Reserves
v Brandon Park
Probably the second best performance of the season, and still no
three points. After being put through a training session that
many had never seen before on Thursday night, the boys turned up
ready to play on Saturday. The first half belonged to Monbulk as
we peppered the goals with no reward. Nick Hurlston made his
injury comeback and was excellent in the middle of the park,
while Josh and Jack had great games out wide. Alex and Jezza
worked hard up front with Sammy supporting them in a new role
for him. The defence was solid, except for Brandon Parks one and
only chance for the half which they took and went 1 up. It was
very frustrating as the boys were all over their opponents.
The half time speech was all positive and the boys responded
well. Jezza won a penalty after being held on to in the box, and
he coolly stepped up to make the score 1 all. The second half
was pretty even with both teams creating half chances. Norman,
Owen and Coulson all came on and did well with the time they
were given. It was a positive 70min for the ressies who have
been struggling with teamwork and cohesion for the majority of
the season. Hopefully this is the start of a good run of results
that the boys really do deserve for all their hard work. If not,
its back to holding hands lads.
Seniors
v Brandon Park
The biggest game of the year couldn't come quick enough. The
boys knew it was a "six pointer", and it was imperative to keep
the pressure on Brandon Park, and Croydon who were in fine form.
Brettles was out suspended, but Brassy was back after 5 weeks
out through injury. Monbulk started well. Cowie once again was
running his defender ragged and creating space for Brechan.
Daine also was working hard, especially defensively as his man
was trying to get forward as much as possible. Chrissy was back
in the middle of the park with Johnny in front of him. Keegan
and Weasal kept their spots after fantastic games the week
before, while Simon and the ever reliable Paulie Bras were
joined by Steve in the backline. The pressure was on from the
beginning with hard challenges an d physical contests all over
the park. Weasal and Keegan were providing plenty out wide, and
after 15 minutes, some great work by Keegan on the left led to
him knocking in a fantastic ball for Andy Cowie to head home. A
great goal for the Monbulk boys to take the lead. The
surprisingly and disappointingly small crowd were making enough
noise to be heard all the way back to Brandon Park, led by Moose
and his cronies. The boys were feeding off that the entire game.
Brandon Park tried to hit back, but were stifled by some stingy
defending. It was a real slog out there, with in my opinion, the
two best teams in the league going at it hammer and tong. With a
little less than 15 min to go in the half, Brandon Park's star
striker was fortunate to find a rebound at his feet, and managed
to touch it past Stevey Bras as he was trying to clear the ball.
The referee pointed to the spot, and the spot kick gave Stubbsy
no chance. 1 all, and the lads were back to square 1. The half
ended at 1 all, with both teams looking weary.
The second half was extremely tough. It was such a good even
contest that you could feel there was probably only one goal
left in the game. Brechan was getting kicked off the park, as
was Cowie from the big number 6, who I found out later was
the coach's son. The boys in the middle from both teams were
getting tired, while Weasal and Keegan continued their fine form
out wide, and kept giving us options. Paulie, with some
excellent coaching, got a handle on the super striker and gave
him nothing for the 45 min. Chances were few and far between as
both teams just battled it out. With about 15min to go, Brechan
came off for Wellsy who was back from injury, and a couple of
minutes later Noodles replaced the tiring Johnny. The game
continued as a slog, with the referee letting a lot go which
probably should have been pulled up. 7 minutes left and Daine
came off due to cramp bringing on Choc. Could it possibly happen
again?? Of course it could. A long clearance by Stubbsy was won
in the middle of the park by Choc. His header found Noodles who
in turn got the ball to Wellsy. Wellsy brilliantly turned his
marker inside out, and from a tight angle hit a sweet volley
just inside the near post, to score the winner with only 2
minutes remaining. A great finish, and a fantastic result for
Monbulk against the previously undefeated Brandon Park. Well
done to the supporters that showed up and made all the noise,
especially Moose. See you all next week.