SENIORS 

Another do-or-die game for the House, who have been making hard work of it of late. This weeks challenge was against West Brunswick on their deck. Waking up in the morning, you could only think of better things to do. Maybe sit at home in the comfort of a warm lounge room sipping on a few cold ones watching RAGE, or cuddling up to the missus trying to earn some brownie points amongst other things.

I would have preferred the former on many occasions, but today was to battle it out with the Westies on a nice lush oval, and a howling wind. Footy is a game of skill against the elements, and the challenge was certainly there today.

 

Many wholesale changes again for the House. Storma “Barb” Driesen was out with a broken nail, Richie Benson was unavailable, probably working on his “Beavis & Buthead” laugh, Lovey was not in town, and Wally was back in the reserves, running like the wind. Late omission to by Wes Old who was out chopping up wood again, which certainly stretched us a bit. Into the side we welcomed back Josh “Disco” Ericoli after weeks out with a Hamstring, Jaye “Moon Head” Kurts after some great goal kicking form in the seconds after a long injury, Chris “Moz” Moran back in after some excellent form in the reserves, Rocket as a late call up for Wes, and Benson Saulo in his first senior game. Well done to Benson who has taken to Aussie Rules with aplomb, and it is a great testament to his training and commitment to get the best out of himself.

 

Powerhouse lost the toss, and were immediately struck into action with the task of defending against a very strong breeze going straight down the guts. West Brunswick were fired up, with their CHF going mental, trying to get the Wiley Old Mate Boland off his game. Better luck next time champ. They certainly got on their skates early and peppered the goals, but could not get them all through the big sticks. The House were defending grandly, with Billy Baxter and Benny white running the ball up into the breeze. Edo got a lot of kicking practice out of Full Back kicking into that wind, and Fozie was working hard across half back trying to get on the end of the kicks that were dropping a bit short. As valiantly as the House tried to penetrate the breeze with some good control of the footy through the centre, we could not string together that decisive pass that would open up the dogged West Brunswick defence to get that much needed major into the breeze. A late goal to the Westies gave them the ascendancy, but one felt that they should have piled on a lot more than that.

 

The House were quite happy with that start with all factors considering, but knew that they needed to work hard with the breeze. But it was West Brunswick that got the early ball, and were crisp with their link and handball. But once Bull got into action around the ground, we started to control the ball and put the Westies under a bit of pressure. Edo was swung forward in a valiant attempt toad some scoreboard pressure, and Kurtsy in his comeback match was creating havoc, along with ACE. Unfortunately, the House could not penetrate, and the West Brunswick defence held firm. Their tall timber around the ground were plucking marks out of nowhere, and their midfield seemed to get on a couple of nice passages and slotted home 2 goals against it. The House were their own worst going forward and could not supply enough quality football to Edo and Tayles. As a consequence, we could only muster 3 majors, in what was a decisive wind advantage to that end.

 

At the half, the boys were very disappointed with the result. The effort was there, and the boys were playing some good footy, but could not put the score on the board. It was time to fight. The third term started brightly with some good play by Bakes and Disco through the midfield, and we were unlucky not to get one against the tide. But West Brunswick went the other way and scored a few majors with the wind. The Westies then got their tails up and controlled the footy, and their forwards read the carrying ball just that little bit better. Disco and Billy were resolute in defence along with Old Mate, Benny and Edo, and the midfield led by Jakey, Bakes, Bahry and Wardey were trying hard. But it was West Brunswick that held sway and went into the break with a comfortable lead.

 

The House had to fight, and fight hard, but coming from so far back, you have to do extraordinary things. As we tried to attack, our defence was under pressure, and the West Brunswick midfield rolled the dice a few times, and were able to score goals against the wind as a result. But the last was a much better team display from the House. Lynchy and Benson on the wings were getting their hands on the ball, and Moz was effective across half forward. Kurtsy finished with 4 goals for the match and it was pleasing to see that he was running freely after a major hamstring injury. Jake kicked a clever rovers goal, and Bull continued his great work around the ground. He may not win every tap, but he does take some good marks in defence and through the middle. Spider had been effective, and a hamstring injury certainly hurt the side. He looked like he had been shot after the game. Disco was good as that loose man, and when reported and sent off, it also hurt our chances. Sos in his 100th game continued to repel each attack, and ran hard through the middle to put one lace out to Edo 30metres out in which he goaled.

 

A disappointing result for Powerhouse in the end. They battled hard, and things did not fall their way. Although the result was a loss, there are a lot of positives to take out of it, and once that confidence and rub of the green falls our way, the wins will follow.

 

Congratulations to Paddy “Padraigh” Barrett on playing his 50th game in the reserves earlier, and also to Sos in his 100th for Powerhouse.

 

See ya’s on the track, and let’s get back that winning feeling.

 

RESERVES -  Westies Huff and Puff but 'House not Blown in'

Saturday saw the return meeting of West Brunswick and Powerhouse at the windswept McAllister Oval. A strong, cold north-westerly finding its way through the best of padding and chilling to the marrow. Under the circumstances it would have been a bit optimistic to have expected a scintillating game of football.

 

 

This scribe has never experienced such extreme conditions in the southern hemisphere and the weather caused me to recall a soccer match played in Dublin some years ago. The wind blew with a similar ferocity as last Saturday though it was accompanied by driving rain. The desire amongst my colleagues that day was lack lustre at best. Midway through the second half the substitutes who were by this stage exhibiting early symptoms of hyperthermia were told to warm up. Unfortunately, this request was misinterpreted and although they ran off down the sideline they failed to return. At the end of the game, the lads were found crammed into an old Ford Fiesta, the heating on full blast, windows fogged up by cigarette smoke. Luckily, the Powerhouse players are made of stronger stuff than this though one must admit the atmosphere in the changing rooms before the game was uncharacteristically subdued. Indeed, in his pre-match address, just as Warde was reminding the players to forget about the strong wind and concentrate on the basics the roof shuddered and groaned  loudly under the strain of a gale leaving no doubt in the minds of the players that the conditions would make this away assignment even more precarious.

 

Following some fine performances - the Reserves were without the services of Jay Kurts, Benson and Moz. The three lads promoted to the Firsts. As such, Ronan Goodall was drafted in for just his second game of the year to provide an imposing target in the forwards. With the wind behind them- Powerhouse made a blistering start to the game. This was also the debut for Marshall Bull, brother of first’s player Nick and the sound of the opening siren had scarcely faded when he scored a goal with his very first touch! Not satisfied with this, he went on to bag two more goals with as many touches- eventually finishing up with four in his first quarter for the club. Powerhouse barely allowed West Brunswick out of their own half, giving their defenders a torrid time with Ronan, Wally and Drew chipping in with goals of their own. Wally’s speed proved a very valuable asset all day and Jade who got plenty of the ball in the opening exchanges was unfortunately forced to retire later in the game due to a painful leg injury.

 

Powerhouse had made an excellent start- though no one was under any illusions that West Brunswick would take this lying down and now facing into the wind it was the ‘House’s time to defend. Defend they did- and manfully so. In keeping with Oscar Wilde’s assertion that ‘the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about’- this scribe was amused to overhear Unit’s light-hearted, shower-time reflection on the perceived unglamorous role of a backman, ‘we’re like the umpires; no one notices us until we make a mistake!’ Well Powerhouse’s defenders deserve the lion’s share of the plaudits this week. The lads at the back took to the field in the second quarter imbued with a sense of boldness and self-confidence pouring scorn on nature’s disfavour. The sight of Rocket calmly weaving past opposing forwards, managing a couple of bounces on the way surely contributed to his late call-up to the Firsts. Paddy Barrett in his 50th game for the club, exemplifying guts and determination as he was forced temporarily to leave the field, blood streaming from his face.  Along with all the backs, our defence was sured up by the likes of Choco who must have covered every blade of grass. Russ also put in another workman-like performance contributing to attack and defence in equal measure.  By my recollection, Powerhouse limited West Brunswick to two goals in this quarter, while still managing a couple of scores of their own.

 

The third quarter saw the ‘House backed by the wind again, though unable to utilise it as effectively as in the first quarter. To their credit, West Brunswick fought doggedly and despite the conditions put us under some real pressure. Once again, our defence was superb with Pete Henshaw going hard at the ball and Unit sweeping up all before him. Matt Treeby goaled from long- range capping a self-assured performance while Stevie Batten scored the goal of the day from an acute angle from the sideline which I am confident we will be hearing about for some time to come.

Sensing defeat, the last quarter saw West Brunswick throw everything they had at Powerhouse. Once again, our backs repulsed attack after attack. In truth, the Westies’ had plenty of chances and had their goal-kicking been more accurate perhaps they could have clawed their way back. Only towards the end of the final quarter did their heads begin to drop- the sight of Paddy Barrett smothering two kicks in quick succession and then Aaron taking a superb mark out on the wing proving as demoralising for the opposition as it was inspirational for the away side. Some good work from Ronan allowed Drew to kick a late goal and effectively end the game. Powerhouse eventually running out 79- 50 winners.

 

Well done Lads- another great win which is sure to leave the Gaffer with some tough selection decisions for the weekend. On a separate note- I would like to extend my congratulations to Kynie on his new tv career. You may well have seen him on the box as the public face of a new broadband provider in Victoria. Well done Brian- try not to let it go to your head!

 

POWER HOUSE	7.3	8.3	11.7	12.7-79
WEST BRUNSWICK	2.0	4.6	4.8	6.14-50

 

Goal Kickers: M. Bull 5, D. Ashworth 2, C. Plazzer, J. Brennan, M. Wallis, R. Goodall, M. Treeby
Best Players: R. MacUmber, M. Treeby, P. Henshaw, M. Bull, J. Riley, A. Willis

< Prev		Next >