A's Advance in Avalanche

SCOREBOARD
Old Ignatians        2.5        3.5                8.1          12.13            (85)   
Walkerville           2.2            7.3                  7.6           11.8       (74)

Goals:  Moppa 2.5, Tys 2.3, Lepp, Frini 2.0, Stevo 1.3, Harty 1.2, Wado, Zeuner 1.0, Bucky 0.2    

Best:   Frini, Harty, Tys, Ozzie, Bucky, Trotts, Chimp, Stevo, Sleboo, Moppa, Zeuner, 

By Scolls,

There is something special about finals time in our great Australian game. There is a spring and urgency in everyone’s step and the energy levels are high….no need to motivate the troops as the prospect of finals footy does that. Selection becomes tight and challenging and last week was no different. Into the 22 came Alby, Harty and Ozzy, replacing the unlucky Doc and Juice and the sights of Robo’s men were squarely locked in on disposing of Walkerville on their own dung heap.

Pre-game the atmosphere in the rooms was charged and reminiscent of early season where our form was good and confidence was high. Robo preached a simple sermon highlighting accountability, work rate, run and ferociousness at the opposition and the ball. The first half unfolded rather eerily in a similar fashion to the previous week with Walkies effectively dominating and Iggies struggling to stay in the contest despite having a fair share of the ball….failure to convert opportunities into scoreboard pressure was a concern. Tys’s first quarter at centre half forward was terrific, Harty was finding plenty of it and Frinny was working hard across the middle whilst Moppa and Lepp were providing targets up forward….but inaccuracy in our conversion was proving damaging. The second stanza saw Walkies assert their authority and look to wrestle control away from Robo’s lads and we seemed to struggle to get the footy beyond half forward. Harty was still finding plenty of the ball and Zeuns started to assert his presence on a wing, whilst the backline battled manfully as it has all year. We changed the mix up forward a couple of times just to find the spark but the half time break saw us staring at a 3 goal deficit, not dissimilar to the previous week.  Some structural changes at half time saw Lepp go to a wing (Robo’s idea which Scolls was dubious about), Tys to centre half back and Boydy to centre half forward (Scoll’s idea which Robo was dubious about). With Ozzy coming on early in the third for the injured Carlo (no one’s idea which everyone was dubious about) the challenge was before us and the lads committed to up the tempo in the second half.

What happened next was something that was truly beautiful to watch as we began to dominate all over the ground. Ozzy gave us first use, Frinny and the other on-ballers began to capitalize on this and Zeuns and Lepp began to dominate their wings…so with a winning on ball division and winning centre line the results began to flow. Down back Tys began to rebound leaving his opponent lagging behind and soon heading for the bench, whilst Trotts was playing with his customary European flair from half back. Finally we started to kick accurately and create scoreboard pressure….the reward a 5 goal to 3 points quarter, a very noisy Iggies crowd and suddenly Walkies were sitting firmly on their haunches at ¾ time.

They came at us hard in the opening minutes of the last but when Lepp kicked that goal on his left foot on the run the signs were looking good. Chisel finally decided to kick straight and calmly slotted through his first for the afternoon and the game was nearly over. Walkies threatened again but the defence of Slebs, Chimp (in a memorable 100th game), Smokin, Cliffy and Lepp (who moved himself back late in the game) again held firm and the potential threat was quickly and calmly quelled.

In a day where all contributions were equally important and the best could have been picked from any number of players, a number are worthy of mention: Frinni was at his best and his form in the middle was terrific, Harty had plenty of it, Tys was back to his best and his work across half back in the second half was outstanding, Ozzy was superb when thrown into the ruck and the big fella just gave all and then some, Trotts was all class at half back and Zeuns and Lepp provided a special spark across the middle. The goal kickers were evenly spread with Frinni, Moppa, Lepp and Tys kicking 2, and Chisel, Wado, Harty and Zeuns each getting a single.

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