Match Report Monday

Round 8 U13s, Div 2
Date: 22 June 2008, 1:00 pm kickoff
Where: unnamed park, 10th Avenue Brighton
Who: Brighton Roosters v Wests Panthers
Score: 32-8, Panthers. Ah, the sweet sweet smell of victory once again!

It's amazing what can happen when all the players can make the game and put in a solid 60 minutes of effort. I'll mention names as to who scored the tries and conversions, but really it was such an outstanding display by all 15 boys that I'm going tell you all their names (in no particular order, mainly from their position and number on their jersey). Well done to Sean, Zack, Torrin, DJ, Jack the Smaller, Scott, Jack the Taller, Simon, Charlie, Chris, Josh, Eli, Jackson, Broden, John and even a shout out for Jarrod who came to do some light training with the boys on Thursday (he's barred from heavy contact for a while yet). In the words of Sparky, you're "freakin' awesome"!

I was looking around for the boys as the game was about to get under way and wondering where Coach Thom was hiding them when I heard the familiar "GIVE A SHIT" shout. Ah, there they are! And there was Brighton on the field, looking as big as ever. They certainly have a high percentage of big boppers than a lot of other teams (although we missed out on our first game against Redcliffe, so they may still retain the title), including us. In typical Brighton fashion, they poured on the pressure in the opening minutes, but Wests scrambled like an egg and held them out. About 10 minutes into the half, Jack the Taller put a lovely kick into the left corner for his name counterpart Jack the Smaller to put down for first points on the board. Jack the Taller then converted to make it 6-0. The Roosters weren't going to take it lying down, however, and upped the pressure, forcing a string of Wests errors before finally darting over in the right corner. They missed the conversion and the score was 6-4.

As has been characteristic of them this season, our boys put the errors behind them and did their best to not let some dodgy calls by the ref get them down. They proved this another 5 minutes later with a fantastic run down the right wing by Zack for their second try. I can't remember if Jack the Taller missed this conversion or not. I think he may have as I remember thinking he was a lot like the Broncos Friday night - convert the ones out on the sideline but miss the ones closer to the middle. Alas, it didn't matter as Wests kept the pressure up and with a few minutes to go before halftime DJ scored down the left side and Jack the Taller hit the conversion (methinks he's a better kicker from the left) and as the whistle blew the score sat at 16-4.

One thing that can be said about Brighton is that they never give up and they didn't disappoint as the second half started. They put some big tackles on our boys but the Panthers were determined and so kept bouncing back up. I've never seen Simon so hungry for the ball - he really lifts when Eli is out there with him - and I would have loved to see him score a try. Alas, it was Josh who put the first points of the half on the board. Not that I'm complaining! Since it was on the right side, Jack the Taller missed that conversion and the score crept up to 20-4. Several minutes later, Jack the Taller managed to break free and streaked down the middle to score a brillant try right under the posts. Unfortunately he may have run a little too fast as something went wonky along the edge of his foot which caused it to swell and Jack was forced from the field. I know, very technical explanation but really as of right now I have NO IDEA what it was or how serious it is. So DJ - my very own Sparky - came over to convert the try. Now I have to tell you that just the other day he was telling me how he was attempting to convert a try for his school team and I did a double take. I'd seen him kick before and it wasn't pretty. He indignantly informed me he'd been shown the proper way by Coach Thom and now was pretty decent from in front, thankyouVERYmuch! And indeed he was, as he converted Jack's try and brought the score out to 26-4.

Brighton kept at it, however, and managed to get a try over in the right corner which I'm told they didn't even try to convert. Huh? I suppose they didn't want to waste time on a kick that had little hope of going over and instead went for more tries. There were a few scary moments when it looked like our line would give and that would happen. It didn't. Torrin very nearly scored in the left corner, and Chris had a running battle with one of the Brighton forwards in the tackling department that Chris won by way of his getting up after the tackles and the Brighton forward was slow to his feet. Indeed, all their big boys were tiring which allowed Josh to score the final try of the match in almost the exact spot of his first try. Scott missed the conversion and so the score remained 32-8.

It was a huge win for the mighty Panthers. Unfortunately it won't lift them from 6th on the table as Brighton, currently 5th, will have the advantage in the for/against department, but it was a massive morale booster going into the game against Samford this week. I was hoping to con Danni into coming down for some more photos as it's a home game, but once again we have a Friday night game so it's a no go! Hell. Never mind, let's hope the game marked the start of a long winning streak.