‘Patience’ is the word
Patience to get to the business end
Patience to watch two pretty ordinary weeks of Pies performance
Patience to watch your team get caught time after time
Patience with a lack of intensity
Patience of a coach to give a dud an even break
Patience to see if ANYONE CAN KICK A GOAL !
Patience to check the injuries and citings post match
Patience to wait for Tony Scully’s report. Egads !
Last home and away Hawks with the possibility of a home final, Pies with nought to play for (except honour)
Hawks with key injuries, Pies with key outs/injuries
Odds clearly favour Pies, feeling in water disagrees
Ist Quarter
Is a scrappy affair. A few early nervous clangers from both sides. Franklin scores.Dawes misses what looked fairly straight forward. Beams is getting a bit of it early having started in the middle and now takes a solid mark under pressure from “The Rug”. Goals from 45m.
Swan misses
Neon misses after Guerra delivers a beautiful pass to him from the kickout
Neon misses again after snap from RH pocket
Cloke tackles and Sidey ends up with a shot from 50m on the run. Misses
Frustrating, almost boring quarter albeit under great tackling pressure from Hawks
Quarter time. Time to vent my spleen. What is it with the AFL and their catering arrangements. Surely they knew this was going to be a biggish crowd. Top deck of Southern stand. One Bar and One Food outlet for about eight full bays of hungry, thirsty and now angry patrons. Ludicrous !
2nd Quarter
Started as the last term ended. Wellingham is fired up and probably our best to this point. Finally a score, 1 behind to the Hawks, 18 minutes after the last score
Wellingham has the wind taken out of his sails by Brown, leaves the field. Leon starting to have an impact. Blair a good sneak goal. A bit more determination shown at last. Blair misses goal after good delivery from Neon. Renouf after our 200th game brute gives him one in the ruck. Fearsome character. Pendles just falls short with a snap. Daisy being tagged, hardly had a touch. Wellingham back in the thick of it again, then a terrific run of play up the wing to Neon on the Boundary 50m out. GOAL! Vintage Neon, hasn’t kicked a 50m goal too often this season. Crowd starting to get involved. Sidey misses from 45m out after a free kick.
Half time- NO FOOD, NO BEER
3rd Quarter
Sacker having another ordinary one, misses from 30m, has confidence deserted him again? I hope not. Toovey going about his work well. Beams to Jolly. Goal. Coll 5.11. 41 Hawks 3.5. 23
Lucky kick by Stratton finds Burgoyne, Buddy out-positions N Brown easily. Goal
Fraser rucking quite well gets it to Beams, to Swan, to Blair soft 50m penalty. Blair goals 47 play 29
Free kicks 13 to 4 in Pies favour. I find that hard to believe. Would you believe……….
N Brown a 60m left foot hoof to Cloke in one-on-one. Cloke wins out with pure strength in marking contest. Goal. Surely this game is about to break open. Pies clearances 34 to 15.
Buddy goal after possible push in back to N Brown. Cyril starting to fire. Goal to Lewis. Quick response Jolly, Blair , Ball , Goal ! Buddy Goals again. Reid goes to Buddy
Good forward pressure from Dawes and Cloke ends up with Jolly for a goal from 45m (only one who can consistently kick straight). Goldsack soft going back into the contest. Goal to Ellis. Game See-Sawing 9-11 to 8-6.
Pies have there best play all day. Full field surge to end in a Heater Goal. Great work Pendlebury.
Whytecross Goal Margin 11pts in a Twelve goal quarter. Buddy misses after a dubious free . McCarthy a spectator in marking contest. McCarthy doesn’t handball over the top to Beams in goal square, misses a snapshot. Wish him luck as you wave him goodbye…….
You guessed it NO FOOD, NO DRINK
Quarter 4
Buddy hurts us again in one on three, soft effort from Maxwell and Harry O. Goal Pies lead by 5 pts.
Neon misses a tackle on Murphy in front of our goal. We had the numbers.
No lack of desperation being shown now. Cloke to Dawes, too strong for Stratton,one hander, Pies by 11 pts. Jolly misses on the run, hesitated. Blair to Neon after good forward pressure from Dawes. Pies by 19pts. Complte stuff up by Swan, Ball and Shaw, Buddy kicks no. 6. Swan goals after great effort from Josh. 19pts again. Harry gets run down. Prior opportunity?? In the back?? Roughead goals 13pts to Pies favour Hooper goals from soccer in the square. How did it get past the big fella in Jolly? More Pie fumbling on the wing. Young snaps. Goal. 1 pt in it. Rioli runs rings and goals Hawks hit the front 5pts Hawks
Jolly split open by front on spoil in marking contest. Like a forensic examination of how a player elbows another in that position and keeps his eye on the ball. Jolly leaves the field. Fraser gives hospital handball to Pendles. No chance.
Neon takes a while to stand up after a tackle he applied, Groins?? McCaffer misses a chance from the pocket . 3pts Hawks. Ellis hits post for possible sealer. Hawks by 4pts Pies can’t make good their opportunities.Cloke not paid a mark. Beams held without the ball free kick, 40m out slight angle.Beamsy shanks it. Bugger !! Pies lose a game that felt like we had won half way through the 2nd quarter.
Positives: Didak, Presti,Johnno, and who would have ever said ” Leroy” back in for finals.
Wellingham was good most of the day, Beams clean hands all day, Jolly getting better all the time, Swan solid as ever, Pendles amonst it in the clinches. Cloke and Dawes are really teaming well and applying heaps of forward pressure to keep the ball in there. Reid and Brown solid without being able to stop buddy for a half. Blair showing plenty for a runt
Fraser looked pathetic from a distance but having watched the tape he was actually quite effective in the Ruck, just doesn’t seem to have that killer instinct. A serviceable 200th to a solid servant of the club. BYE BYE
Can’t see McCarthy in the Black and White for much longer. But then I’ve said that about many of Mick’s favourites over the years
Negatives:
Goldsack had a shocker. Ball a shocker. Harry below expectations. Maxwell same. McCaffer, was he out there?. Daisy couldn’t break the tag.
Bring it on
Regards,
Rub (Tony Scully)
P.S. Shame on you for assuming I was referring to Josh in my opening remarks
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