Old Trinity and Hampton Rovers last crossed paths (and
swords) a neat decade ago: 1999 was
indeed a different world! But some things seem to persevere.
In the 2 games played between the sides in 1999 there
was a young maturing ruckman who got BoG both times – one Andrew “Rambo”
Ramsden. Ten years later, and the same “Rambo” dominates the scoring, kicking 6
of OTs 10 goals. It was on the back of
such statistical significance that OT built its victory.
But as well as being a day of “reprises”, it was also a day of “firsts”: Tom Eckersley and
Alex
Hooke, who both featured heavily in last year’s line up,
played their first game in the Seniors for the year; Tim Walsh (from the
Western Bulldogs) played his first game ever for the OTs, and made a
significant impact. He joined his brother Brett in the team, possibly creating club history in having 3
sets of brothers (Walsh’s, Howell’s and Healy’s) playing in the one side.
Another
2nd Half Spurt to Convincing Win
Historical and
statistical niceties aside, it was a must-win game for OT;
having clawed itself back into finals contention the previous week with a gutsy
that saw it rise from 7th to 4th a loss against HR could
well see it tumble again into the ruck of teams at the bottom of the ladder.
The game started slowly enough, again, HR kicking
with a 4-goal breeze but with both defenses on top. Only 6 goals kicked in a half of football by all sides is testament to
that! Though OT was winning the clearances, it lacked poise and its forays
into the forward arc were haphazard and unkempt.
The second quarter – with the breeze – promised
better; but as good as the second halves have been for OT this year, the second
quarters have often been suspect (23 goals conceded in just 4 games this season). So
to go in at half time 2 points up gave the players a sense of confidence – the
opposition seemed to have played its best cards and was found short.
In fact, in the 3rd quarter, OT started very
well, dominating the general play, and with the ball rarely leaving their forward
half. Again
Brendan Iezzi was
getting on top in the middle, and
Jack Osborne
was providing penetrating run from the back.
Matt Jessup,
as he had all game, was involved in numerous one-on-one contests, with no one
within 50 metres, and beat his opponent for pace and skill.
Luke Pacconi
had been given another tagging job, this time on Rob Alexander (#8), a strong
forward who was giving HR most of their forward impetus. Pacconi was giving
away a good half-head, and probably quite a few kilos as well, but again he
stuck to his job, wearing him like a second skin. While Alexander still got a
bit of the ball, he was made to earn every one of his possesions, and had his impact well restrained. Each week Pacconi comes
up against leading forwards/midfielders, and quietly goes about restricting
their influence. The day he is set free to run, rather than shadow, he will
relish the experience of playing on such gun players (like one R Harvey).
Andrew Hore-Lacy
on a wing again showed great poise (and courage – his flying mark with the flight of the ball becoming his signature
moment); while Tim Walsh, moved onto the ball, showed quite a bit and
promised a lot more.
All the while, lurking dangerously in the forward 50, one
Andrew Ramsden kicked a cool six (and missed how
many??) reminding all who were there to watch and enjoy that time marches on,
but quality endures.
OLD
TRINITY 1.3 3.8 6.13 10.18 - 78
HAMPTON ROVERS 2.4 3.6 4.9 6.11 - 47
OLD
TRINITY - Goal
Kickers: A. Ramsden
6, T. Healy, T. Eckersley, A. Cultrera, A. Hore-Lacy Best Players: B. Iezzi, A. Hore-Lacy, A. Ramsden, N. Howell, J. Osborn,
M. Jessop
HAMPTON ROVERS - Goal
Kickers: R. Semmel
2, M. Lawrence 2, R. White, C. Gleeson Best Players: R. Alexander, J. Zampaglione, L. Fletcher, G. Woods, T.
Curry, J. Ting
