Local residents must have wondered what was happening down at the Rovers on Saturday after the game. The roll up of designer dogs tied up outside the clubrooms exceeded 14 and no doubt matched their owners for variety (and temperament)!
Certainly a dog day afternoon for Jess Gould who, the coach confirmed, would be out for the rest of the year having suffered an eye injury at training when a ball bounced off the goal post and hit him in the eye. An operation is on the cards and we all wish Jess a speedy recovery. On a brighter note it was great to see Chris Britton at the game. While some expected him to look like Alex Rance from last weeks papers we can report that his rugged good looks are intact. Again, we look forward to his return to the Rovers.
The real dog day afternoon was last Saturday against OMs where the coach rightly pointed the finger at Baxter and held him responsible for ruining his birthday celebrations. A heavy weight to carry!
But yesterday was a new day. A couple of debutees, Michael Hall and Mat Lancaster for the U19s.
But what a win we had. Who would think that we?d have Matt Innes kicking 8 (or was that 7?) Ned Fallon a lazy 6 and Zeke Lewis chipping in for 4 we were having a good day. That is certainly the case when regular full back Rich Atkins slotted 3 from part of the day spent on the forward line. Granted, the opposition was undermanned, but the display turned on by the boys was top rate. With the backline letting nothing through – 8 scoring shots for the day – our midfielders and forwards dominated. At one stage the coach was offering blankets and beanies for the last line of defence as the ball went down there so infrequently.
There were some pleasing signs – Tom Youl regaining some of his touch, Jackson Naulty getting the hard ball and Marlon Woltering having a run in the ruck and around the ground and showing great balance and evasive skills on a number of occasions. Ed Turner had a purple patch in the second quarter with Jess Lovig hitting his chest from the ball ups and Eddie making the most of the ride. The long bomb was a treat.
With Jack Massie bamboozling both opponents and team mates with some amazing execution by foot and Russ Howe and Nick Hoban doing some in and under grunt work, the day was getting better the longer it went. Our youngsters in Ben Clarke, Cailin Wrigley and Nick Jewel all contributed on the day.
It was in the last where our team work really cut in. One passage of play starting from deep in the backline and ending in a bullet like pass from Max Greenway to Matt Innes was a treat. It was matched by great teamwork from Marlon to Leon McCarthy and again to Matt Innes. A score of 7.3 in the last quarter showed that there was no let up.
Next week we face up to Monash at Monash at
Scores
HR 7.2 13.11 18.13 25.16 166
MHSOB 3.0 3.1 5.3 5.3 33
Best Innes, Lovig, Fallon, Woltering, Naulty, Youl, Lewis
Goals Innes 8, Fallon 6, Lewis 4, Atkins 3, Turner 2, Youl 1, Howe 1
Best Dog – Tyson, the new Howe acquisition – a committed player all day!
