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MATCH
REPORT
ROUND
THIRTEEN - FITZROY v. BANYULE
Sunday
5 August (Peterson Oval)
Another
important game for Fitzroy this week, the last of the home and away
season, played in blustering conditions at our home ground. We need
to win well to be sure of a finals place and a loss would surely
end our season.
It
was also a major milestone game for our captain Raphael Symons who
was celebrating his 100 th game with the club after first playing
as an eight year old. Raph is the first of our team to reach this
impressive games tally and he led the side through a meticulously
constructed and colourful banner (mum is taking the credit and it
seems the dads who did the last one a few weeks back could do well
to gain a few extra tips from this clever craftswoman). Raph also
did the right thing by winning the toss from a late-arriving umpire
and directing us to kick with the aid of a very strong wind in the
first quarter. |
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From
the opening bounce, it was clear that Banyule were keen to finish
their season on a high note. There were no easy possessions and
Fitzroy had to work hard for their two goals. Christian got us away
with a nice snap after a slick hand pass from Zeb and then Zeb continued
his good form in his unaccustomed role up forward, by adding a goal
himself. It was hard to mark or kick accurately in the conditions
and Raph and Alex were prominent in the close contests. Other highlights
were the mark by Chris in the back line and the great running dash
by Jon out of defence. |
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The
second quarter saw Fitzroy get frustrated by Banyule's great play.
If not for their poor kicking for goal, Banyule would surely have
got away to a decisive lead. Fitzroy were flustered and angrier
than a parish priest in a yard full of unruly skateboarders.
Fortunately,
it took the cooler heads of Alex L, Paddy and Christian to keep
us on track. At
Half Time, we managed to be level, but Banyule's inaccurate kicking
for goal had flattered Fitzroy. The coach needed to re-focus his
team and cleverly resorted to some old fashioned Rudi Webster-style
psychology ploys in order to do the trick.
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After
some meditation and group hugging, zen was restored and a calmer
and more peaceful Fitzroy re-emerged for the second half.
Harry
was transformed and together with Jesse in the ruck and Alex M in
the middle, he led the Fitzroy revival by kicking three vital goals.
Christian got the first after being set up by a strong Zeb tackle
and Harry scored the next three. He was then involved in our goal
of the day which saw a magnificent running effort by Sam H, who
finished off splendidly by slotting our fifth for the quarter.
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an incident-free snake snack at three quarter time, the Roys continued
on with their second half dominance. Paddy got the scoring going
after a great shepherd from Christian and then Will L was on the
end of a long chain of handballs to get the next. Will K was creating
chaos across the centre and Moreno was clearing the packs and supplying
players running past with sharp hand passes. Harry managed to score
his fourth and then Alex M capped off a sensational game with two
goals at the finish - one from a very unselfish handball from Paddy.
So,
in the end it was a convincing win - one that looked very unlikely
at half time. We now wait to see if it is sufficient for us to play
in the finals next week. |
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| LATE
BREAKING NEWS: WE'RE IN THE FINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Scores:
Fitzroy
12.9.81
Banyule
1.12.18
Goals:
Harry
Borland 4, Christian Sullivan-McNeill 2, Alex Maloney 2, Zeb Clarke
1, Sam Hogan 1, Patrick McBrearty 1, Will Lovett 1.
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