going to be scrappy, messy, tough and frustrating.
To the Falcon’s credit, they turned a game which potentially could have been simply a mud wrestle, into more practice for finals footy. They did what they have done best all season and hit the scoreboard early, putting pressure on the opposition to make up ground. Four shots on goal to nothing set the tone for the day. The backline locked down the ball and impressively didn’t allow a shot on goal for the first half. The midfield and forward line ensured the game was played on their terms. Hammo was tough and uncompromising as always and deservedly BOG. She was assisted by Daisy “all talk” Pearce, who did her very very best to let only her feet do the talking! Sammy, Trashie and Loz followed in Hammo’s footsteps and worked hard at delivering the ball to a forward line who refused to stop working in near impossible running conditions.
The homeside were hurt by the loss of key players early but still were never any match for the Falcons intensity. Bibby played as only Bibby knows how, sliding into contests and putting her body on the line, winning the impossible ball. Richo played around with positions a little, throwing Dani into the forward line, but quickly pulled the plug after she kicked a ball into an opposition players face, polaxed a player on the goal line and gave away an albeit dubious free kick on the wing. “Danny The Green Machine” was returned to the backline.
Players went into the half time break muddy and tired. Spectators could be excused for not knowing which team was which, with most players covered in mud – in fact, the only thing that made Roey recognisable was her attempt at beating her own mark of the year….you certainly couldn’t tell what uniform she was wearing.
The third quarter was Diamond Creek’s chance to peg back the score line and put pressure on the Falcons, but they were unable to do so. Finally the home team made threatening forward 50 entries and a mark in the goal square was their opportunity to impact the scoreboard. But with Aasta manning the mark, the ball was kicked straight into her, and Hammo was there to clear it away. Again, only the Falcons impacted the score board and with a three quarter time lead of 22 points, it would take a massive effort for the home side to come back from there.
The last quarter could only be described as an arm wrestle. Conditions were practically impossible for clean use of the football and the best anyone could manage was throwing the ball on their boot and hoping for the best. The ball bounced from midfield to forward line, spending a lot of time at Diamond Creek’s end. But the sheer desperation, determination and never say die effort of the Falcons backline, combined with exceptional talk and encouragement from the mids, meant the home side went without score and the Falcons finished the day with a very messy but satisfying win.
Players will petition the VWFL this week for extra funds to be spent on washing powder and water bills due to the excessive mud. Rumour has it Diamond Creek’s syndicate are still cleaning their change rooms.