2s

Any thoughts of a nice little trip out to the Snake Pit were ruined as the Black Bear lay in bed on Saturday morning, listening to the howling northerly wind trying its best to blow the house down. Armed with prior knowledge of the St Bernards home ground, coupled with some basic geography, the Black Bear knew that a northerly wind will be funneled through the valley as it approaches the ground, swirl around the clubhouse, then continue down the ground to the southern end, taking anything in its path.

 

The warm-up was interesting enough, with kicks flying in all directions, then when the game started everything fell apart. We managed to hold the rescue dogs to only one goal in the first quarter, and even get one for ourselves against the wind, however we found out in the second quarter that kicking with the wind can be a poisoned chalice, a blessing in disguise if you will. It seemed that many players figured all we would need to do is stand there and the wind would do it for us, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case, and we squandered a chance to have a big lead at half time, going into the long break even.

 

The third quarter was another arm-wrestle, with Ninja Batten proving an almost impenetrable wall, alongside Hamish Guthrie, who seemed to read the ball in the air better than anyone else. We conceded one goal and failed to kick any into the wind, but with the gale blowing with us in the last, you would think it would be a breeze (sorry).

 

Poor use of the football in the last quarter was our main enemy, with countless turnovers allowing the rescue dogs to kick two into the wind with the heart and soul getting one back late to give us a chance, but the siren ended any hope of victory.

 

An ugly day for football, but Elsternwick in September can be very similar, so we better improve.

 

Oakleigh this week at home, let’s come away with the 4 points to finish on top.

 

 

 

 

Goal Kickers: C. Mitchell 2, J. Smith , M. Salvadori , A. Stapleton , C. Davis
Best Players: A. Smith, S. Bergin, J. Kassis, J. Manunzio, X. Cox, S. Bugryn

Goal Kickers: M. Ablethorpe 2, T. O'Halloran, S. Myers, T. Schaefer
Best Players: N. Batten, H. Guthrie, S. Yule, M. Thompson, R. Wood, J. Nettlefold

 

 

1s

The main rumour going around during the Ones was that the afternoon tea at the Snake Pit was the only in the Amateurs to rival the Blacks. Well, I think we can put that rumour to bed. While the hot food was good, the sandwiches were fresh and the sweets were plentiful, there was something missing. Initially I assumed it was the duck sandwiches, but I now realise it was the love that gets included with every plate at the Blacks afternoon tea. This weekend will be the last chance to experience the best-value $5 in Melbourne since $1 spirits at Jimmy Row’s, so make sure you get down there and thank David, Heather, Morgan, Millie and everyone else involved for their wonderful support. Now is possibly a good time to make a confession… The Black Bear has not been injured at all this year, the only reason the Bear has missed any games was to sabotage his chances of playing seniors, to ensure that he would not miss the afternoon tea. In hindsight, sabotage was unnecessary, as form alone would have been sufficient, but it’s better to be safe than hungry.

 

I digress…

 

The One’s started the day going into the wind, which, rather than dying down as the day went on, had actually strengthened. A solid first quarter set the game up nicely, however the second quarter was looking very wasteful when at one stage the Blacks were 1 goal 9 points. A bit more composure around the goals meant the accuracy improved late in the quarter to finish 3 goals up. Tommy Napier was being very pig-headed about his game, refusing to be tackled or stopped.

 

The third quarter was all about damage control, but we also managed a goal into the wind, just to keep the nose in front heading into the long break. Any attitudes of complacency were driven out by the inspiring 3 ¼ time speech from Coach Wooly, sending the Black Men back out to battle with victory in their hearts.

 

Dave “Robbo!!” Robbins was a definite crowd favourite in the last quarter, even with the opposition kids, who started chanting for him along with the Blacks supporters behind the goals. One St Bernards kid will remember Saturday for all the wrong reasons, after running away from the ball as it came out of the sky towards him like a bolt of lightning from God. Years from now, as he is sitting around a campfire with his kid, and his boy asks him what his greatest regret is, he will answer that, if he had his time again, he would have stood his ground, kept his eyes on the ball, and copped it right in the face.

 

The boys came home strong, Chuckles Richardson capping off another great game with a long goal late in the quarter, while Caddy managed to keep his elbows down and not get reported this time. Levi “The Viking” Kalms was frightening, and Huw Lacey was very good, although he should have kicked it to Robbo.

 

 

 

Goal Kickers: J. Bevanda , A. Jolley , R. Schroder , N. Cooke , B. Jones , P. Harris
Best Players: M. Sullivan, R. Schroder, A. Van Meel, N. Cooke, M. Angel, A. Jolley

Goal Kickers: D. Robbins 2, H. Lacey, A. Cadd, C. Richardson, L. Kalms, J. Foster, S. Hissey, T. Napier
Best Players: D. Robbins, T. Napier, C. Richardson, A. Cadd, L. Kalms, H. Lacey

 
Get down to the Pavvy this Saturday after the final home game against Oakleigh to celebrate the year that was, and hopefully welcome in the finals campaign for 2010. Stay around after the game for a gourmet BBQ tea and some good stories.