2019 Men's Semi Finals
Division 2 - major semi final
Camberwell 13 defeated Surrey Park 10
Fighting for a direct path to the Grand Final, Camberwell had a close tussle with Surrey Park before coming out winners in the second half. For the first time for the season Surrey had their full squad available that included some experienced and talented players. The first half was a bit of an arm wrestle with the teams going goal for goal. Two all at quarter time and five all at the half, Glenn Anderson was worrying the Surrey defenders, managing two goals. Zapper chipped in with two and Tim Mills slotted a great goal dodging from the top.
In the first half it was a hard fought contest in the face off with Camberwell getting first possession but with Surrey ensuring there was no outlet pass. After half time this issue was addressed with the wing players keeping their opponents out of the play and allowing Nick and Matt clean possession and safe outlet passes. This was pivotal to the second half turnaround.
The third quarter was similar but Ollie made the difference, shooting two goals coming from midfield at speed. Twisty finally opened his account to take a one goal lead at the final break. After opening a two goal buffer in the last quarter, Surrey came back hard and evened up once more. Our boys responded in the best way possible by shooting 5 more goals, 2 more to Glenn, and singles to Twisty, Tim, and Ollie, to come out victors by 3.
Maybe not the same polished performance we have seen through the season, but the job was done.
Camberwell will now play the winner of Surrey and Eltham in what is sure to be a very hard fought Preliminary Final
Best players included Aiden in goals, Glenn, Dante and Matt Jones.
State League - minor semi final
Camberwell and Malvern came into the game on losses, both looking for redemption. During warmup Ross Melville tried to read the brand name of a ball shot at high speed by [redacted]. He had a little bit of a lie down as he contemplated the new direction his nose was pointing in. Thankfully a nearby parent Julie Spencer from Williamstown, who is a ER Nurse Practitioner, was on hand to help. Ross staggered off to hospital to be checked out. He is now back home, looking a million dollars and almost back to normal
The distractions on the sideline did not have an impact. From the start of the game Camberwell came out firing with a 4 goal first quarter that Malvern had no response to. Cocky caused havoc close to goal with 2 and Easso and Danny shot one each. Beadle and Azza were sensational in faceoff, doing a great job against a high quality Malvern centreman.
In the second quarter Camberwell continued to press. Malvern managed to get a number of shots and a single goal, while Camberwell shot 5. Three to Cocky, including a one handed goal from a Joey assist, made his half time tally 5. Junior also scored and Joey nailed a highlight reel goal coming from the back of the goal. Score at half time was 9-1.
After the break, Malvern pressed hard and managed to get more possession and worked the ball around goal, scoring two goals to get a bit of a sniff. Sean Cerrone's responded with two, including a spectacular leaping goal after barging through two defenders. Malvern scored two more to bring it back to a 6 goal gap at the final change (11-5).
In the final quarter Camberwell scored one and Malvern two in the opening five minutes, before Malvern decided to press hard. Then the flood gates opened with great ball movement and team play as Camberwell was able to exploit the defenders pushing out hard by moving the ball quickly. Five team goals followed with the name on the scoresheets being Easso, Cocky, Al Rubins and Danny for one each and Junior for two. The final scoreline was 17-7.
Next week we play Williamstown following their loss to Footscray.
Best: it's hard to name best players when the defence disrupted the opposition so effectively and attack moved the ball well and took the right shots.
Coming games:
Saturday 31st August:
State League Preliminary Final - 2:45pm Surrey Park
Saturday 7th September:
Men's Division 2 Grand Final - 12:30pm at Chadstone
State League Grand Final - 2:45pm 7 at Chadstone
Photo credit: Lacrosse Pix
ALN Report: https://www.facebook.com/AustralianLacrosseNetwork/posts/2456450364626904
