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Caulfield  16.18.114     Defeated     Oakleigh  10.7.67

 

 

Another big day at Glenhuntly Oval with the Mothers’ Day luncheon and a triple-header, the Thirds having a bye but many on hand to help out; really good sign of a club in sync! Windy but not wet in fact sunscreen required for the early part of the day.

Again due to other commitments could not be there for the early part of the ‘unders’ but delighted to witness the second half and watch this group of youngsters heed to Josh’s requests and storm home to take the points. I was really impressed with the ability by foot and it’s one of the first things I look at when identifying prospects, particularly the ability to make consistent, good contact. If it ‘aint’ natural at this stage of a career you need to have extra special talents to make the transition successfully. Yes I know you can always improve your kicking but by the time you are 18 there needs to be a sound base!

I made sure I was there by the start of the Reserves to join with many others and offer applause for one of CGFC’s finest, Sam Wood, as he ran out in his 200^th game. And did the crowd show their appreciation not only when Sammy ran out but whenever he laid a bump, took a grab or cleared with that familiar style of his. I know Ross and Pat were extra proud of him yesterday and he truly has been one of our most honest performers over the seasons as well as the ideal Clubperson. Well done Woody, may there be many more!

Interestingly and encoragingly there were further signs by a number of the reserves’ players that they will continue to place pressure on the selectors. Lloyd Everett and Dan Meddings were exceptionally busy as they were the unlucky ones to miss out on senior selection this week. You can do no better than bounce back with commitment and verve despite the selection disappointment. I know Simon and his match committee make no apologies for putting sentiment aside and they demand as much of themselves as they do the players. I was impressed with a number of the ressies who no doubt have their magnets on the senior board for consideration most weeks. Can’t name them all but I reckon Will Osborn’s body is in far more appropriate shape than I have seen before and his form is really impressive. For me he seems to be leading the way in establishing standards for all reserves players to make life difficult for the selection panel. His special qualities are there for all to see and most importantly are there for others to follow. 17.13 to 1.1 was of course a real belting but I was more impressed with the style of play than the final score. Good work Spits and Luke, you have them playing with real commitment and sound practices. In looking for areas of improvement, and based on past experience, I could only offer two suggestions to the players – don’t put too much velocity on your foot passing at the expense of allowing your fellow player to run onto the ball in flight and make sure you cover the defensive side at stoppages, especially when against the wind! The ressies are playing some very good football and never underestimate the value of successful reserves’ teams. Historically, VAFA success stories are noted for strong combinations of senior and reserves!

Now rather than attempting to give ‘a ball by ball’ of the senior game I thought I would try and summarise each quarter. In the first 10 minutes there was some good defence against the wind although Oakleigh kicked their first goal two and a half minutes in. Oakleigh’s pace around the packs and their commitment to provide numbers at the contest was obvious. Both teams were fumbling quite a bit when they had prior opportunity to gather and steady and I knew there would be some heat for our young defence unit. Not sure if many knew much about Trevor Bromley, Oakleigh’s number 31, but I’m sure he played against us in the late 90’s and I have to say he is probably the best all round goal kicker I have seen in the lower grades. I can recall seeing him kicking some incredible goals over the years, especially from a long way out. Not unsurprisingly he looked dangerous early. I reminded myself how young our defence is and on that score they did pretty well in the opening quarter and had an influence on us leading at quarter time. We again missed some set shots that we could have sealed but I guess the wind did play a few tricks. Nick Silvestro was busy early and combined with Ryan Harris and Will Barker gives us a more than handy, flexible on-ball brigade. Add Tim Nixon, Charlie Logan and Jesse Tonolio to rotate through the middle and the combinations will become more effective. Jack Wallace had a good first quarter and invariably delivers to good space if a direct target is not available. Louis O’K was a good target and although he kicked our first goal, the next three in the first quarter came from the forceful Tim Nixon, Dec Reilly after great work from ‘Silver’ and ‘Greeny’ and Jordy Stewart to give us the lead 4.2 to 3.2; pretty good into the wind.

Second term and I anticipated a clear, winning on ball brigade with Andre Lister’s superiority in the ruck but it wasn’t always so. Oakleigh are always a hard working team, regardless of their position on the ladder and this was no exception as they made it hard for our smalls to gain clear delivery and got into Andre in a manner the umpires should have seen and acted upon. Oakleigh kicked the first two goals, totally unexpected by most I suspect and there was a lot of fumbling at ground level and errors crept in regularly. There were certainly few easy kicks for the Fields and when we did get a chance to convert, only behinds were forthcoming. Theo Thompson read the play superbly on two occasions to avert attacks and eventually, after 16 minutes, Louis kicked our first goal for the quarter, hopefully the start of an avalanche! It didn’t quite work that way as we continually found it hard to break loose from Oakleigh’s work ethic. Louis did kick another at the 21 minute mark but Oakleigh responded with the next two. We now knew we had a game on our hand as our on-ballers were far from effective around this time. We were well into time-on when Theo showed his versatility with a superb goal. I noticed how often we fed handballs off to stationary players and we needed more movement and anticipation. At least we were locking it in our forward half and Dec came to the party with two late goals. The first via Tom Small and one of the Jacks (Wallace or Presnell) who both move similarly and tended to look the same over the other side of the ground! Whatever, Dec’s second was a beauty as he took it out of the ruck and banged it through. At half time, 9.5 to 7.4 was satisfactory but I reckon there would have been some very stern stuff from Simon in the players room during the main break. During half time we hypothesized regarding how we would improve further but I dare say Simon’s words would have provided the best option!

Quarter 3 started well enough with good movements forward but for no reward. An obsession for me is set-ups at stoppages and I’m not sure if there was a dedicated commitment to the team plan on occasions with Oakleigh still winning too many possessions by reading our ruck dominance. Oakleigh kicked the first for the term with a quick recovery by one of those annoying little forwards who recover quicker, as Theo discovered. It was then great play by the Fields around the outer that provided Louis with another opportunity up forward and he hooked on his trusty left for our 10^th goal. We held Oakleigh well in the following passages but there were still players not taking the ball at ground level very well. I recall really good pressure from Jesse with a great chase that may have saved us from another Oakleigh conversion and our young defence was getting plenty of experience in double quick time as Oakleigh looked dangerous and in fact kicked their 9^th major. Tom Small took a great pressure mark and was working damn hard around this time as were others including Tom Smith with a good saving grab. Theo Thompson was proving to be a leading light at half back and generally our defence was good around this time. With 22 minutes gone and following a great passage of play through Jordy Stewart’s flank, Tom Small made his presence felt up forward with a really good goal.  A couple of other chances to convert were astray but Jack Presnall kicked his first, our 12^th, just into time on and we had three goals up and the use of the wind in the last! Oakleigh’s veteran goaled not long before the siren but we led 12.8 to 10.6 at the change. I must say the umpires let it go a heck of a lot but to no advantage for either team and I guess they were consistent. I meant to check on the frees for/against later, this I forgot to do but if anything I reckon we were not being unfairly treated.

At the start of the last quarter, it was good to see our ‘smalls’ really hard at it but Dec, who was looking great in the air, missed one from a similar, slight angle that troubled him last match. If reckon he is not staying over the ball quite long enough, not that goal kicking was ever a strength of mine! But Dec is one of the better kicks for goal in my time at CGFC and when ‘on song’ is not dissimilar to one of the best I’ve ever seen in the ‘Ammos’, CGFC’s own David Matthews. I’ll never forget watch Dave kick some boomers in a rep game at E Park back in the ‘eighties’. He was 50 or more out and still booted them into the golf course! But I digress! Louis climbed into the clouds shortly after and only just failed to come down with the ball followed by a typical ‘Greeny swoop’ and conversion at the 3 minute mark. Don’t you just love it when T Green is on the job! More behinds ensued, one by ‘Barks’ and one by Sam Banfield. The pity was, in this time of growing momentum; we didn’t finish better until that man Green did it again to put the result beyond doubt. We really expected more goals with over twenty minutes plus to play but they weren’t forthcoming despite the good signs – that is, the young guns getting possessions, Hugo Gates intercepting with confidence and our work rate becoming too much for Oakleigh. Jack Presnell kicked a goal with minutes to go, we continued to blaze away and Oakleigh rebounded a couple of times. Dom O’Keefe was typically leading the back six well and Theo still displaying coolness under pressure. Just after Louis kicked another behind, Will Barker goaled and the score finished on 16.18 to 10.7. It’s again worth mentioning that Oakleigh were hard at it and never allowed us easy passages so 34 scoring shots to 17 is significant. Well we might say there were times when we could have done it better, certainly our goal shooting could be better but it was a good victory and there were further signs of growing confidence in each other. It’s probably a bit like a gramophone record but I know this group are still learning to understand one another in the heat of battle. They can and will continue to develop.

Kew will be a sterner test next weekend but the atmosphere is such that you can’t wait for another Saturday to come, and, it was three from three for the club. Well done everyone from coaches through to well organised medical and statistical support teams and of course the exciting group of players at all levels.

Better players in no particular order – Nixon, Thompson, L O’Keefe, Lister, Wallace, McEvoy, Tom Small, D O’Keefe, Green.

Goals – L O’Keefe 4, Reilly 3, Presnall 2, Green 2, Nixon, Stewart, Thompson, T Small, Barker

Go Fields!

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