2003 Round 8

The Wildcats juggernaut rolled on on the weekend as we clinically disposed of second placed side, and according to the BARFL “the form team of the competition”, Wimbledon. The only disappointment of the day was the Emus coming so close to victory, only going down to their much more fancied opponent, the City Swans, by a mere 3 points. The Raiders also highlighted the class difference between themselves and the rest of the Conference by easily brushing aside the Fulham Hawks.

It was another sensational day weather wise at Trailfinders, as the club hosted our sponsors for the triple-header. First up the Emus took on the third placed City Swans. With a few surprise inclusions, in particular coach Grapsas, ex-coach Aubrey and Raiders premiership players Shutts and Plugger, the Emus were hoping they may be able to cause an upset. And that was definitely on the cards, had inaccurate kicking not prevented them from opening up a much larger first quarter lead. The Emus had kicked 3. 8 before the Swans had posted a score. However 2 soft late goals meant the boys only had a 16-point lead at the first break.

The Swans then turned the tables and did all of the attacking in the second quarter, and by half time they had hit the front. Unlike in previous weeks though, the Emus boys refused to lie down. The second half was a dour struggle, and in the last quarter we had our chances to win. When Aubs goaled to get the boys back within 3 points, the Emus sensed a huge chance to win their first game of the year. However the siren sounded too soon and the Emus again only just missed out on their first win of the year. Better players included Geoffo, Aubs, Greggy Newitt and Shutts.

The Raiders then took on the Fulham Hawks in the next game. With the Raiders setting the pace this year they have definitely become the hunted and Fulham were first out of the blocks in this game. We soon settled into a rhythm though and by quarter time had a 2-goal advantage. Steve Carter was in and under everywhere, Jase Hughey was giving us a great target and the on-ballers, Damo and Gerry were getting first use out of the centre thanks to Parso’s hard work. The backline as usual was unsurpassable with Dutchy and Gus repelling any forward thrusts.

We managed to extend our lead at every break from that point onwards, and a great team effort saw the Raiders eventually run out easy winners by a tick over 11 goals.

The Wildcats were off on the wrong foot when we were severely let down by 2 EU players who failed to show for the game, without letting the coaching staff know prior. It meant know EU players on the bench should there be any injuries. Fortunately we were fast out of the blocks and no spare players were required.

Big Nozza started in the ruck and was doing a great job, while Bakes, Jenko and Shovel were everywhere and continually sending the ball forward. Jack was giving us a target up there as was Kanga who is showing that age is no problem for him!

Young Nozza was impenetrable at half back and teaching some of Wimbledon’s bigger players a thing or two about playing footy. By half time Jenko, Ruggy, Bakes, both Nozza’s and even our EU players in Mick, Ciaran, Jody and Lewis had all helped to set up a 37-point advantage.

Mick Condon came on at half time for Bakes who had to go in to work, but his game was cut short when a knee to the head had him seeing stars and the training staff seeing plenty of blood! Rosco was unhappy with the third quarter when kicking with the wind we only extended our lead by 4 points. Again, as with the rest of the day, we seemed to have all of the play but just couldn’t get the score on the board to put the result beyond doubt. The last quarter was a dour struggle, but the boys held firm to eventually record an 11.14 to 5. 5 victory and show the rest of the league while we’re still undefeated at this stage of the season.

This week is another huge triple header out at Trailfinders, with the Emus sensing a victory coming at the expense of Regents Park, the Raiders taking on Clapham and the Wildcats hoping to extend the streak against the arch enemy, Wandsworth.

Go Cats,

Dogga.