Round 1 - Scorpions vs Huddersfield

The Scorpions travelled up the road to Huddersfield to take on the Rams in the first round of the AFLCNE 2018 season. With both teams fielding strong sides, a typically tough encounter was expected. Although the weather was more or less perfect (no wind, no rain, slightly mild), Tombstone decided that it would be appropriate to complete the warmup in some form of leather jacket to ensure that he could achieve maximum warmth until ball up. One can only hope that the weather will improve over the coming weeks so that he can remove the outer layer a bit earlier.

The first quarter began at a fairly frantic pace, with neither team really being able to establish themselves early on. The new ruckman Paul Watson was winning all sorts of contests around the ground and providing good ball to the on-ballers, however the Rams were quick to shut down any quick ball out, and to their credit were pouncing on any early opportunities. Thankfully the Scorps defence of Keith Farr, Rich Lucas, James Haden and Carter Purcell held strong in the first 10 minutes or so, which stopped the Rams from getting away. As the quarter wore on, and the cobwebs began to get blown off, the Scorps finally started to put a few goals on the board to get some breathing room. First quarter score ended Scorpions 4.6.30 to Rams 2.3.15

The second quarter continued in much the same fashion. Paul continued to win contests all around the ground, and despite the likes of Ash Swift, Jamie Swift and Lachlan Murdoch (aka Silk) trying to make use of the ruck wins, unfortunately Tom Stone and Martin Kearney were unable to capitalize up front. This kept the Rams in with an opportunity, and they looked to make the Scorpions pay with a couple of long goals from the 50m mark which brought the scores closer together. If it wasn’t from some extra defensive pressure being applied from the half forwards (Josh Wardle and Lee Chapman), the Rams could have potentially gone in to the half time break ahead. Half time score ended Scorpions 6.11.47 to Rams 6.4.40.

The third quarter was more or less a carbon copy of the second, although by now the Scorps were starting to link together a few more passes and were putting pressure on the Rams goal. Unfortunately our accuracy just wasn’t there, and although we had plenty of opportunities, we simply weren’t converting them. In contrast, the Rams were much more accurate, converting 3 of their 4 shots on goal in order to reduce the gap to 5 points going in to the final quarter. 3 quarter time score ended Scorpions 8.17.65 to Rams 9.5.59.

By the time the final quarter came around, the effects of the long preseason were starting to show, with the Scorpions potentially benefitting from some slightly better fitness. Paul continued to grow into the game providing some excellent ball to teammates, while James, Keith and Silk kept the ball moving forward from the back and middle. Some timely goals by Neil de Joux managed to open up a bit of breathing room which made things less tense going in to the final 10 minutes. With the Rams tiring, there was more room opening up on the field and more shots on goal. Still, the accuracy curse haunted us, finishing with a fairly poor percentage. Final score finished Scorpions 11.24.90 to Rams 11.9.75.

All up, a solid and tough first outing for the 2018 season, and the Scorps will be hoping to improve on their accuracy as the season progresses. Players’ player votes were 3 to Paul, 2 to Silk, and 1 to Neil. Not a bad effort from 2 debutants! DotD was undecided, with some suggesting Tombstone for the leather jacket warmup, some suggesting Kearney for kicking 1 goal 7 behinds, and one person suggesting that the person who nominated Kearney should be nominated for being mean. Hopefully this issue will be resolved soon.

Join us on Saturday the 12th of May for the 2nd round, with a much anticipated home clash against the Mozzies.

Snip snip!