Match Report

Round 16

FJFC U-14 Blue 16.17 (113) d Kew Rovers 4.5 (29) at Ramsden St, August 8, 2010 You can, if you're not careful, think that football is all about the shimmy and the shake. It isn't. Stars come and go like daily tram tickets. But teams last a lot longer. Some of them last years. Good teams especially. That's what it takes to be successful: to have a group of players on the paddock, each one of them making up part of the big, strong chain that hauls the team towards victory. Perhaps it was seeing Collingwood working hard for each other the night before, or maybe it was just having played together for a couple of winters, but the boys showed some real teamwork on Sunday in the final home and away match of the year. Sometimes teamwork is about everyone doing their bit. And other times its about players who struggled for a bit of form for a couple of weeks finding their feet again, and taking over when a few of their mates couldn't quite nail it. Footy players struggle for a range of reasons too - some are just out of sorts, and some, like Captain Connor, just feel pretty horrible with a cold at the start of the game and head for the bench. Either way, the Roys had the numbers to stand up and Nix took a mark early and drilled it for the first goal to set the Roys off. The boys settled quickly, and although Kew had to borrow a Roy Boy, the early moments ebbed and flowed. Kew was outside the final four but word had come back that they had been in good form, so it was going to be a battle. Kew had the wind and the moved the ball quickly in to the forward line to register a goal. Andre was finding some good touches and when he marked an errant kick-in to pass it off to Wiz for the Roys' second, the boys looked to be motoring. But Kew pulled one back before Ahmed took a contested mark to drill the Roys' third in the shadow of the siren. Richard had told the boys before the match that he wanted them to save their best effort of the home and away season for the last roster match. There was plenty of evidence the boys wanted it that way too. Their intensity and determination was outstanding. Working with the wind, the Roys kicked six goals for the quarter: Ahmed was marking everything and bagged a pair, Alex sneaked a couple through, Wiz added another and Luke grabbed an opportunity in the goalsquare. By half-time the margin had blown out to 46 points and Kew was staring down the barrel. The key was not what the usual suspects were contributing: sure Digby, Kent, Josh, Wiz and Co were giving a bit of drive around the ground but the difference was the contribution from Jaquan, who could have caught a low-flying bird the way he was marking, and Kai in the packs, and Jesse and Kieran, both of whom took strong marks when it mattered. It was Andre and Sammy Howard, and Lochie and Luke, and then Seb, fighting hard to hold their position, denying their opponents and doing the team thing. Or it was Al and Mu chasing and harassing, never giving up, and winning possession. Or Charlie and Will, the big men, taking the punishment in the ruck, but never stopping, never tiring. The Roys added two more in the third quarter and Kew their fourth, but the Roys were getting numbers around the ball. Their pressure was so good they were able to enter the final quarter with an eight goal-lead and the wind at their backs. Connor was feeling better and went down forward where he kicked two goals from two kicks. In defence, Max, who returned to the team after a shoulder injury, was laying tackles like he had arms of steel. Ahmed added another goal, then Mo - with another well-judged shot on goal - boosted the total, just before Patrick kicked the Roys' 16th to wrap it up. The siren sounded and it was 10 wins in a row. How do you win that many? By playing like a team. And good teams win the privilege of playing in finals.

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