Round 2 2017 – South Melbourne

What a day at the Snake Pit on Saturday! Both the reserves and seniors posted huge wins over South Melbourne, giving the Bloods a bath of their own, which was followed by a fantastic night as the trivia night was held. The women played the second of their grading games against a strong opponent in Old Camberwell on Saturday morning though were unable to get the win.

Thanks to all who attended the Trivia Night on Saturday, we had a packed house! Congratulations to all that won prizes across the course of the evening, we hope to see everyone at future social events.

Women’s footy

Best players: J. Edwards, J. Lee, J. Close, E. Pittonet, P. Simon, S. Giles

Last Saturday 22nd April we fronted up for our Round 2 Grading Match against Old Camberwell at Gordon Bernard Reserve. What we encountered was a very well organised outfit who eventually ran out comfortable winners.

To our credit our girls did not shirk a single issue and displayed great endeavour, enthusiasm and courage in the face of a mounting scoreline. At the moment our success is that we are able to field a competitive team each week even after allowing for unavailabilities.

With each match the girls are getting more football fit as well as improving their game sense ability. By the time we are graded I believe that we will become an extremely competitive entity.

Finally girls you are doing yourself, your coach and the Canterbury Football Club proud. Keep on going, on field success is just around the corner!

Reserves

Goal kickers: D. Erdely 4, C. Woods 4, J. Price 3, J. Wilson 3, S. Woodward 2, A. Stals, R. Pearce, D. Walden
Best players: N. Joseph, B. Lashbrook, A. Stals, D. Erdely, G. Driscoll, T. Hanrahan

What a difference a week makes in football! We started the day arriving at 10am for set up prior to the game. With most players getting there on time, this put us in good stead for our pre schedule prior to game time of 11.40am. The attitude prior to the game was there, as we all met out in the middle on time at 10.30 to discuss what was required for the days clash against South Melbourne.

The warm up was performed with intensity and conviction, as the players looked focused and ready for combat, which was the complete opposite to last week. Once the ball was bounced, the first tackle by Choco within the first 15 secs resulted in a holding for us. This set the scene for the whole first quarter. Our intensity was there and the whole team meant business, although we only kicked 3 goals in the quarter, with Glen Erdley kicking two. The ball movement and stoppage work was at a high standard, the only disappointment was that we could have gone more direct to our tall forwards.

The second quarter resembled the same as the first with our boys applying fierce pressure to the opposition with Joseph, Driscoll & Hainsy getting a lot of the ball down to our forwards. This resulted in us having 16 inside 50’s for eight goals. The back 6 held the opposition to one goal for the half which was also a pleasing effort. We played great football in this quarter, which showed that if we stick to our game plan and work as a team, we all can see what’s achievable. Half time we led by 65 points.

The third quarter we played with the same pressure as the first 2 quarters, as we moved the ball well and switched the play on many occasions. Woody had his best quarter, presenting and kicking 2 goals and being involved in two others. Cam Woods also chimed in with a couple of goals in the quarter to put the icing on the cake, we lead by 105 points at 3/4 time.

I asked for the same intensity in the last quarter to run the game right out, though unfortunately as the players tired our ball movement and structures fell away, which resulted in South Melbourne kicking 3 goals to our 2 goals. The highlight of the quarter was seeing Stalsy take the ball out of the centre and run to 40 metres and put the ball through the big sticks, well done Stalsy!

There were many good players this week as everyone played their part, so I’m not going to mention individuals as the effort produced was at team effort. We will need to be at our best next week against Powerhouse and play 4 quarters of football. If we take the same intensity and attitude that we showed today into next week than a win is certainly there for the taking.

Great win Cobra’s, thanks for my first win as coach.

Uncle Den

Seniors

Goal kickers: T. Lowden 4, A. Hummerston 4, L. Venditti 4, R. Walmsley 3, M. Szabo 3, T. Wooster 2, G. Ratnakumar 2, N. Szabo 2, A. Wheeler 2, B. Peel, A. Carapetis, S. Murphy
Best players: A. Hummerston, N. Szabo, R. Walmsley, T. Lowden, A. Wheeler, A. Carapetis

With the weather looking horrible for most of Friday, we were prepared for a potentially wet Round 2 v Sth Melbourne at home for the first time in 2017, but as usual, 2pm Saturday is a long way off 8pm Friday.  With our superb drainage (didn’t used to be back in the day) and the sun shining the scene was set for a great game of footy.

Watching the Scoobies apply fierce pressure and play the structures well, we were “up and about” and sensed an opportunity to inflict some more pain on our opponents and to notch our second win of the season and get the season well and truly rolling. I’m not exactly sure why we started so slowly, as we let our opponents be first to the ball and win the first 3 stoppages of the game which was a concern. If not for our top end players, our mids lifting late, and some good work up forward from Andy Hummerston, Tommy Lowden, Mitchy Szabo, Tyler Wooster and smalls Gumby & Venditti, we should have been down at the first break but we were 18pts up. This sleepy start was well below par on what our team is capable of, so we addressed this, refocused on what needed to be done, and went out in the second quarter and executed the plan with some champagne Canterbury football.

With the midfield lifting significantly led by Fridge and his fleet of warriors, we kicked 10 goals 3pts to extend the lead to 67pts at 1/2 time. Our forward triangle setup was gelling nicely, and small forwards Gumby, Venditti and Wooster all contributing well with 2 goals each. The 3rd quarter saw us take the foot off the pedal slightly (which is easy to do), but we still managed to extend our lead and the game was over at 3/4 time as we led by a comfortable 84pts. With Wombat, Buckets, Carapetis, Wheeler & Mreulje providing plenty of drive out of the middle and from half back, and our backline being marshalled beautifully by Robbie Goodwin and pressing strongly and diligently, we drove the stake right into their (Sth Melbourne’s) hearts and piled on 9 more last quarter goals to win by 135pts and go to the top of the Div 3 table on percentage.

With an upcoming top of the table clash this week at home, we have a great challenge in front of us to test our game style & structures against a quality side in Power House back at the “Snake Pit” and further strengthen our start to the season. There is a great vibe around the club and in particular amongst the playing group with another fantastic team effort from the boys doing their coach and Dadt proud with their fight, character and a great team first attitude.

Best players for the day were a nightmare to identify, but Andy Hummerston, Tommy Lowden and Lukey Venditti all bagged 4 goals and looked extremely dangerous, Wombat was classy and racked up 30+ touches and showcased why he’s on track for a 6th B&F, Gumby played his best game for the club, applying intense pressure up forward and displaying some magic kicking 2 goals and dishing off many more, Carapetis is starting to feel comfortable after 2 games back in the “Tri Colours” again, showing poise and evasiveness that delighted the Canterbury faithful, Mitchy Szabo was again outstanding, providing many many headaches for the opposition aswell as kicking a further 3 goals and doing some spectacular things in the air and at ground level, and our backline of Carrington, Jezza, first gamer Joshy Lloyde, Goodwin, Wombat, Chris Bold and Jimmy Wilson held strong once again, with the defensive press working well with high pressure upfield from our forwards and mids.

Can’t wait for Thursday night lads and to apply some serious heat to our upcoming opponents in Power House on Saturday and see how we go!! Keep up the good work boys… good times ahead!

Go Cobs!

Love Doaks

Weekend preview

This week the women play their final grading game, against Old Trinity at Hughes Oval 4 in Bulleen from 10.30am Saturday. The official grades will be announced next week, stay tuned for that!

The men are at the Snake Pit Once again, hosting Powerhouse. The House look to have improved significantly since last year, their seniors are undefeated after two rounds and their reserves are 1-1, identical to our teams. This week should give us a good idea of where we sit this season, don’t miss either match!