by therisingblues » Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:31 pm
Very entertaining game of footy. Great atmosphere, and I had originally thought that there about 5,000 there from our spot on the hill, but perhaps there were a few gaps elsewhere.
Sturt looked to have controlled the game on the scoreboard, but I felt we were lucky in that first quarter to have scored a goal with just about every forward entry we made. In the third there was a period of about 15 odd minutes where we hadn't been able to get the ball forward of the center square, but were eventually efficient when we did get it in to the 50 m arc. Our strong marking was a feature, as well as some dobs for goal from outside 50.
Things were looking good, but I had been at the game earlier in the year when the Bays cut Sturt to ribbons in the space of about 10 minutes, and at about the 5th minute mark of the final quarter they suddenly switched on.
Glenelg's skills, teamwork and pace became exemplary. they had not looked bad before that, but now they were a cut above. Sturt still chased, pressured, and was desperate at every contest, but the Bays just had the spare player in space ready to receive the ball, even as it was being gathered further up the ground. In some cases it was just not possible to intercept, the understanding and execution by the Tigers was Premiership material. Finally Luke Reynolds pulled down an absolute screamer in front of goal. A solid grab after rising above the pack in slow motion, and not a thing anyone could do to knock the pill out of those iron mitts. Glenelg were now within less than a goal, and in contrast to the nervousness of the Blues faithful, those few groups of Glenelg fans who attended were positively enjoying themselves, safe in the knowledge that the result had no bearing on top position already sewn up, and there were still putting on a clinic to us, who had everything to play for. I dread to think of what might have happened had there actually been a consequence to Saturday's result for them.
Thankfully Sturt steadied the ship, and never dropped the work-rate. Even though for ten minutes our best had been unable to stem the tide, it eventually provided the impetus for the next three goals, and we live another week.
Glad to have gotten through, but whoever meets the Bays in this year's finals is just fodder IMO. 10 minutes of interest was almost enough to derail our entire season, and they didn't even have anything to play for, save to end our season and allow the Panthers into the finals.
Maybe that's why we won in the end? the Panthers just might have had a greater chance to outlast Norwood and potentially threaten Glenelg than we can?
I'm gonna sit back, crack the top off a Pale Ale, and watch the Double Blues prevail
1915, 1919, 1926, 1932, 1940, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976, 2002, 2016, 2017