50+50+50 =150
Today we celebrated the 3 milestone’s of 50 games for; Podge (Paige Hinrichs), Peddles (Luisa Marrollo) and Griffo (Emma Greetham). The Tripod have played footy together since 2017 when they played at East Brighton Football Club. And on this day, the former East Brighton players went face-to-face against their old coach and former team mates that now make up the club of MCC.
A 2pm start for the Guns always warrants a little extra nerves and anticipation for the game and as MCC remain undefeated in the competition, we knew this week was going to be a mighty task. With the weather on our side, not a drop of rain in sight, the conditions at Dairy Bell were perfect for us to give it our best shot.
With a few of the Guns feeling battered and bruised from South Melbourne in round 7, we just scraped through with 17 in the team, 1 on the bench and 16 per side. It was a close one though, our valiant captain Jen Males was stung by a bee 5 minutes before the starting siren and though allergic, she managed to plough through the pain and played the most significant role for the team. Jen, selflessly sacrificed her own game in order to nullify one of the competition’s top goal kickers. And everyone agrees she did an amazing job, the MCC goal kicker was kept scoreless by Jen up until the final quarter. Though it was a tough match up physically, Jen showed us that she never gives up and will do anything for the Guns.
Lee McHenry played with this attitude today too. When surrounded by opposition players, she reliably made it out of the pack, leaving them paces behind her. She did this on numerous occasions and was constantly zipping around from forwardline to backline, making an impact wherever she went. Lee had an under pressure shot on goal in the 4th quarter that just skimmed the post, it’s a pity we don’t have the high-tech score review, I’d appeal that one!
A sigh of relief was let out as Katie Lindkvist’s name was read out over a plate of ravioli, on Thursday night. We needed her! How she fared was summed up at half time, when the ruck from the opposition came up to tell me that they didn’t stand a chance against our almighty Footballer/Netballer Katie! I don’t think anyone is surprised to hear that.
Our Bruiser in the backline Izy Catrice, or is it Cat-Rice? It doesn’t matter! Izy kicked a goal for the guns in the 2nd quarter! What a show she put on for her True Love and Mummy dearest who were cheering on the sidelines. It didn’t end there, Bruiser laid some stellar tackles throughout the match. One in particular was when the poor MCC player was dragged to the ground, holding the ball.
Rosie Shepphard, a long standing, loyal Gun of 5 years, proved all those years weren’t for nothing. She baffled the opposition with her physicality, bumping and interrupting their forward motion and bringing the ball to ground. She calls herself the ‘Best centre half bench in the VAFA’ but I reckon that bench is getting awfully cold without her these days.
Overall the match was tough, we were outnumbered at most contests as MCC kept producing fresh legs. The Guns never gave up, we played with intent and tried our best to make them work for their goals. It was a collective effort from the Guns. The outcome was that the score did not reflect the effort, determination, persistence and hunger of our amazing team.
Result: De La 1.2.8 v MCC 13.13.91
