We also had the added value of Andrew Kellaway to make his debut with CGFC and was joined by Jason May, our former U19 player who had decided to come across from the Eastern Footy League to join younger brother Chris. On the debit side, we were minus the Sundbergs; Matty to an ear infection, Tommy to Collingwood reserves.

After an early foray forward unfortunately resulted in no conversion, Haileybury quickly got forward for their spearhead to kick their first from a free. There were some good signs from our boys immediately after as Ben Carboni and Andy Lawson moved confidently with the ball, Ben Evans marked strongly and Chris May smothered aggressively but the OH full forward led strongly to mark and kick his second in as many minutes. Shaun Meredith and Chris Game worked well at ground level but we missed a couple of opportunities from ‘kickable’ positions. When Chris Hammond received from Mezz, Carbs put the icing on the cake with our first; a great response. All of a sudden, the prominent opposition forward kicked his third to set us back again and we missed more opportunities in front of goal. Very frustrating at this stage to see one team capitalise and the other fail to do so. Andrew Kellaway was clearly a great addition and combined up forward with some of the youngsters and shortly after Carbs burst through, passed of to Gav Winter and Nobby, Andy K and Gamey also play a key part in this passage forward as Slevo snapped truly on his left to keep us within striking distance.  

In an amazing sequence, the real thorn in our side, their full forward, within the space of seven or eight minutes, kicked his fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh goals for the quarter, and, there was not much we could do taking into account the accurate delivery to him and his ability to convert. I may have but I am pretty sure I have never seen a key forward kick seven in the first quarter of any game! Maybe if we could stop this bloke we would be in with a chance. Quarter time – 7.4 to our 2.2 really hurt although there were some good signs by our boys. Nobby was winning the taps at this stage, Ben Hyland was really busy down back but there were too many of us scrambling in the packs without sufficient receivers on the outside and this played right into Haileybury’s hands.

It was almost a repeat of the first 30 minutes when we missed two more opportunities early in the second quarter but it was Haileybury that scored the first goal. Andy Lawson across half back and Evo on the last line was what we needed down back. Evo had taken on the task of quelling the dominant opposition FF and was successful. Jason May in his first senior game got some ball and when he combined well with Andy Kellaway, Chris Game made no mistake for our reply. Our problem then became an inability to penetrate our half forward line plus our poor delivery when the half forwards did make good position. Jordan Stewart was again revealing his talent and Andy Lawson continuing his excellent form. Haileybury got some more goals, generally by way of their better quality deliveries. When we gang tackled late in the quarter, it was rewarded with Chris Game’s second goal but we were left with a 6 goal deficit at half time – 10.9 to 6.7 and hopefully not a repeat of our early season encounter facing us in the second half.  

Chris Hammond featured with some strong work in the middle and his handball to Gamey was passed on to Slevo for his second. Carbs, Gav Winter and Darc Daly were in the thick of things but we were continually driving forward for little reward due to poor finishing skills. In the mid part of the quarter, it was tough going in the clinches and the opposition were frustrated with their lack of scoring opportunities and increased the pressure. Our boys stood up very well at this point and our defence had really tightened their game. An opposition player being sent off was seen as an opportunity to capitalise on their 17 men situation but, as so often happens, the disadvantaged side scored a goal almost immediately while we missed more shots on goal. When Wij and Hylo combined they allowed Mess to give off to Carbs for a goal and the hard work in close was maybe paying off! Wij was fantastic across half back at this stage and instrumental in us outscoring the opposition. We were not completely out of the game with the three quarter time score of 11.11 to 6.9.

Richard Schroth from the interchange put in a great effort against two opposition players just when they looked like running riot, Hylo was terrific with his running, the lift was noticeable but Haileybury broke through for two goals before Andy K handball to Cal Sinclair and the ‘Chief’ scored his first. Chris May’s tackling was noticeable and Ben Price scored his first senior goal when he crumbed from Cody Royle’s long kick into the forward zone.  

Ben Hyland and Chris Game continued to show the way with their running but our manning-up was loose for a time allowing Haileybury to capitalise. At a time when a bit of a blow out could occur, Gamey, Maysie and Cody combined and Slevo topped it off with his third and then Darcy goaled on the siren to place some respectability into the scoreline.  16.17 to 10.12.

Better players – Hyland, Widjaja, Game, Hammond, Stewart, Meredith 
Goals – Slevison 3, Carboni 2, Game 2, C Sinclair, B Price, Daly

The loss was honorable if there is such a thing but it places us back to second last and some really challenging times ahead. Marcellin at home is an absolute must to gain points against the flow! 

Geoff Reilley