Statistics
have a bad name. Everybody seems to use them but nobody, it seems, has a good
word to say about them. The most famous quote on stats is possibly that
attributed to Benjamin D’Israeli (1804-81), British politician and writer, who
is supposed to have said that “there are
three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics”.
If you go
looking on the Net for something more positive, the least cynical you’ll find
is probably the comment by Jean Baudrillard (French social commentator) that “like dreams, statistics are a form of wish
fulfilment”.
It was
probably with a fair degree of wish fulfilment, hoping to discern some positive
omens, that – in a moment of idle curiosity - I had a look at the relative records
of Old Trinity and St Kevin’s. And what
I found was interesting enough.
One of the
more remarkable items that emerged was that in the previous 8 rounds, Old
Trinity has averaged just 90 points when playing at home (and 105 when playing
away), but that St Kevin’s has averaged less (75 points) when playing away (and
109 when playing at their idiosyncratic home ground).
This seemed
to indicate a couple of things: that the large Bulleen ground is harder to
score on, but also that StK has substantial problems with scoring when away
from their home ground. It also
suggested that (and this is where stats DO become a form of wish fulfilment) an
“average” game by OT would outpoint an “average” game by StK.
But no studying of “stats”
could have anticipated what happened on the day!
4-Quarter Victory for
Believers, not Statisticians
The game began
predictably enough with neither side gaining any significant dominance over the
other for the firs 7 or 8 minutes – a real arm-struggle that in itself is a
huge positive for OT. It demonstrates a much improved preparation and
commitment from a side that, earlier in the year, was habitually being blown
away in the first 25 minutes of the game. But better was to follow.
StK started
to look ominous, moving the ball well into their forward line, and scored
first. But this had an un-anticipated effect: it seemed to spur the Trinity
players to new heights, and what followed till quarter time was probably the best 20
minutes of football played by the club in a couple of years at least.
Brent Walsh drifted down from his customary position at CHB to create
a loose man, marked and duly converted for OT’s equaliser. Matty Jessop was
keeping key StK playmaker Ben Dowd quiet;
Mason Cole
in the ruck was combining beautifully with “ruck-rover”
Jack
Healy (surely the biggest ruck-rover in the business) to give
the OT runners –
Brendan Iezzi &
Jessup,
Jack Osborne &
Andrew Hore-Lacy - first use of the ball out of the
middle; but it was the superb play of forwards
Andy
Cultrera combining delightfully with
Andrew
Ramsden, which was blitzing the opposition and amazing the
supporters. Both were marking with historical certainty, and kicking with
renowned assurance and, in tandem, they were driving their opponents to
distraction.
Three goals
to Cultrera and 2 to “Rambo” for the quarter topped an impressive 8-goal haul
for the side – and the best first quarter effort for many a long season. With
the second quarter yielding 4 goals to 2, Old Trinity went in at the long break
in the unaccustomed position of leading by a healthy 35 points, but sobered by
the knowledge that a quality side like StK would not be giving the game away at
any stage.
The third
stanza was not unlike the first 10 minutes of the game – a dour struggle in
which neither side was prepared to give up any ground. The “Old Firm” (do they
qualify for the term yet??) of Walsh, “Dipper” Bourke, Nick &
Tim Howell,
Kristian
Butler and
Leigh Clarke
in the back half were calm and courageous as usual, and efficiently repulsed
most opposition forays. Clarke, crunched
badly when backing into a pack and off for the game, epitomised the courage
while Nick Howell, curly blonde hair visible to the most myopic supporter from
anywhere on the ground, grabbed mark after mark with trademark aplomb.
Up the
ground
Tim Walsh (who unobtrusively
kicked 3 goals for the match) was showing the continued benefit of repeated
match practice, while
Tom Eckersley
showed glimpses of the form he is capable of delivering.
Still
leading by a comforting 30 points, the game was surely safe for the home side.
But OT was tiring and StK mounted their inevitable charge. Early goals to StK
reduced the lead to less than 2 goals, and the question was heard (amongst the
faint-hearted supporters at least!) – how long to go?
What
ultimately stopped the run and re-established OT’s hard-earned dominance was
not some fortuitous event – a lucky free kick, an un-statistical bounce of the
ball – but simply players keeping on
their job: harassing on the ball carrier, creating the loose man, running in
numbers, getting in front. Just the kind of things that a maturing side will do
under pressure.
At the bell
the statisticians might have been suitably satisfied: a result, they might
intone, well within the spread of probabilities. But, hey, bugger the stats-men, it was a victory for the faithful - and
a 1st quarter for the record books!
OLD
TRINITY 8.0 12.3 14.3 18.5-113
ST
KEVINS 4.0 6.4 8.9 12.9-81
OLD
TRINITY
Goal Kickers: A. Cultrera 7, A. Ramsden 5, T. Walsh 3, J. Osborn, B.
Walsh, L. Pacconi
Best Players: M. Cole, A. Cultrera, B. Iezzi, T. Howell, M. Jessop, A.
Ramsden
ST
KEVINS
Goal Kickers: M. Giansiracusa 4, M. Murphy 2, K. Wissell 2, J. Charles,
B. Garvey, A. Lynch, M. Shannon
Best Players: J. Charles, T. Simpson, M. Shannon, D. Sheehy, K. Wissell,
B. Dowd
