| Reserves Round 17 v. Beaumaris |
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Despite cold and blustery conditions, board shorts were the order of the day as Beaumaris were welcomed to Pressure Park for the penultimate regular season match of 2009. Having played some of our best footy against the Beach Boys in our first match up of the year, we were keen to impress once more. We took our place in the coaches' room for our usual pre match briefing and were greeted with 47 different forward set ups, all of which featured Clarkey as the focus. We weren't all that surprised to learn Clarkey himself had devised the plans and given each of them a name. Some personal favourite included "Clarke's Arc", "Boofa's Box" and of course the previously successful "Myspace".
Quick ball movement landed the first blow of the day as the Fields worked seamlessly from defence to attack with Spinks to Spits being the finishing move. Beauy responded before another two goals gave us a 16 point lead, albeit with the aid of a strong breeze. Tom Spinks was proving to be a vital cog in our structure, providing a much needed target going forward.
Luke Spinks broke the 100m record on the outer wing only to have Usain Bolt snatch it back hours later while Gav Colosimo and Alex Ford were important players in the middle of the ground as we managed to kick 2 goals in to the wind to Beauy's 4. Scores were tied at the main break, half time entertainment this week saw Albert Kalaja removing the white coat and putting on a skills demonstration for the fans. 40m lace out drop punts were today's exhibition as Albert fired out bullet after bullet before refusing an offer to play in the second half. Alex Sloan was given the job on a dangerous opposition player and was the standout performer for the day demonstrating how to play accountable football in his best performance in a CGFC jumper.
Of course with this week being 'Green Round', CGFC was keen to play its part in supporting a worthy cause. The contribution from the reserves included Luke Matias forgoing use of his hair dryer for the day, Chris Fagan eating "rainforest alliance" hot dogs and Spittal donating all his horse racing profits for the day to charity ($0). The third quarter began with Tim Gerrand delighting his new fan club by slotting a superb goal from 40m out against the wind and celebrated by blowing a kiss to an unknown female fan in the crowd. Tim said after the match that "we're just special friends", adding that she's been great for his football, "she helps me with my frontal pressure".
We held a slim 6 point lead going in to the last quarter and having to defend against the wind, which inevitably picked up even further to Beaumaris' advantage. Beauy asserted themselves quickly in the last quarter and gained the lead, which they never surrendered. The Fields ending up 17 point losers against the team we will face in round one of the finals.
Caulfield Grammarians 7.10.52 Beaumaris 9.15.69
CAULFIELD GRAM Goal Kickers: T. Spinks 2, B. Scott, A. Spittal, T. Gerrand, G. Colosimo, T. Hammond |