First off a big hello goes out to the guy or girl who writes the reviews in the budget for Talking Amateurs. You are obviously a fan!

Two wins a row was the main aim for Mitchell Park this week as Central United kicked off the second half of the year at The Den.

The B Grade had a massive 91 point win against the struggling Central side. Many players contributed on Saturday with few standing out in an even performance.  Tyson Vitale continued his strong form with 5 goals, Tyson’s work ethic around the ground was excellent and it was good to see some reward for his effort. If he could train regularly there is no doubt he could replicate that performance in the A Grade. Brad Schneider rucked all day again and was very useful around the ground taking several strong marks. Kym Logan – a certainty for the B Grade best and Fairest – played strongly yet again. Lofty is the heart of this side and is most definitely an inspiration to his team mates. Despite the good win there was some areas for improvement. A tardy start to the game allowed central to kick 4 goals in the first quarter to be nearly level and the turn out on Saturday night was again disappointing. Get back to the club, even for an hour, to support your mates and have a laugh...

I must give a mention to Steve Brown on his first game for years. Browny cops a lot from the lads – mostly fair enough – but his commitment to the club is unquestionable. Well done Browny on coming back from all those injuries, now at least you can justify all the strapping!

The slow start from the B grade seemed to be contagious as the A Grade began woefully. Kicking 1.6 to 4.1 was simply not good enough, even into the strong breeze. To the lads credit we responded and managed to pile on the goals in the second quarter. Ben Weekley was in his multiple best and fairest winning from, racking up possessions seemingly at will. His ability to read the play and extract the pill was one of the major differences between the sides. Kicking a great snap goal to lift the Lions, Ben was easily in the best players on the ground. Casey “Doom” Varnas has been a revelation this year. Looking more like a computer programmer than footballer, Casey’s evasive skills and ability to hold his feet are second to none. With several other strong performances and some injuries/suspensions to other strong players, Casey could well be a dark horse for the Best and Fairest. Lukas “Doof” Newton was a lot shorter and lighter than his gargantuan opponent on Saturday. Learning from some initial contests where he was beaten, Doof managed to hold his own in the ruck and provide decent service to the on ballers all day. Lukas continues to put his body on the line for the club and should be commended again on his strong performance. Damien Bates has seemingly shaken off the effects of a chronic injury to kick beautifully and garner 7 goals. One Central United player could not believe he was having a shot from so far out and commented as much ... only for the ball to sail easily over his head and hit the fence on the full. Luke McDonnell provided another strong target, kicking 6 goals. With Central United battling week in, week out, it was probably a disappointing effort to not win by more, however to Centrals absolute Credit they never gave in and managed to use the conditions to their advantage. Mitchell Park 19.17 - 131 def Central United 11.5 – 71.

Well done, next week is our old nemesis Paralowie, who have managed to comprehensively beat us the last 3 times. It will take a strong concerted effort from all involved to get over the line.

Catchya on the track – if I can get away from work and the missus!

Morgan