Saturday 13th June
Drummoyne Power Vs West Magpies
From the moment the whistle blew Maggies were on the attack and if it were not for some amazing intercepts and marks by Luke and Lochlan D it may have been a different story. All our players were being smothered by the hovering flock of Magpies, Will M and Denver both feeling the full force of their pack. Then came our first break with Denver escaping down the left wing with a few bounces and punches out and amazing kick to Damien who accelerated away to kick our first goal. The quarter was tight and happy to be heading to the second quarter only 1 point down.
After a quick motivational chat by Coach Warwick we were off and running in the second quarter. Was it the chat, the rehydration or had someone slipped energy drinks in the drinks tray. I was trying to take notes, but the ball was changing hands too fast, what teamwork. Cooper slipped a great kick to Harrison who dodged a swooping magpie to pass to Will M who passed to Jackson who kicked to Denver, intercepted by a Maggie, but Lochlan D shut down the play with a great tackle. We were on the attack again and Luke was going for goal, but there was Magpies everywhere and again we were shut down. Then from nowhere a kick like a Japanese Bullet Train went firing down the throat of Will M right in front of goal, Will was in shock, there was a ball in his hands and he didn’t know where it came from (well done to whoever kicked it). Will M finished the deal with a kick just out of reach of the Magpies to add 6 points to the tally. The quarter was cemented with some awesome defensive play by Denver, Duke and Indiana, it sounded like an American Football pack and defended the same. We walked off at half time 1 point ahead.
Coach Warwick could see the Magpies were shocked they were behind and knew they would hit the third quarter hard. He called on the POWER to tackle, tackle, tackle. Lachlan D was back from helping the maggies and was able to shut down a string of plays. The Magpies were hungry and they went for glory, but Cooper saved the day, diving, deflecting the ball – sorry Maggies you’ll only earn one point, nice try. We were off, here we go Damien to Indiana to Toby to Lochlan D to Luke to Damien again to Russell to William to Jackson, I thought the half time Teflon spray had worked, but we were shut down yet again. The third quarter was tough, but it was owned by Lochlan D, he had obviously listened at half time, he ripped, he marked and yes he tackled. The 3rd was done and we were only 1 down.
Coach Warwick commended the tackling, but the stats said we were down on possession, passes and kicks. Yes the team agreed, they told coach the ball was faulty, they all agreed it felt like bricks. The coach acknowledged their concerns, but assured them do not be scared of the brick, remember team use the FORCE. We were off and William I could see the light the ball was not a brick, he held strong at the struggle running free from the pack passing to the other Will who passed to Luke, but we were shut down again. Maggies broke free and scored. This was enough to put fire back in our bellies. Cooper won the bounce, punching the ball to William who passed to Jackson, we almost scored, but the Maggies defense was seamless in the last. Luke made a great Maggies tackle, hey ref, Magpie 15 was not happy with Luke’s great defensive play repaying him with an unsportsmanlike push. We were caught off guard and Magpies No16 pocket rocket was off again, we will remember that number for our next encounter. The 4th quarter hurt, but we held our heads high, our result was much improved and still deserved our team song. Win or lose its always a great way to finish.
A great first game of AFL by Indi and great sportsmanship shown by Toby, Duke, Harrison and Russell who played a quarter each for the opposition.