Semi Finals and Round 15 Summary

Whispering Crack once said, "If you mess with the Cats you get scratched." Ask any Wimbledon player after the weekends game and I'm sure they would agree with those sentiments! And it has been a long time coming, but what a day for the Wildcats to turn on their best form for the year! From the onset the Wildcats were absolutely outstanding, the fierce attack on the ball, the running in numbers, the talk and the commitment immediately had Wimbledon on the back foot and we eventually won by 14 points and have progressed through to play Wandsworth in the Preliminary Final this weekend. Completing a sensational weekend for the club, the Raiders easily disposed of Fulham after an early scare, and wrapped up top spot on the Conference ladder in the process, meaning the boys enjoy this weekend off and head straight into the Grand Final in a fortnight.

A couple of late changes to the Wildcats line up, including yours truly stepping aside at 12.30 on Saturday afternoon to allow the recently returned play maker Stu Boyd into the line up meant it was somewhat of a different side taking the ground from that which was named on Thursday night. But it did nothing the disturb the balance of the side, with the boys hitting Wimbledon with everything in the opening quarter, and despite kicking into a five-goal breeze, we managed to enter the first break slender leaders.

The second quarter was absolutely dynamite, and eventually it was this quarter that won us the game. A 5 goal to nothing term meant that we entered half time with a 36 point advantage. This was largely due to the sensational efforts of our EU contingent, with DD and Leigh in everything, Jamie relentlessly working up and down the wing and throwing himself at everything, and BOG Tony Bell racking up possession after possession in the middle and causing the Hawks coaching staff no shortage of headaches! Meanwhile Gools, Gerry and Ty had been miserly in defence and were spring boarding numerous forward thrusts, allowing Ice, Ako and Sniffa to capitalise.

However, as has been our trademark all year, we had the customary lapse in the third quarter. Wimbledon seemed to be all over the ground and doing all the things we had done for the first half, and pegged us right back to only a 4-point lead at the final change. Not panicking, and knowing that we were kicking with the breeze, we were still confident of getting home, and the boys didn't let us down. We kicked the first couple of goals before Wimbledon pegged one back, but then Coach Cammy's lovely goal on the run late in the quarter put the final nail in the coffin of the Hawks, and we were able to celebrate a hard fought but well earned victory. And with North London overcoming Wandsworth yesterday, it has set up a huge clash with our arch enemies this weekend! This will be the second step on our road to September glory.

On the weekends games, Aubs comment was, "It's turned our year around, it's put all those frustrations behind us... it's like getting a root after a 6 month drought... you feel so much better." How very true! The final score read Wildcats 13.5.83 to Wimbledon 10.9.69.

In the first game of the day the Raiders eventually overcame a very determined Fulham outfit, finally running out winners by 85 points. There were a couple of worrying signs as it took a good quarter and a bit to get out of cruise control, but the boys eventually turned up the heat and starting piling on the goals. Up forward SOS came on and piled on 5 goals, while Jimi as usual chipped in with another 4 (helping himself to the League goal kicking award in the process) and myself, Jack and Crick all finished with 3. Better players for the Raiders included Nigel Dransfield (or SOS as he may be better known), Kittsy, Mark Harmer and Jackson Jess. It was a physical contest though, and the week off this week should see a few players shake off their niggling injuries and hit the GF at full tilt against either Clapham or Regents Park on Saturday week.

All in all it was a great start to the finals campaign, but that's all it was, just a start! Wandsworth this weekend should be another cracking contest, and let's make sure we get over the line again and give ourselves a chance to hold aloft that cup!