Round 12 Supers – vs Wilston Grange
This was the one that got away. The Supers boys were plagued by yet another slow and sluggish start. All markets on the Best & Fairest were re-opened by the return of Pipes.
The club though was clearly not ready for his return, not having his trade mark number 4 jersey ready on the day such that a replacement had to be found on short notice. The lesson here is never to doubt the regenerative ability of one of your fitter players. Admittedly, in hindsight, retiring his jersey was perhaps a little hasty. The official ceremony was later reversed and the clubs budgie cage is back to being lined with newspaper again.
Amongst the action early, Pipes would be harshly penalised for running too far where only a few short minutes earlier, a Grange player would go unpenalised despite having to stop twice for a wet sponge and directions.
Pleasingly, the boys rallied in the second term but the job was made harder with some more wayward shots on goal. Last season a reference to Princess having the wobbles in front of goal was more a throwaway reference to his dimpled buttocks but not any more.
Masters fill ins Mary, Jenko & Ado were all influential. Particularly Ado & Jenko who would goal from strong contested marks.
Nashy was good under constant pressure in a smaller backline. Lazzo was excellent and slotted straight in as though he’d been here all season. As was Singer.
In part the revival was lead by Mutley who imposed himself physically on the game laying big tackles and absorbing big bumps like a large, hairy, football playing type sponge.
Ant would rise to the occasion once more against his old club whose attack on him suggested some strong feeling still exists over his move to Shark territory. Clearly they still haven’t forgiven him for taking back the crocheted toilet roll holders he loaned the club upon his arrival. His impact was only halted momentarily when a fierce charge on him would see Ant hitting his head violently on the ground. There was genuine concern for a short time but thankfully there was an off duty greenskeeper on hand to repair the damaged turf and the game was allowed to continue.
Chief pushed forward for a rare goal and Fiddy just missed an opportunity for his first goal and to extend the clubs lead that was building nicely in the third quarter.
Momentum can be a telling factor and the sharks continued to extend their lead in the 3rd quarter, from less usual sources. Jai, haunted by chances gone begging in earlier games, would hack one out of mid air Kung Fu style that sailed straight through for a miracle goal. Restoring not only his pride but balance to the universe. Cashy finally returned from procreation duties kicking an impressive early goal but either through an extreme lack of sleep or a recently lowered sperm count, found himself fading badly. So, for that matter, did the team.
The fourth quarter became a desperate bid to protect our lead rather than win the quarter and it soon showed, with Wilston Grange snatching a last second one point win. It could have been a slightly worse result had I paid a free kick for holding the ball against Longy after dragging one in. His attempts to look convincing when pretending to knock the ball out were amongst the worst acting performances that I have ever been witness to. So bad in fact that the producers of City Homocide have offered him a small recurring role in some upcoming episodes.
Sadly not the result the club will have wanted in sending off Princess in his last game as coach. Nor, for that matter, in the unannounced but almost certain departure of Skull from the club. Skully was offered the honour of being carried off the ground but when he insisted on being carried onto the ground and to each potential marking contest as well, the club cheerfully withdrew its offer. Thank you both for your many years of service.
Last Modified on 28/02/2011 20:07