Round 11 Match Reports (2022)

Coming off the best day of the season on our beautiful home deck last weekend, it was off to the worst place in Melbourne to play footy to take on Albert Park in a dreadful set of yellow VAFA clash guernseys. Despite the cow paddock we were playing on, the conditions were exceptional for a game at Albert Park Lake. A late out with Riley Keath crook as a dog meant Brendan Plowman came back in for a new look ruck combination, including Charlie Scanlon and Jaryd Coghill, who in his first senior game this season got us rolling with the first goal of the game.

Kicking with the breeze in the first term meant we had plenty of opportunities kicking 5.7 from 16 inside 50’s to give us a decent lead of 27-points in a scrappy affair. The second term saw Albert Park come out firing with a few quick goals to pull the margin back to within a goal before Bryce Dowler steadied the Trobers with a much-needed goal. Sam Benetti-Baker was at his dominant best by setting the standard on-ball nullifying every contest, laying tackle after tackle but also punishing them on the outside with his ability to get open. Archie Conboy followed suit working hard contest after contest, while Ricky Nolan and Ben Vicary were terrific at winning the one-on-one in the middle to get the ball going our way.

Holding a six-point lead at the half, the third quarter was a seesaw affair as the ball was locked in a scrap all quarter as we only managed two goals with the wind to extend our lead to 15-points at the final break. While Albert Park got a big gee up from their coach about how “piss-weak” we were and “always second to the ball”, our boys focused on what we do well – beating other teams at their own game and overrunning them. Again, Bryce Dowler was influential down forward as he put through a couple early goals to get the game well and truly on our terms and from there, we just kept our foot on their throat.

Will Lowry and Tom Whelan were instrumental off half back using the ball well kicking into the wind. Despite carrying an injury Ernie Fan bullied his way through the contest to make sure we maintained possession, while Damon Guy and Adrian Marulli started to get reward for their hard work down back all day. We ended up running away with the game to win by 52-points but what really took the wind out of Albert Park’s sails was when Tom Whelan buried a poor bloke in the middle of Ian Johnson Oval as they collided, Wheels spoilt the pill and jogged off while the other bloke lay there motionless and in tatters.

A hard-fought win to be proud of and a rare win in the VAFA clash jumper helps us move to the top of the ladder at 8-1. Next week we take on the 4^th placed Masala in a triple header at Tony Sheehan Oval and our first 4:00 p.m. game of the season.