Senior Men’s Match Report

The Seniors took om Fitzroy on Saturday and while coming out victorious, probably didn’t play their best footy. The visitors were got fired up after not scoring in the first quarter and there were some tense moments for the throng, later in the game as we just couldn’t quite shake them off.

With Jackson Ross and Liam Delahunty donning the Magenta and Black for the first time, there was plenty of jumper/number juggling going on. This didn’t impact on the lads in the thirst quarter as the good slick ball movement, which has become a trait of the team, was clearly on display. The forwards were running wild and Trevo was giving the hungry onballers first use of the ball in the middle. There were few contests for the backline and the occasional Fitzroy foray was easily repelled.

Two goals early in the second stanza got the small but vocal visitor crowd up and about, and the intensity of the game rose a level. Bitters and his band of backline barricaders were now under some pressure. Goals from Dino on the run and Durras Seccull helped restore some order but you got the sense, the boys would have to remain focused for the second half. The margin was 27 points in our favour at the long break.

The trend continued once afternoon tea had been devoured with Fitzroy getting the important first major. But Liam Kirkwood Scott popped up with a good snap and when Durras scored again, a sense of calm was restored. But inexplicably, a few errors crept into our game and targets were not being hit. Harry Whitty scored, but a Fitzroy goal on the siren meant we held a 20 point lead at the last change.

An early goal to Loewey was a good start but two from Fitzroy assured us they were going to make a scrap of it. A few Bloods spectators were feeling the pressure and wondering whether that 23rd gluten free pizza slice at half time was such a good idea. The centre clearances were now vital and the visitors won their fair share keeping the backline on their toes. Jimmy Paul and Brede Seccull began to get a bit more of the footy and for 10 minutes we were controlling the tempo and the game looked relatively safe. But in the blink of an eye, two Fitzroy goals saw the margin narrowed to only 11 points. Forbesy was in the hot seat as timekeeper with five and a half minutes left on the clock. Our winning of the centre clearance was crucial and with the ball in our forward line, we were able to dictate terms. And with about 2 minutes to go Durras nailed one and the wind picked up as a collective sigh of relief was released.

So we took the four points and plenty of lessons away from the match. It is an even competition, and we need to be at our best for the whole game. Patches of brilliance, while exciting aren’t going to get the points. Bitters continued his good form down back, while Dino Karamoshos showed he is enjoying his football with the Bloods with a good performance on the wing. Otherwise it was a pretty even performance.

Next week we pack the boots and head to Melbourne Uni to take on Blacks who are sitting on top of the ladder undefeated. It will be a cracker and a real gauge of where we are at. Remember parking can be tricky, and while Friday night may be exaggerating things, leaving a bit early may be a good idea. See ya there.

The hit out against Scotch over the weekend was the Heart’s biggest test yet. Leading up to the bounce, we trained extremely well and our intensity was hard. When it came to our game, we needed to hunt and want the ball more than Scotch.

They’re notorious for being a strong side over the years however, we were ready to show them our will and grit to make the game ours and win the ball.

The pressure applied resulted in Scotch’s struggle to convert in front of goal. Our ability to keep their scoring shots in the last quarter to two showed that each Heart continued to be competitive until the very end. From the back line, through to the mids and finishing with the forwards, the team effort was a testament to everyone stepping up and playing their role.

While Scotch came out firing in the first half to hurt us on the scoreboard, our will to want the ball more was evident in the final quarter; we snuck in two goals and played the ball considerably more in our forward line.

The damage was evidently done in the first half however, it did prove that as a team we have the ability to apply pressure and fight until the final siren. We played as a well coached side in the final term.

We look forward to redemption when we next take on Scotch and look to take on the intensity and pressure in to our game this Saturday against Old Melburnians.

This week against Fitzroy showed that the roller-coaster ride continues with the boys and their results and that as a group we still have some areas of variability to address

The game started with Fitzroy kicking the first two goals from a couple of mistakes but the boys fought back and kicked the next and leaked two at the end of the quarter to go into the break trailing by 24 points . We lost Hoody very quickly with a dislocated shoulder and we hope he has a speedy recovery and gets back to us when he is 100%. As a group we committed to be being more accountable and defending better across the ground and we did it well in the middle 10 mins of the quarter kicking three goals to nothing in quick time but then concentration and the second and third efforts required to compete dropped away and we gave them all of the goals back. That was hard to watch because the boys as a collective really dug in and chose to compete rather than switch off and have a mental break and you could see belief growing, so for them to hand back the progress they had made was disappointing for them.

The third quarter was full of opportunity in that we needed to defend early against Fitzroy but failed to do so, they were physically stronger than us and we were badly beaten in some key one-on-ones and that left us in a position where it was difficult to defend on the way back through.

The final quarter started with us trailing by about 60 points and they kicked the first goal very quickly but we never gave up and hung in there with them in what was a scrap, we competed and went head to head but only managed one goal at what had been the scoring end. We did not capitulate bit it is fair to say we did get ground down over the quarter. Again the level of performance between round four to round five was night and day. Yet again, the only disappointing part was our inability to implement the game plan over 4 quarters, I think the issue there is fitness which we will be working on with extras at training, and awareness because the first thing that drops away when you are tired is your concentration, then communication and then intensity at the contest. We just could not get back at them in the end and although we did not give up, going forward, we have to find the resilience and a way to compete across 4 quarters with what we have and to read and react to each other better.

Jordy Hurley and Aaron Toy led well, Sam Algeri and Jack Grenda didn’t quit trying, Gora and Scotty Ellis toiled away in defence, Bainy, HK, Matty Charlesworth and Jordy, there were patches of positivity from all players throughout the game. Benny Schauder tried hard as well. We really need to work out just how we can get them all working together better because with a young, developing side we need to get a few more things going right for us more regularly and that comes down to preparation and concentration on the day. We can go down the track of worrying about things we can’t control like how big and strong the opposition is or we can get on with the business of finding a way to deal with it, we choose the latter.

The good thing about footy is we have a game this week to turn it around again and we will be working our tails off this week to learn the lessons and implement them so success is not too far away.

Round 5 saw the bloods eager to build off their huge win against McKinnon, coming up against Old Scotch without superstar coach Harry ‘Greg Poppovich’ Traum the boys knew they had to be switched on from the get-go.

The first half saw the bloods control the game keeping it in our forward 50 for majority of the half, however it was our execution which let us down, managing to kick only 3 goals and a whopping 15 behinds. Despite our skipper, Maxwell Seivers, going down from injury early in his return game and countless wasted opportunities the boys knew the game would eventually turn in our favour.

After a quiet 3rd quarter, the bloods turned it ON in the fourth, with the likes of Flynn Williams and Bonners putting on an absolute clinic, kicking 3 goals apiece in the quarter.

The overall domination in the final quarter led to a convincing Haileybury win; 96 to 57. The boys look to carry on this momentum into next week’s game against the 2nd placed Hampton Rovers. Go Bloods!!