Summer Metro Round 2 – Convicts(Red) vs Blue Team
Sunday June 14, 5:30pm
Cullen Park
Round 2 of the June metro series saw the two teams travel west to Cullen Park. With all the lush, green soccer pitches already taken up by the future stars of the Houston Dynamo, the Lonestars established a playing field on one of the drier parks to the south east of the venue. It was a hot, humid and blustery day. This was certainly going to challenge everyone’s fitness levels as well as some of the guys’ stomachs, who from all reports consumed a fairly solid BBQ lunch.
After a physical contest in Round 1 that saw the Reds power through to claim the win, it was payback time and a chance for the Blues to square the series ledger. With a number of Blues unavailable, including number 1 draft pick Tom Donnelly, run machine CDG, tough men Art and Max as well as the smooth skills of Earl and Chissy, it was certainly going to be a challenge. It didn’t get any easier after Trigger decided that the ground wasn’t quite up to the standards of Subiaco Oval and wasn’t keen to risk the ankle (Keep an eye out for his pending review of Cullen Park on Yelp). For those following the game in Australia or Las Vegas, the smart money was to back the favourite (favorite) and bet on the Reds to close out the series.
The teams started with nine each on the field in a 2-5-2 line-up, with one extra on the bench. The Blues won the toss in a similar format to most African elections and chose to kick with the wind. The direction of the breeze had no impact on the opening few minutes as the Reds bolted out of the blocks, winning centre (center) breaks and dominating the inside 50s. It appeared from the outside that the Reds’ forwards (Matt combo) may have gone into the game with poor hygiene, as the Blues defenders didn’t get too close to them and gave them plenty of space all quarter. Both forwards scored early and set the tone for a dominant Red team performance.
The day got worse for the Blues as Mash painfully rolled his ankle late in the opening quarter. He went off the field and left a significant hole in the midfield rotation. The first term belonged to the Reds, who held a comfortable lead at the break. They were well led by Perham, Jesse, Brendon and Nick Maass in the middle.
The second quarter saw a much more even contest. The Blues engine room of Blake, Damo and Justin got the team going and fed some quality ball to Jordan and Mueller up forward. More players appeared on the sidelines and the Reds even had the luxury of playing “Rock Star” Talis at fullback after his fashionably late arrival. He was certainly a handy replacement for Scotty, who had decided to take the week off to see how many selfies he could take with a can of Karbach at the cricket in Jamaica (tough life). Robbie moved across to the Blues to even the numbers, but the Reds held strong and went into half time with a handy lead.
The third term started with a strong performance from the Reds. The Reds forward line of Matt P and Dan proved to be too strong and took some handy contested marks from an endless supply of passes from their quality midfield. Matt P and midfielder Nick M scored goals to stretch the lead early in the second half. This resulted in plenty of changes for the Blues. Beers moved into the ruck and took the contest to Perham, while Josh D ventured forward and won plenty of the ball with some very solid marks. A couple of late goals to the Blues, including a long bomb from Josh, reduced the margin to four goals at the last change and gave the Blues a small glimmer of hope.
The final quarter started in exciting fashion. Blake moved up forward and made an instant impact in a similar fashion to what Darren Jarman did in the 90’s. A couple of quick goals from Blake brought the margin back to a close contest and perhaps the possibility for the Blues to snatch an unlikely victory. Any hope of this was quickly erased when midfielders Nick M and Berky snuck forward and kicked truly. This prompted the fat lady to sing, or in this case, Beers to become severely agitated and the game was well and truly over.
Congratulations to Captain Matty L on leading the Reds to a solid 26 point victory and taking a 2-0 series lead. Thanks to DB and Trig for umpiring, Sonni for keeping score and providing plenty of water, and for all those that came to watch the game.
The final game in the series should be a quality contest. This will be held as a special Saturday morning edition to allow the dads to enjoy Father’s Day and to give the Reds the maximum time on the weekend to celebrate their metro series win.
Final Scores
Convicts 11 – 7 –73
Blues 7 – 5 – 47
Goals
Convicts: Nick (3), Jesse (2), Matt L (2), Matt P (2), Perham (1), Berky (1)
Blues: Blake (3), Jordan (2), Beers (1), Josh D (1)
Best
Convicts: Perham, Jesse, Nick Maass, Matt Pay
Blues: Blake, Josh D, Justin, Damo
~Written by Ricko (Blues Captain)
