FJFC U-13 Blue 2 1.3 (9) lt Glen Iris 5.9 (39) at Righetti Oval, July 12, 2009
You would like to be as sure of winning Tatts as you can be that the first match after the holidays is likely to be a scrappy affair, where the boys look a little like they’ve just woken up from a long sleep. And that was true of both teams.
But it was not about the Roys’ effort at all – they tackled like demons and defended with real determination – but it was hard for the ball to spill in to open space, and when it did Glen Iris ran on to it, and then away with it.
The tone of the match was set early when Jaquan laid a couple of bone-crunching tackles. The ball spent a fair while on the deck, and packs gathered, testing everyone to find the handle. Kieran did on a couple of occasions, finding his way through traffic but the heat was at its fiercest down in the defence. Max O was desperate and made a last-minute lunge on hands-and-knees in the goal square to stop Glen Iris scoring, while Max H took a mark under real pressure. But Glen Iris managed to snaffle one despite some good around the ground work from Al and Whiz. In the dying seconds of the quarter Patrick charged from defence to mark in attack but was denied the chance to set up a Roys’ scoring opportunity by the unique parp-parp of the Glen Iris siren.
Glen Iris showed some flair and speed in the second quarter and kicked two goals. Seb took a strong mark under some close-checking, but it was clear that the Roys needed a bit of magic to turn things around. There was some hint of hope when someone noticed that the trainee umpire had Harry Potter stitched on the back of his tracksuit top. And for a moment, at the start of the third quarter, there was a touch of magic in the air when Digby’s desperate dive caused a turnover that Ned seized on to put the ball in front of a running Charlie. When Charlie kicked the goal, there was only two goals the difference.
But Glen Iris surged back to bang on a couple of extra goals to set up a 29-point lead going in to the final quarter. Jesse Jones loves to run and he was just the boy for the job in the opening minutes. Josh waded through packs with strength and Al just kept on running, but the clock was slowly sapping the Roys’ chances. Hugh was a fine general in defence, which managed to keep Glen Iris goaless for the final quarter. The margin, however, was too big to close and as Glen Iris kept scoring behinds, it became clear that the Roys were not going to be able to sweep the ball downfield and score enough goals in the time left. In the end, it was a gallant defeat from the Roys, who have established themselves as a bunch of dedicated defenders. They are mighty mean and stingy on the Fitzroy backline. Just ask Glen Iris – they’ll tell you.
ENDS
Under 13 Blue 2