A return to one of Mitchell Parks favourite places saw The
Lions face the Hectorville Hounds is what was always going to be an interesting
encounter. Sadly it was interesting for a lot of the wrong reasons! The B Grade continued to show an improved form line compared
to previous years with a solid and determined effort that fell just short. The
teams were evenly matched with much of the game see-sawing but Heccies always
with their noses in front. Considering some of the senior players that were
missing it was an admirable effort to eventually go down by 29 points. Brad
Moroney showed why many pundits at the club rate him as one of the more
promising young players the club has seen. In a role that was perhaps quite
new to Possum he provided run, defensive pressure and excellent skills to
marshall the back line superbly. Tim Clark, a new player to the club, had a
great game across the ground exhibiting some excellent kicking. Mark Harrison
donned the boots in a surprise late change and despite playing with obvious
discomfort contributed strongly. Lee Darrington made a lot of noise in the
forward line leaving Bun-heang Heng, Guy Forster and Tyson Vitale to kick 2
each. The A grade played some of our best football since 2002. The
movement and energy from the midfield was fantastic and with the McDonnell show
in full force it was a sight to behold. Outsized and outmuscled the backline
held together strongly despite a relatively poor start and restricted some very
good footballers to a small score by ¾ time - Mitchell Park up by 4 goals
with the game there for the taking.... Then it all went wrong. Hectorville to their credit never
gave up and were always close enough to run over the top of us on their home
patch – which is exactly what they did. I am personally not sure if it was
mindset, fitness or ability that caused such a momentum swing. Perhaps it was a
little bit of everything. In a loss described by one senior player as one of
the worst he has experienced it was a very disappointing end to what could have
been a grand day - with Heccies running out 21 point victors. Casey Varnas was
superb on the wing in a best on ground performance. Silky possessions and quick
decision making was definitely on show from Casey on Saturday but for mine his
ability to make contest after contest when most other players would not have
come close is what made his game special. Adam Dowsett was again desperate and
creative in the midfield and would be close to our best player so far this year.
Luke McDonnell showed some of his critics what he can do with some forward line
marking and kicking the Adelaide Football club could probably do with, eventually
finishing with 6 goals. As Darren said, now is not the time to turn on each other or
give up. If we can play the football we played for the first half for 4 quarters
we can beat anyone. Thanks to Leigh Rowbottom for filling in at Centre Half back. Despite going down with cramp he showed why he is sorely missed at The Den. See you on the track! |