Semi Finals: Demons vs Ealing Emus (Social)

Stuart 'Kettles' Dow | 27.07.16

South London Demons 10.11 (71) def. Ealing Emus 1.2 (8)

Clapham Common was the scene for the first final of the South London Demons 2016 AFL campaign; hosting the Ealing Emus for a top of the table battle and a berth in the Grand Final. A recent loss to them at home was still fresh in our minds, so it was paramount for us to reinforce why we finished the Home and Away season on top of the ladder.

The day was spectacular and the track was fast, ideal conditions for our agile and energetic line up. From the first bounce we were once again offered beautiful delivery from Lachie Robinson - who's tap work was all class; sadly this wasn't converted to our advantage, as the first quarter was a see-sawing battle.  Courtney 'Babu' Wright started on fire but missed our first attempt on goal; within a minute, the disciplined zone by our forwards allowed Brett 'Bert' Hoare to intercept a mark and convert for the first major of the game. The Emu's struck back soon after with some impressive ball movement, the resulting time of the quarter being much of a tug-of-war between the two 50 meter arcs.

It was the second quarter where we started to see some dynamic changes in the game. A few adjustments in our structure down back and a revised strategy of our forwards paid off handsomely. The lads in the middle began to get some real traction, lead by Mark 'Simba' Brescacin, Bert, Bevan Connelly and Kane Russell. The forwards looked up-and-about in the second with Toots snagging a nice goal, Bresci and Kane also helped themselves out to a few sausages. Throughout the quarter the classic styling of Babu was scintillating, his ball movement and attack on goal was something to watch. The backs were clinical thanks to Terry 'Turtle' Unitt, Damon 'Damo' Urwin and Jeremy 'I Coach Premierships' Coombes holding down the fort.  By the conclusion of the half we had cemented our position with a strangle hold on the game and not allowing any further increase in their score.

The second half was where the lads produced some magic; the Demon's could see the Emus' carcass and wanted a feed. The midfield were harder than a cats' head, using the run and carry from the wings to go forward. John 'JD' Dillion was superb with his marking contests along centre half forward. The forward pressure from James 'Gealy' Geale, David 'Cash Money' Lumley and Eoin 'OE' Kenny provided excellent opportunities for our guys to keep the scoreboard ticking over. With this strength and the added resilience of the back line, the Emus would once again go goalless all quarter.

The last quarter was a fait accompli, it was about shutting the game down and rubbing some serious salt into the wounds of the opposition. The Emus had other plans with a flooding tactic and dropping multiple men into their forward line. Our boys didn't fret, the backline stood tall and resisted the incoming tide of the Emus attacking. It was a resounding win and one that should provide an excellent foundation for the Grand Final in a fortnights time. There were several other Demons who played and deserve a mention but I'll save that for when I write about lifting the Premiership Cup. Lastly a special thanks to Morph for Running, Tessa, Party Marty and Francis for being Waterboy/girls and the goal umpires who volunteered.

As an additional note, as a lead up to the Grand Final on the 6th of August, we are going to hold a training session at 10:30am on Saturday morning, 30 July. This will run for approximately 1 hour and is a compulsory session for everyone, as we are going to run through some plays I want to implement for the game the following week. After which we will be having a players lunch at 'the junction' as a team building exercise so we can have a pint, a quick meal and get some good banter going to start getting excited for the following weekend, AND then we can all jump on the train to get to Chiswick to cheer on the women's and 1s teams at 14:30. We may not be playing this weekend, but its still a big weekend in footy!

Goals: Bresci 2, Babu 2, Hoarey 1, Toots 1, Kane 1, Gealey 1, Chicken Tim 1

< Back to the news