The Cobras were presented with a lovely winters day on Saturday, and didn't disappoint with the results, taking the points in both games. The reserves match had a similar result to when the teams met in round 1, with the result almost decided by quarter time. The senior match was more of a contest, though wasn't as tight as earlier in the season where Canterbury got over the line by a solitary point.
Reserves
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | 7.4-46 | 15.5-95 | 25.7-157 | 32.14-206 |
| Parkside | 0.0-0 | 0.2-2 | 1.2-8 | 1.4-10 |
Goal Kickers: R. Hummerston 9, L. French 6, C. Aligizakis 6, S. Kelly 3, S. Woodward 2, J. Marciniak 2, R. Goodwin, T. Mathers, A. Szabo, J. Persson
Best Players: R. Hummerston, D. Wilden, T. Mathers, C. Aligizakis, L. French, A. Stals
Last Saturday the Canterbury 2s took on Parkside on a sunny but windy afternoon at Canterbury Sports Ground. With some late withdrawals due to injuries in the firsts, it was a good opportunity for some of the fringe players to grab an opportunity given to them and play well and hold onto their spot with finals fast approaching.
We came out of the blocks well in the first, kicking out to a 46pt lead due to some unselfish play amongst the men and some accurate goal kicking from Frenchy, Hummer and Costa. The second quarter saw much of the same, as we played a disciplined, team-first game plan, moving the ball by hand out the back to our quarterback repeatedly which gave us control of the ball then we looked laterally to the middle of the ground as directed pregame which gave us good system and brought our forwards right into the game with their leads being honoured early rather than over using of the ball around the middle to half forward area of the ground as we have done in the past.
By 3 quarter time we had extended our lead out to 149pts, with our accuracy of 25 goals 7pts a sign of our forwards taking shots from favourable angles and converting their opportunities brilliantly. The last term saw us downhill ski early, with every man and his dog drifting forward to join in the goal fest, which resulted in some ordinary, selfish play and our accuracy drifting out to 7 goals 7pts in the last. But we finished strongly to run out comfortable winners by 196pts. A terrific effort from the team.
Big French Fry called it a day with 6 straight, as Hummer went on his merry way in kicking 3 more in the last to round out his day with 9 majors in a best on ground performance. Other notable players for the day were Robbo Goodwin who was his usual brilliant self around the contest and repelled countless attacks across the half back line and on ball, Stalsy did a great job again in the midfield, shutting down their prime on baller in a tagging role, Costa kicked 6, Driscoll was instrumental around the contest, Mathers did a great job in the ruck, Crawf always gives a contest, Clunks Wilden was solid as a rock down back, Solarlord was good, as was Persson, Woodward, Dennis Szabo, Boydy and also rocking Rowdy Piper… now to Chadstone to further our improvement and perfect our game by finals…
Doaky…
Seniors
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | 3.4-22 | 5.6-36 | 10.10-70 | 15.14-104 |
| Parkside | 2.3-15 | 4.3-27 | 6.6-42 | 9.8-62 |
Goal Kickers: A. Baker 5, R. Walmsley 3, T. Lowden 2, J. Wilson, N. Szabo, S. Fitzgerald, R. Pearce, A. Winn
Best Players: R. Walmsley, T. Pearce, A. Baker, D. Gates, L. Chapman, T. Lowden
Our deck had dried up somewhat from the previous week and with Parkside playing for a finals berth we were prepared for a god hitout.
Once again our start was a bit tardy as Parkside put a couple of goals on the board early before we got some momentum. The 2nd quarter saw us starting to play our brand of footy with good movement around the stoppages, opening up the ground with switch plays and better forward entries. We week still a couple of first string players short in the midfield but the guys going through the mid rotations did well winning the stoppages around the ground and giving us first use.
Better on ground and off ground management resulted in a good 2nd half with fitter players and better structures kicking 10 goals to 5.. Baker in a box finished with 5 goals in his 150th game as the Cobras ran out eventual winners by 42 points.
3 games left to go and were still shuffling the side around a bit looking for the best combinations that will take us into the finals, effectively I think we still have several positions to lock down over the next month for the players that are keen to knuckle down and play a role.
Harps…
