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)

For the second time in 3 weeks Old Trinity allowed the opposition to kick big, and winning, scores, before an improved second half showed supporters a glimpse of their ability. In a frustrating display it seemed (and not for the first time) as if the side was waiting for all to appear lost before throwing caution to the wind and playing the fast running linking football which they have shown they can play.

Is this what is meant by fear of failure? Was the good form shown in the practice matches contingent on the result being irrelevant? And in Rd 1, against Haileybury, when they were widely tipped to lose, was the risky, but exhilarating, show they put on that day the result of a less worried attitude to the game?

One thing is indisputable: for a team that has shown it can play so delightfully, there is a lot of head scratching going on.

For more observations from the game – Read On:

Disadvantaged again by a reduced bench, Old Trinity went extremely close to taking the points against top-four side St Bede’s/Mentone. Coach Ray Leetham commented ruefully that it was a great game “that certainly was ours for the taking. Considering we had two interchange this was a great effort.”

He also rued some missed chances and indirect football in the last quarter which resulted in goals for the visitors instead of for Old Trinity.

Rosco's Rant - Round 4

Saturday morning's weather was likened to that of the Scottish Highlands. William Wallace wouldn't have been impressed with his men had they turned up late to a battle with the English. My mood was fairly foul as I read text messages of misadventures on the Western Ring Road, harrowing tales of disorientation on the West Gate Freeway and being blatantly lost at Hanging Rock. This was the big 4th vs 5th clash against St Bernards. I was in no mood for excuses!

Fortunately, once the game started, the commitment of every player could not be questioned.

It was a day all might like to forget.

The sun shone, there was little wind, and the surface at the expansive Gordon Barnard Reserve was in excellent condition. One would have thought it perfect for an Old Trinity side that likes space and relies on hard running.

Nothing could have bee further from the truth. Apart from the opening ten minutes when Old Trinity seemed to have the ascendancy the afternoon deteriorated into a series of lost opportunities and missed chances.

Old Camberwell played a hard checking game that forced the visitors into repeated errors. The turnovers that were thus created hurt them dreadfully on the rebounds. Kent Kingsley at full forward for OC had an armchair ride as the ball repeatedly came to him with OT appearing to be running in the opposite direction. Poor ‘Dippa’ Bourke had little chance.

If Old Trinity had one strength on the day - that being Andrew Ramsden at full forward - they simply didn’t play to it often enough. Even though he managed 6 great goals for the afternoon, it could easily have been more if the players up the field had gone directly to him, instead of allowing themselves to be hassled and forced wide.

As the game wore on and OC grew in confidence their attack on the ball intensified and the visitors simply became spectators to what was happening.

Apart from Rambo’s lone hand there were other instances when one could have believed Old Trinity were capable of being better. Leigh Clarke in his first game showed some good run from half back, Jack Healy was tried in several positions and never gave up, Luke Pacconi was hard at it for most of the afternoon and Brendan Iezzi did his best under a tight tag.

But the bottom line is plain: the team that showed such promise in the practice matches and in Rd 1 now must reassess and simply strive to do better. Enough said. (AB)

Rosco's Rant - Round Three v/s Old Camberwell

Old Trinity returned to the winner's list on Saturday with a hard fought win against Old Camberwell. After enjoying the Assumption College full forward kick 23 goals in the schoolboys game which preceded the ressies, Jay Arrowsmith claimed that he could do better! Jay's return of 1.5 never really challenged but showed that the "Big Fella" is working into the 2009 season.

Old Trinity had a mixed day out at Princes Park as they met University Blues. Both clubs were looking for their first win of the season, and at the siren it was Uni Blues who were holding the choccos.

In a see-sawing game OTs won the first quarter and matched the uni boys in the last but were kept goal-less in the second and third quarters.

Coach Ray Leetham was positive, appraising the match as a great team effort. “We did not get the game points but we are learning what it takes to get them. The team is progressing and starting to play strong attacking football.” He also bemoaned the sporadic attendance at traiing for some players: “Some players are only training once a week - think of what we could do if everyone trained twice together!”

For the full Match Report – Read More

In a letter to Supporters (and re-published here on the Website), Club President Dyson Hore-Lacy has announced some new initiatives for raising the necessary funds to run the club successfully.

The first initiative consist of an ongoing Wine Sale of fine and economical wines from the De Bortoli selection.

This effort was formally launched at the Home Game Lunch last Saturday where Lunch guests De Bortoli Manager Peter Yeoman and current Deputy Head Master at Trinity (and former player for OMs) Rohan Brown entertained the guests with remeniscences of their old playing days (Brown for OMs; Yeoman for Uni Blues, and, later, Old Trinity).

The second major effort for the year will be a Banquet Auction, which in previuos years has proved to be both exceptionally popular and financially succesfull.

In his letter President Dyson encourages all members and supporters to donate items for the Auction.

For full details, Read More:

An undermanned Under 19 side took on Beaumaris in diificult conditions and fought hard for 3 quarters but were eventually undone by lack on numbers.  Five players came out of the selected side, leaving the team with just eighteen players and no interchange. Given the imbalance in numbers it was always going to be a tough assignment but the OT boys went into the game full of confidence
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Coach’s comment-A committed eighteen players took on a big challenge today and played attacking football for the whole game. Each player is developing even though we did not get the 4 points!

Rosco's Rant - Round Two

Old Trinity were on the receiving end of an old fashioned football lesson on Saturday. Old Melburnians and Old Trinity had convincing wins in the first round of the season and were looking to continue their good form. There could only be one winner!