The Rebels took the field for Round 5 with several regulars out of the lineup due to injury or prior commitments. In an amazing stat the Rebels fielded 18 players and had 17 unavailable which is a testament to the clubs recruiting over the past few seasons. With Coach Monty Burns away Jeffrey Brand and Michael Fabbri stepped into the coaching role for the afternoon.

With some early morning rainfall making conditions a little soggy, this contest was going to be a slog for four quarters. The Rebels knew that they could not allow the Hawks too many clean possessions and applied the pressure early. Kieran Hess was relishing the conditions, throwing himself into every contest and leading the way gathering a number of possessions. The Hawks were applying pressure on the in-experienced Rebels backline but thanks to some solid play and pressure the boys held them to only 3 goals and posted 1 major themselves through the ever reliable Mark Wilson.

During the first break the stand in coaches were very happy with the teamâ€™s effort and asked for more of the same in second. The Rebels battled hard again and first gamer Graham Cove was showing a natural ability to find the footy and send it our way. The sustained pressure for the Hawks eventually translated into some late quarter goals and the Rebels found themselves down by 7 going into the main change.

With some choice words at the long break the Rebels once again came out strong, Ron Brennan easily the Rebels most consistent performer this season was doing a fantastic job on one of the best players in the competition and this seemed to inspire the boys as the Hawks were only able to post 2 goals for the quarter.

With 20 minutes to go before a general bye next weekend, one last big effort was asked for. Once again Hessy was leading the way even after a couple of tough knocks, Matt Dunnigan was providing plenty of run and winning more then his fair share of Ruck contests and Scott Howard and Denis Pavlovic were battling hard in the backlines. All this effort led to some great play down the near wing that resulted in a goal. Even though it ended up as a resounding loss there were so many positives to be taken from the game that will certainly translate into wins in the latter half of the season.

Congrats once again to Graham Cove on a fantastic first game and welcome back to Kerin Sparks who played his first game of 2009. Just a reminder that the OAFL is conducting a Canada Day event which will pit the Canadian National Team against an OAFL Aussie team. This should be a great afternoon of fun so come down to Humber South on July 1st and support the Rebels who are playing.

Rebels 2.5.17 def by Hawks 14.13.97

Goals: Mark Wilson 1, Craig Bradley 1

Best Players: Kieran Hess, Matt Dunnigan, Graham Cove, Ron Brennan, Denis Pavlovic, Scott Howard.

Next Rebels Game:
Rebels vs Kangaroos
Friday July 3rd, 6:45pm
Humber South Etobicoke

Next League Game:
Canada vs OAFL Aussies
Wednesday July 1st, 2pm
Humber South Etobicoke