AFL is the greatest game on the planet...
There is no way anyone is going to convince me that Australian Rules Football is not the greatest game in the world...especially after the 2005 season, and a couple of the finals as well...All the controversy, all the magical moments...tonights game was no exception...
Sydney were firm favourites going into the game...however Geelong were looking to spoil the party by playing tough, aggressive football...and they did that...the ground was wet from a mishap by the ground staff before the game, and the cats made use of this...they tackled hard, ran hard and played brilliantly in the wet conditions...
Sydney kicked the first goal in a close first quarter where Geelong held a 4 point advantage at the end, kicking 2 goals 6 behinds to 2 goals 2 behinds...the second quarter saw Geelong dominate out of the middle and the defensive pressure in the forward line kept Sydney to only 5 behinds compared to Geelong's 3 goals...this left them 20 points up at half time...by this time, the 5 big playmakers for Sydney weren't firing...Hall was hardly seen, Goodes fumbled numerous times, Kennelly was well held, O'Lochlan was also well held and Davis had a couple of possessions up the ground...
The third quarter started very much like the second, where the cats took control and kicked away to a 23 point lead...but the Swans wouldnt go away and came back into the game...however they couldn't make inroads on the scoreboard and kicked 6 behinds to 1 goal 3 behinds...however, a late goal by O'Lochlan gave them hope and left them only 17 points behind at three quarter time...for all you who dont know the scoring system, this left them just less than 3 goals behind...
The last quarter was a cracker, and really showed just how amazing our game really is...Geelong kicked the first goal, and looked to be home...but Nick Davis, who spent most of the game getting possessions up the ground, just showed his class...he kicked his first goal half way through the quarter to bring it back to 17 points...Craig Bolton missed which made it 16 but it was still a while to go and Geelong were holding on despite a growing injury toll...then, a brilliant goal by Davis from a boundry throw in brought the margin back to 9, and the Swans were a serious chance again with 8 minutes to go...
Geelong continued to flood the backline however, and started to wind the clock down with possession footy...however, its hard to keep it up for 8 minutes and they coughed it up...this started a wonderful piece of link up footy as the Swans streamed forward...it ended up in a throw in but it was in the Swans 50...Geelong were able to clear and it was a bit of an arm wrestle for a few minutes...
Then, with about 2 minutes to go, Sydney forced another throw in...this time, Davis sharked the ball like the perfect rover and slammed it on the boot for a lovely banana kick, giving him his 3rd goal of the game, and put Sydney only 3 points behind...
It was down to the centre clearance...there was less than a minute left...they needed a quick takeaway...and they got it...however, a massive scramble produced nothing but a ball up...again, Nick Davis sharked the ball and managed to kick the ball while he was off balance for a goal...this was his 4th and it put the Swans in front by 3 points...the Siren went just after the resulting ball up...
It was an unbelievable result...and after Sydney lost to some very dubious umpiring decisions last week, they got a brilliant win and now play the Saints in the Preliminary Final next week...
In other news, today at Tafe, I skipped 2 classes in order to play pool for about 3 hours...I played so well I was even amazed at myself...I won 7 games out of 11 and the 4 I lost was to the best player there today and I beat him once...
However, AFL Premiership 2005 which I have on pre-order, has been pushed back to the 2nd of October...it was going to come out on the 22nd September, which kinda annoyed me cause thats after the Grand Final...but oh well...keeps the footy action up after the season ends...
Anyway, this has been a very long post so Ill finish it here...
GO CROWS!!!!
Sydney were firm favourites going into the game...however Geelong were looking to spoil the party by playing tough, aggressive football...and they did that...the ground was wet from a mishap by the ground staff before the game, and the cats made use of this...they tackled hard, ran hard and played brilliantly in the wet conditions...
Sydney kicked the first goal in a close first quarter where Geelong held a 4 point advantage at the end, kicking 2 goals 6 behinds to 2 goals 2 behinds...the second quarter saw Geelong dominate out of the middle and the defensive pressure in the forward line kept Sydney to only 5 behinds compared to Geelong's 3 goals...this left them 20 points up at half time...by this time, the 5 big playmakers for Sydney weren't firing...Hall was hardly seen, Goodes fumbled numerous times, Kennelly was well held, O'Lochlan was also well held and Davis had a couple of possessions up the ground...
The third quarter started very much like the second, where the cats took control and kicked away to a 23 point lead...but the Swans wouldnt go away and came back into the game...however they couldn't make inroads on the scoreboard and kicked 6 behinds to 1 goal 3 behinds...however, a late goal by O'Lochlan gave them hope and left them only 17 points behind at three quarter time...for all you who dont know the scoring system, this left them just less than 3 goals behind...
The last quarter was a cracker, and really showed just how amazing our game really is...Geelong kicked the first goal, and looked to be home...but Nick Davis, who spent most of the game getting possessions up the ground, just showed his class...he kicked his first goal half way through the quarter to bring it back to 17 points...Craig Bolton missed which made it 16 but it was still a while to go and Geelong were holding on despite a growing injury toll...then, a brilliant goal by Davis from a boundry throw in brought the margin back to 9, and the Swans were a serious chance again with 8 minutes to go...
Geelong continued to flood the backline however, and started to wind the clock down with possession footy...however, its hard to keep it up for 8 minutes and they coughed it up...this started a wonderful piece of link up footy as the Swans streamed forward...it ended up in a throw in but it was in the Swans 50...Geelong were able to clear and it was a bit of an arm wrestle for a few minutes...
Then, with about 2 minutes to go, Sydney forced another throw in...this time, Davis sharked the ball like the perfect rover and slammed it on the boot for a lovely banana kick, giving him his 3rd goal of the game, and put Sydney only 3 points behind...
It was down to the centre clearance...there was less than a minute left...they needed a quick takeaway...and they got it...however, a massive scramble produced nothing but a ball up...again, Nick Davis sharked the ball and managed to kick the ball while he was off balance for a goal...this was his 4th and it put the Swans in front by 3 points...the Siren went just after the resulting ball up...
It was an unbelievable result...and after Sydney lost to some very dubious umpiring decisions last week, they got a brilliant win and now play the Saints in the Preliminary Final next week...
In other news, today at Tafe, I skipped 2 classes in order to play pool for about 3 hours...I played so well I was even amazed at myself...I won 7 games out of 11 and the 4 I lost was to the best player there today and I beat him once...
However, AFL Premiership 2005 which I have on pre-order, has been pushed back to the 2nd of October...it was going to come out on the 22nd September, which kinda annoyed me cause thats after the Grand Final...but oh well...keeps the footy action up after the season ends...
Anyway, this has been a very long post so Ill finish it here...
GO CROWS!!!!