In what was always going to be an interesting afternoon at Ross Gregory Oval we narrowly missed out on starting the season in a winning way going down to Powerhouse AFC 12.11.83 to 9.13.67
The Bloods jumped out of the blocks early with full forward Paddy O’Leary kicking the first 3 goals of the contest in a brilliant display as the lead up target. Our surges out of the back line were very impressive with all three goals starting deep in defence and finishing with Paddy being brilliantly hit up by the midfield.
Powerhouse must have copped an earful at the first break as they came out and kicked 6 goals to 2 in the second quarter and really grabbed the momentum off us. Circosta and Collett for the Slushies were doing the majority of the damage repeatedly winning the centre clearances which in turn put our backline under enormous pressure.
The third quarter was a much tighter affair with both sides managing 3 goals apiece, the highlight for The Bloods was a brilliant snapped goal from Billy O’Loughlin late in the quarter which meant we went into the final break trailing by just 10 points and with the game well and truly within our reach.
Unfortunately the last quarter did not pan out how we’d hoped with the game turning into a stalemate. One solitary goal from Aquinas was not enough to bridge the gap and for the first time in 5 seasons we go into Round 2 without a win to our names.
Best players were Paddy O’Leary with 4 goals, Mick Connolly on a wing and James Morris who provided zip and defensive pressure in the forward line.
Reserves
The Reserves started the day off in fantastic fashion with a 11.4.70 to 9.8.62 victory in the early game.
Kicking the first goal of the game through a brilliant contested mark and goal from Aaron Kinghorn The Bloods never gave up the ascendancy leading by between 10 and 20 points for much of the day. Playing with only 18 players for the entire match the last quarter turned into a desperate scrap as the exhausted Bloods did their utmost to nullify the contest and force a stoppage to wind down the clock.
It was a fantastic effort for the team who won their first game of season 2015 in Round 8. The song was sung loudly and proudly as we look forward to a promising year.
Best players were Sam Williams and Aaron Kinghorn with 4 goals apiece, Nick Wright on debut through the middle of the ground and Jeff Valentine and Cam Wright in defence.
Under 19s
22 debutantes for the newly formed AOCFC U19s on Saturday started the season with a strong performance at home. 6 of the team played their first ever game of Football with everyone committed and having a crack.
Game highlights included Ben Zwartz’s Jesaulenko style mark and Pasquale Pezzimenti’s Phil Manassa (1977 vfl grand final) goal impersonation.
A great effort shown by all, but with a few being a bit rusty we should all get to training to sharpen up our skills for this week.
Best players were captain Anthony Dyck in the ruck, Adrian Owen in his first ever game of football and James Wright. Goal kickers were James Reid, Daniel Sudborough and Adrian Owen with 2 goals each and Pasquale Pezzimenti with 1.
Round 2
This week the seniors and reserves face the newly promoted Parkside at home. We would love to see as many supporters as possible come down to Great Ryrie Street to help the seniors get across the line for their first win of the year and the reserves continue their great start to the season.
The U19s are away at PEGS at 2.00pm.
Go Bloods