Essendon win twice

Today was the first tennis match of the season. We were versing old rivals on a cold wet Saturday morning. As I am number one in my team, I play the first singles and don’t get the luxury of warming up in the doubles especially with my sore shoulder. The courts were wet under foot but are playable so – bonus – we got two courts to play on, so we could have two matches on at the same in. This tie was a tough one. Playing Section One can be annoying sometimes. You can be a lot better than the teenagers but they are 20cm taller than you, so you have to rely on winners and letting them make the mistakes. You also can’t lob them at the net.  My match had some great rallies, a rare ace for me and victory 6-1. I am always relieved to win my singles as it puts heaps of pressure of me because I know our team is up one set to love. After my set we won a flurry of sets to win five sets to one. A great win for the start of the season.

The good mood completely evaporated when I found out the Essendon Carlton game was 80 MINUTES DELAYED! This is one of the biggest rivalries in AFL history and with both teams winning their first three games. It was a blockbuster. After this I had two options to see the game before the delayed telecast started: radio or Herald Sun live Supercoach Scores. I chose the second option. Unfortunately I got into a hit of tennis with my brother Ed and missed the first 15 minutes of the match.

When I started to follow the match on Supercoach, it was a close contest. I was hoping that my four players in my Supercoach team would perform well. Dyson Heppell, Angus Monfries, Jobe Watson and Paul Bower were the players that held the key to beat Pete’s Predators. It didn’t look good in the first quarter. Looking at a computer screen seemed a bit boring so I turned on some Far East Movement music and I was ready for a big game. Goal for goal and behind for behind as these two powerhouses fought it out. After a thrashing of a disappointing Collingwood last week, Carlton seemed to be getting some rhythm going and lead by four points at quarter time.

A perfect day of footy turned into a behind fest with both Essendon and Carlton missing shots on goal and the worst example was Stewart Crameri who missed from five metres out – twice! Essendon kicked away to be surprising leaders at the half. Essendon kicked 5.5 to 0.3 to have a 28 point lead.  Brett Stanton 80 Supercoach points at half time.

Midway through the third quarter on the delayed telecast, the real match had finished, so I knew this was a big term for the Bombers. I switched over to Channel 7 to watch Essendon run riot over a hapless Blues. Crameri finally got his kicking boot on from 1.5 to get two goals for the quarter. Brett Stanton, the second best midfielder this year behind Gary Ablett, continued his clever play and midfield drive. The only down side of the quarter was that Hurley got subbed off with an injury.  Essendon lead by a whopping 47 points at three quarter time.

Essendon started to fade in the last quarter and Eddie Betts pounced on the opening, kicking two goals early. Carlton started to play the way they had been when they beat Collingwood. Were they going to come back from the dead and beat Essendon? Essendon weren’t having that. Crameri kicked his fifth to seal a 30 point win for the Bombers. I think a lot of punters will lose money from this game!  My tennis team and the Black and Reds both on a winning streak – Bring on the ANZAC day clash.

Max Wiggins (age 12)

Comments

  1. Pamela Sherpa says

    Max I was amused when all the experts went for the Blues . I was confident that we were at least a chance.

  2. Tony Robb says

    Max
    How do you do a write up going off Supercoach updates? very clever stuff. Lose money ! I had a heap on your to win by 3 games or more so the 6-1 paid for the Chinese last night. Im not really into football at this point in time but I’d be grateful for few tips on my ball toss and top spin forehand. Congratulations to the Tyabb Blacks and the Dons went all right I suppose. Glad you enjoyed the day and thanks for your report Max.
    Cheers
    TR

  3. Ian Hauser says

    Max,

    Well done on the court, and a great day for the Bombers! I was so convinced that Carlton would win that I didn’t even follow the match! How’s that for a pathetic supporter? So I got a huge (and lovely) surprise when I went online late in the afternoon to find the result. Actually, after seeing the win against the Power just two weeks ago – a really awful game – I’m shocked by this result given Carlton’s recent form. Perhaps Wednesday will give us more of an idea of how the Bombers are travelling. Meanwhile, my Carlton-loving mate at work will be looking in any direction but mine tomorrow. I’ll try not to look too smug.

  4. Pamela; we? You appear to be making more footy moves than ‘The Artful Dodger’ in a London back street market place.

    I was heading to our local game with a very confident ‘NavyBlue’ driving.

    When I indicated that Essendon would be up for the game and would win I was treated with great football condescention.

    The drive home was quiet. Radio off; football finished for the day even though we had won all three away.

  5. Pamela Sherpa says

    Phantom , I will explain in due course how and why I am a double agent.

  6. Kevin (bloody) Sheedy?

  7. Bloody hell Max, nice effort for a 12 year old, and i’m not just talking about the report. Wouldn’t want to be playing tennis against you.

    Hope to see more of your stuff on here.

    Josh (17)

  8. Max,
    My experience of the game (from the Carlton side of the divide) had some similarities to yours. I was umpiring a football match which meant that I didn’t arrive at the MCG until half-time, and I didn’t know the score until I passed through the turnstiles. I also wasn’t aware of Carrazzo’s injury or the Bombers’ dominant second quarter.

    I was very disappointed by the Blues’ performance, particularly the way the two teams had been travelling. Their modest efforts to lift in the 3rd quarter were quickly snuffed out by bad kicking for goal and the effective Essendon counter-attack. During the final quarter, Carlton managed to string a few goals together, but the Bombers remained in control.

    Good luck in managing your football barracking and your tennis, as well as your writing. You show quite a bit of promise.on a range of fronts.

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