Welcome back everyone to sunny Pickering Brook. Hopefully it’s a beautiful spring day for all the lads to put on a show and take that top spot which has thus far eluded the club.
Shout out to all the Dad’s (and Mum’s) who have made it out here to watch their sons do battle. Happy Fathers Day to all the players with young’ns running around. Also a big thanks to all our supporters and sponsors. 2019 has so far been a massive success and like the England cricket team, a big, loud crowd get’s the adrenaline pumping and the boy’s over the line.
Last week’s match was one of our biggest games of the year and a win was necessary to even get a chance to finish on top. After losing 4 players to long term injuries back in rd 2, we were nervous about the ground to say the least. However, there were no injuries this time and ironically one of those injured was Jim, who made a triumphant return kicking 0.5. To be fair the surface was a bit slippery and the earth was moving underfoot. Our fearless leader Marky was back from his Euro trip, hopefully he did plenty of recovering. And running!
The 1st half was a tight one as both teams piled on the behinds. Everyone was flying at the footy, crashing in all over the place, even Timmy was having trouble weaving through. The tackelling was ferocious and the boys were looking hungry through the middle. Jon and Jordy were as usual keeping the pressure on with the latter slotting 2 goals and 1 just hit the post in what was a top performance. We felt like we were well on top in the 2nd, but still we couldn’t get it through the big sticks. Eventually the siren went and even though I thought we were on top, the scoreboard told a different story.
As we got into the 2nd half, the tall timber stepped it up another notch and gave us every chance to get 1st hands on the ball. After hurting his knee early in the game against Mundaring it was obvious we missed Mitch’s drive off half back and his clearance work. He dropped a few more against the Mounties barrels so the knee must be alright! Sheps continued his evolution from full time forward to part time midfielder, somehow managing to extract the footy as if he’d always been a natural mid. The crowd had plenty of voice and one of the punters had some classic banter, much nicer than the personal abuse we had copped the previous week. By this point it was clear it was going down to the wire and when Bainsy put us 2 goals up, I thought it would be enough. In the end a goal from them just before the siren brought it back to a 1 point lead and although we had 6 more scoring shots, relief was the feeling after this epic game.
It was a hard fought battle and a great warm up for finals, there will be some sore bodies but everyone can hold their heads high after that game.
Again a huge thank you to all our supporters who make it worth playing every week. We all once had a dream of playing in front of big crowds, we are still dreaming, but having friends and family rock up every week creates a great atmosphere. It would fitting to get a big win today and finish on top, a testament to how hard the fellas have worked and also the committee. So let’s turn it on for our last home game and make club history by finishing on top!
CARN THE HAWKS!!!