St Kilda vs Hawthorn
4:40 pm Sunday, 7 June 2015 (local time)
Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
Early in the morning on game day, as usual, I went cycling so that I can both ride a bike and watch footy on my day off. The destination was Lake Biwa, about 20 kilometres from Kyoto.
Since I had watched the game between St Kilda and Essendon in May, meeting up with a lovely western young woman was what I did on Sundays. But sadly recently she has left the country, so watching footy is needed to overcome the mental signal from Carlton Footy Club (feeling blues for not seeing her). But I hope she is coming back here.
After getting my body refreshed in the shower and fixed my glasses, I hopped on the train to Osaka.
I found a seafood restaurant near the Australian pub but the service was not good as it took five or more minutes for my food order and tea to be delivered. Then I tries to go and order a Italian meal at a Starbucks cafe but it was too busy. So I was heading to the pub even though it was two hours before the first bounce.
We watched two games before my game, they were GWS vs Brisbane and North Melbourne vs West Coast.
In pre-game coverage from the training room, St Kilda players embraced before heading to the field. It was good to see how good our bonds were.
Passing the banner which was great to see as it was Jack Steven’s 100th game.
The ball was bounced and we took the lead as we touched balls more than the opponent. The young goal kicker Josh Bruce kicked the first goal at the game. I was very happy to see it and felt we would play well that afternoon.
But Hawthorn’s Jack Gunstan answered later. However St Kilda marked better kick efforts and more possessions at the first quarter. Even though we seemed good, we were behind when the siren sounded for the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, St Kilda pushed hard so that Gunston missed a goal. The coverage was off for a while due to a freezing computer. Thanks to technical issues, I missed Bruce’s second goal.
After that the Hawks took advantage through goals kicked by Jarryd Roughead and Cyril Rioli.
We made a big mistake, the defender kicked a ball straight to Luke Breust who kicked a goal. Coach Alan Richardson’s reaction was indeed like ‘What?’
It was very disappointing to see how we handled with the ball.
After the 20-minute break, Hawthorn’s bad boy Luke Hodge kicked a goal that made me angry.
But our skipper Nick Riewoldt took an incredible mark and answered to Hodge’s goal.
It did not lead us to fight back. Even Hawks kicked unanswered goals.
However we showed effort in the last quarter that there is sign of the future hope for the mighty Saints.
David Armitage had been playing well for the entire game. Riewoldt did great jobs as well as Joey Montagna who kicked two goals in a row. Young stars Jack (Billings and Sinclair) kicked goals at the last quarter.
I feel the bright future is coming soon for my club and the end for my 42-year women woes. But I miss my beauty.
Having left the pub, I tuned in to SEN to listen to Mark Finey’s Final Siren program as it is my new habit on Sundays. The hot topic was which St Kilda players should play and not. Finey had good opinions as he also goes for the Saints. But I had no idea as I was tired and thought about western ladies (I am better with western women than Japanese ones).
ST KILDA 2.3 3.5 7.8 10.9 (69)
HAWTHORN 4.5 8.10 14.11 20.12 (132)
Goals – St Kilda: Bruce 2, Savage 2, Sinclair 2, Riewoldt, Montagna, Longer, Shenton.
Hawthorn: Gunston 3, Roughead 3, Hodge 2, Shiels 2, Schoenmakers 2, Hill 2, Rioli, Hartung, Breust, Duryea, Lewis, Smith.
Best – St Kilda: Steven, Montagna, Lonie, Armitage, Geary, Riewoldt.
Hawthorn: Gunston, Roughead, Breust, Schoenmakers.
Our votes: Gunston (HAW 3) Roughead (HAW 2) Armitage (STK 1)
Crowd: 33,886
About Yoshihiro Imagawa
Love, passion and pride are seen on the footy that is the biggest part of my life. 1. St Kilda Club member: I am a passionate and crazy Sainter. Just hope we will win the second flag soon, especially after Dogs and Tigers having ended long premiership draughts. 2. The Osaka Dingoes Player and Public Relations Officer: Player number 44 that I chose to honour Stephen Milne with my wish being like a small forward like him. Lenny Hayes' hardworking attitudes are adopted on my trainings and practices. Nick Riewoldt's great plays are in my player audiobook too. 3. Writing: Here on the Almanac and also on the World Footy News. My skills utilise on great footy websites.
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The Feeling Faints are on the right track Yoshi. I’ve got them marked down as the excitement machine of the future. But it’s a long and steady climb. It makes climbing Fujiyama seem like a Sunday afternoon outing. You’re going to need the the patience of a Saint.
The Saints and the Bulldogs are developing their teams in a similar fashion Yoshi and their supporters have to have the same amount of patience. I was very impressed with the Saints when they beat the Bulldogs recently and it will be interesting to see who wins on June 27th. What has happened to Paddy McCartin? I think both our teams need to recruit key-position players to complement the on-ballers and small forwards.
Good luck with your love-life. The first question to ask when you meet ‘the one’ is, ” Which team do you barrack for? “
Thank you for your comments and sorry for the very late responds.
The Wrap – the development is not easy but we are doing better than had been expected. Young talented players are doing well and we are creating good team plays as well as being on the way to the new era with winning culture.
Neil – thanks for your wishes for the love life. I need to be patient for this issue as well as the mighty Saints. I admit I am busy so don’t have much time to keep up with news – sorry I have no idea want happened with Paddy. I hope both the Bulldogs and the Saints will play finals in the very near future!
Yoshi