Rd 6: Demons vs Raiders (Conference)

Michael "Pitto" Pitman | 16.06.16

Clapham Demons 1.4 (10) def. by Shepherd's Bush Raiders 16.11 (107) 

Before I start I just want to say what an amazing job by Gaby and the girls (including Jimmy) on a massive effort for the MND cause. A lot of effort must have gone in to the day and the cupcakes. Well done to the Dees for getting around such a good cause and reaching into their pockets to contribute!

I was really excited about this game and thought we had the team to really take it to the Raiders. The first quarter lived up to my expectations and easily could have been ours if it wasn’t for a few 50/50 chances that just didn’t seem to go our way. We seemed to get the ball inside our forward 50 plenty of times however just couldn’t convert. I was really impressed with Whitey's game, especially his first half where he seemed to be intercepting most of the Raiders forward 50 movements. Fulton and Shakey were completing their janitorial duties to exceptional levels mopping up anything that came their way and put a bit of spit and polish on the Dees ball movement going forward. The pressure that we applied to the Raider’s ball carriers and the man on man footy that we played in that first quarter really showed that if we play to our game style we can really bring it to these guys.

The second quarter saw us reduce the pressure slightly on the Raiders which had a massive difference on their game, allowing them to open the game up a little and play that free flowing football that they enjoy. We had a few more chances to convert on the scoreboard however just weren’t able to finish. Yeao worked hard all day, with limited opportunity, and played like a little terrier whenever the ball was inside our forward 50 providing much needed pressure on the Raider’s ball carrier. Thommo played well in a lock down role against the Raider’s number 9 who was playing a quarter back role and setting up a lot of their play. Thommo reduced his impact and tagged him out of the game. With his misses on the sideline watching his every move, Bambi worked hard all day and once again gave 110% trying to give first option to our midfielders.

The third quarter was by far our worst and I must say I was a little disappointed by the amount of dropped heads I saw when the game wasn’t going our way. Even one of the most courageous acts I’ve seen in a long time with Casa going back with the flight on the wing with Fulton and his man barrelling towards him wasn’t even enough to spark the Magoos into action. We lost two big men in Ki and Patto who were working hard up and down the field providing options, this lead to a bit of a reshuffling and reduced rotation options with only one fit body on the bench heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter started well for the Dees and we matched it with them for the first half of the quarter however after that the Raiders kept on coming and ended up beating us in the final term as well. A disappointing day for the Magoos however it just shows that we have a lot to work on in the back end of the season to take it to the Raiders. Let’s get down to training and get around each other and really work hard on the track.

Goals: Yeao 1

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