Round 10, 18 June 2022 (C1) Ballajura V’s Kalamunda
My old Coach Harry Outridge once said ‘The Jungle is Neutral, it’s the same for both sides and the side that prepares for it best, will prevail’
The conditions for play in this game at Kingfisher oval needed plenty of ‘preparation’ for a win as the wind was howling across the oval all afternoon making accurate, effective play almost impossible.
Nevertheless, Ballajura in 5th position, had made their ‘preparation’ to meet our top side and it was only through the brilliance of the Cougars individual players they squeaked home by 5 points!
In the first quarter it soon became evident that Ballajura were going to show ‘no quarter’ as their fierce tackling and body blocking reduced the Cougars run and carry game to a shambles. The pressure applied by their players all over the ground forced our players to lose their composure and with it any control over their delivery into the forward line, to score only 2 points for the term.
In the second quarter the game carried on at a frenetic pace with Ballajura kicking to the southern end of the ground which was favored by the wind. The Cougars held fast during this quarter, with superb efforts by the backline led by Jarrod Brockbernd and Josh Touchell.
At half-time Ballajura were ahead by a point, the difficult conditions reflected in the score: Ballajura 2.7 – 19, Kalamunda 2.6 – 18
The third quarter saw the ‘usual suspects’ working tirelessly to force the ball into the forward line against a wind that was blowing the ball out of bounds on the full, if kicking errors were made. During this term Blair Southcott who had been sharing ruck duties, provided a focal point in attack enabling goal sneak Jack Cipro to kick 2 valuable goals with skipper Trent Pottinger and Josh Harris chipping in with one each.
At three quarter time the cougars led by 14 points.
The final term was going to be a do or die effort by Ballajura, and they commenced quickly by kicking a goal. The Cougars then responded quickly with their only goal for the quarter. This caused the spectators to hold their hearts in their mouths as the Cougars battled to keep the ball in their forward line, only to see it kicked back down the ground to unattended Ballajura players in the mid-field!
Fortunately for the Cougars their backline stood firm again, forcing their opponents to kick inaccurately during these attacks to score only 2.2 for the quarter. The Cougars continued their attack, taking a series of marks on and around the forward 50-meter line, only to see these opportunities drift away from the goals to register 6 single points, but to win by 5 points!
Final scores: Ballajura 7.9 – 51, Kalamunda 7.14 – 56
Best players: the ‘Usual Suspects’
Goals: Jack Cipro 3, Josh Harris, 3 Trent Pottinger, 1
Most noteworthy: Josh Touchell, Jarrod Brockbernd, Blair Southcott and Ben Dupont
Bruce Glover’s plays of the day (POD):
With winds gusting up to 40kms/hr. across the ground it was never going to be a game of class acts but a game of hard grit and courage; and that it was. The attitude that; “we are not going to lose this” became apparent in the last 10 minutes with many great steading marks taken particularly in the last quarter. Thanks Gents.
‘As water retains no constant shape, so in war there are no constant conditions. Therefore one who can modify his tactics in accordance with the enemy’s situation and succeed in gaining victory, may be called a leader’.
Sun Wu Tzu, Chinese philosopher and Bing-fa Master (722 – 481 BC)
Next weeks game round 11 Kalamunda V’s Jandakot @ Ray Owen Oval 2.45
This post is dedicated to Sanderson Road IGA proud sponsors of the Kalamunda ‘Cougars’ Football club.
Cnr. Sanderson & Willoughby Roads, Lesmurdie WA 6076 Telephone: (08) 9291 7181