2016 ROUND 13 V OLD HAILEYBURY

Teams	1st Q.	2nd Q.	3rd Q.	4th Q.
Beaumaris	2.5:17	7.10:52	12.12:84	16.18:114
Old Haileybury	3.5:23	4.7:31	9.9:63	10.10:70
Goalkickers : Rob Cathcart 3, Drew Kelly 3, Stephen Milne 2, Matt Petering 2, Sam McBain 2, Will Edmonds 1, Steven Scott, Joel Di Natale, Will Murton

No	Player	No	Player	No	Player	No	Player
2	Robert Cathcart	3	Matt Petering	7	Tom Dean	8	Josh Ward
11	Scott Braithwaite	12	Scott Gower	13	Will Murton	14	Jack Gabron-Uhe
15	Lachlan Boyd	16	Sam McBain	18	Will Edmonds	19	Joel Di Natale
20	Callan Buckley	22	Steven Scott	23	Ben McLean	25	Daniel Gribbin
26	Michel De Fontenay	33	Stephen Milne	35	Luke Globan	45	Drew Kelly
55	Will Gillespie	56	Nick Dickinson

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"You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get."

Michael Phelps (Olympic Swimmer � 22 Olympic Gold medals).

On a perfect day for football we ventured up to Princes Park in Caulfield to confront Old Haileybury. Back in Round 3 we managed to shake them off and win that game with a margin of just 4 points and really could have gone either way. Since then our fortunes have been vastly different. Old Haileybury won their match the following week but then went on a losing run of seven games which saw them plummet down the ladder. Usually, Top versus Second Bottom, should be an 'easy game'? But, sometimes the position on the ladder doesn't always reflect the ability of a team or, particularly, how they may match up. Old Haileybury's victory over Monash Blues last week certainly showed they were an improved outfit and with Shane Valenti back from an injury which had kept him out for most the season, they were definitely looking stronger.

It was a scrappy affair to start with and neither team could manage to find the gap between the big sticks. After Old Haileybury kicked two behinds we missed three set shots and it took 13 minutes of play for the first goal to be scored. That goal came from a good passage of play when Petering gathered a loose ball in the back pocket, found Dean at half back who in turn found De Fontenay on the wing. De Fontenay passed it on to McBain at half forward. McBain handballed long to Murton and his quick hands gave to Di Natale who in turn hit up Drew Kelly, 25 metres out on a 45 degree angle. The ball went from one end of the ground to the other without Old Haileybury getting near it. However, it was going to take another 15 minutes before we would score our next goal through the reliable boot of Milne. In that time Old Haileybury were controlling the play. It was a rare quarter where we lost the possession count, 72 to 81. Major ball winners were Petering with 9 disposals and Cathcart, Scott and De Fontenay with 6 each. We went to the first break trailing 2-5-17 to 3-5-23.

The second quarter didn't start the way coach Brayden would have wanted. Just four minutes into the quarter James Paul (#2) skipped through a pack, broke the lines through the middle of the ground, and found Harrison (#16). He released to Connelly (#10), he was able to spot up Waite (#26) on his own, 15 metres out, and Waite ran in and kicked the easiest of goals. But, that was end of their goal scoring for the quarter. We were about to wake from a little slumber and, as they say, 'make things right with the universe'. Two minutes later a deft little tap by Gribbin from a boundary throw-in was enough for Cathcart to brush off a head high tackle and slot through our first for the quarter. It was another 13 minutes before we registered another major but we then kicked three in quick succession.

The first of those was from another stoppage. Boyd tapped the ball to Di Natale with 'sleight of hands' he gave the ball to Petering who kicked quickly and the ball bounced just inside the goal square with enough height on it to evade the Old Haileybury defender for another goal. A couple minutes later, Old Haileybury were switching the play across their backline with Paul (#2) preparing to take a mark. A slow ball allowed Edmonds, using his body to perfection, to take Paul out of the contest and mark the ball himself. Ignoring the lead from Milne, Edmonds held the play up, found Petering 30 metres out, and we had our second in as many minutes.

Two minutes later, some quick ball movement out of the backline had Dean with the ball just outside our CFH position. Dean's well placed kick to the forward pocket saw Milne, showing his years of experience, edge out Shakallis (#5) and then play on and use his left foot to put through another goal. We were starting to get on top. With the quarter winding down, Old Haileybury decided to go 'straight down the guts' from a minor score kickout. As the ball came off the pack Buckley was sitting quietly out the back ready to pounce on the loose ball and his quick kick found Di Natale 25 to 30 metres out directly in front. With the siren sounding as he started his run up, Joel kicked truly and we had our fifth for the quarter.

Petering was everywhere and picked up another 11 disposals in addition to his two goals while McBain was starting to have some influence with 9 disposals. Dean was also making his presence felt with his 7 disposals for the quarter. The quarter ended with us leading the disposal count 84 to 66 and leading on the scoreboard 7-10-52 to 4-7-31.

The third quarter turned out to be a more even affair with both teams scoring 5 goals 2 behinds. Old Haileybury came out ready to make a game of it and had the first goal on the board within 2 minutes. Our first goal came a few minutes later with a movement we had already seen in the second quarter. From a ball up just outside the centre square, Gribbin tapped perfectly down to Cathcart who let it rip from just inside the arc for a goal. Old Haileybury kicked two more before another Cathcart involvement saw him kick the ball deep into our forward pocket where Milne was waiting but being closely checked by two Old Haileybury defenders, his quick handball (yes, it was a handball) to Kelly and we had our second for the quarter. A couple minutes later Gribbin crashed the pack to allow Boyd to handball to McBain who finished with a goal. Old Haileybury kicked another two goals before Dickinson kicked a high ball to the wing where Gribbin, on a long lead, took the mark. He played on quickly and kicked long to Milne deep in the pocket. Trapping the ball on the ground Milne fired off another handball (yes, his second for the game) again to Kelly who ran on and kicked his second for the quarter with a dribble kick on his left. Our last goal for the quarter came from another Old Haileybury kickout. Their full-back again went 'straight down the guts' and (unfortunately for them) McLean, reading the flight of the ball perfectly, pulled in another of those pack marks we are now accustomed to seeing from him. His perfect pass allowed Cathcart to play on and kick his second for the quarter. We went to the final break still leading by 21 points. 12-12-84 to 9-9-63.

Something noticeable this season is our team's ability to run out games and outlast the opposition. There is no doubt this is due in no small part to fitness guru, Todd Bowden and the team of trainers led by Lauren Brereton. So it was in this game. It took until the 20 minute mark before Old Haileybury scored their only goal for the quarter. Then Murton, McBain, Edmonds and Scott all registered goals and we went on to win the game by 44 points. The major ball winners in the final quarter were Edmonds (10 disposals) Braithwaite (9) Dean and Scott (8 each) and Globan (7). While Gribbin didn't have his kicking boots on this week, his ruck work resulted in several goal assists and was something Cathcart certainly appreciated. We saw glimpses of the Old Haileyburians moving the ball in such a way that isn't normally seen from a team near the bottom of the ladder. Their ability to transition the ball with speed resulted in some very quick scoring from them. While we ran out 44 point winners, 16-18-114 to 10-10-70, it was another tough game and another great preparation as we head towards the end of the season.

Don't you just love the footy.

Go sharks.