Not much has been written out our senior 3s (clubbies for the uninitiated) this year, but after a stunning performance on Saturday against Fitzroy something needed to be said.

The team under the excellent leadership of new coach Evan MacDonald and captain Drew Hildebrandt have been quietly going about their business.  Numbers available each Saturday are very dependant on the needs of the seniors and reserves and Evan dreads the phone call Saturday morning from Roscoe saying he needs a couple of players because he has some late withdrawals.  However to date the team has not gone into a game with less than 20 players s and on Saturday last had 25 even after a call from Roscoe.

Results have been mixed, with the team being competitive each Saturday.  It had one win to date courtesy of Old Brighton playing an ineligible player in round one, so Saturday was crucial in the scheme of things.  I have to say the team’s most avid supporter Jenny Cade wasn’t disappointed.

The game, witnesses by yours truly in my role part time team manager, was played at a frantic pace with good skills displayed by both teams.  Fitzroy got out to an early lead, but smart crumbing from Chris Amiconi soon put paid to that and by quarter time we were in front and stayed there all day gradually increasing our lead.

For the record our better players were Amiconi who also kicked three goals, Alex Konis who played a fine game at half back, Reece Borella on a wing, Kyle MacDonald another key defender, Chris Armatas up forward who snagged three great goals and gave the side a tall target.  If we can get him fit and focussed he could be very useful later in the season and the ever reliable evergreen Tim Cade, who incidentally plays his 150^th game for the club next Saturday.

For the first time in many years a lot of the 3s players are training and it is showing the benefit with the boys running out the games far better than in previous years.  The new boys leading the way include, Jim Wilson, Mark McDonald, Reece Borella, Paul Langdon, Jon Mansour and Matt Hale.

The team is a great mixture of old hands and new blood that has bonded very well under Evan’s leadership.  This team fills a vital roll in the scheme of thing at our club, giving the very necessary depth to our senior list. It will be great to see them share the bill with the rest of our teams when we all play at home next Saturday. (AB)