Opposition: Oakleigh
Coming off a much needed win last week, today was an opportunity to find some consistency and hopefully grab the points from Oakleigh at their home ground. For this to happen, the Golds needed to bring their A game, and for the footy Gods to be kind.
The wind played a role in the first quarter with Oakleigh kicking four majors to our none. DeLa were getting plenty of the ball, but found it difficult to maintain possession into the breeze.
Second quarter DeLa ramped up their clearances and gave good supply to the forwards. JT was inspirational with his grunt work around the stoppages, and Nids worked hard in attack to receive a clever kick from Eddie with Nids kicking our first goal. Hoppy made the most of the conditions and was involved in a goal kicked by McMahon, and then kicked one himself. Byrne Jones was looking
good with his work along the wing, but then received an ugly sling tackle which sidelined him for the rest of the game. A few other DeLa players were struggling with minor injuries, so with no bench the second half was going to be a tough challenge, even though we were only one goal down at the main break.
The third term saw the game get heated, DeLa never backed down and were able to stay disciplined, but unfortunately we had another two players in George and LT get sidelined due to injury. Oakleigh made the most of the wind, and made the most of their extra numbers. The final quarter was exhaustive for the remaining 16 DeLa players, but in true form they gave it everything and tried their best. Oakleigh too good and too strong on this occasion.
A shout out to our injured players – you’re in good hands, hopefully you guys are back on the track soon.
Score: Oakleigh 14-14-98 def DeLa 4-8-32
Goal Kickers: McNidder 1, McMahon 1, Hopkins 1, Martinz 1,
Reserves Grand Final Match Report
Kicking to the end where 8 of the 9 game goals were scored, Fasoulis snapped amazingly from a pack within 2 minutes of the match start.
