The Crows opened Round 10 with a Friday night game at AAMI Stadium against 14th placed Essendon. The game proved to be a hard fought match, with the Crows prevailing by five points, but it was the Crows’ inaccuracy in front of goal which let them down.
My preparation for this week’s Crows game was different compared to usual. Given the Crows were playing on Friday night, my day started with a brief appearance at school, as I only have one lesson on Fridays, and then back at home I hastily submitted my footy tips and dream teams for the weekend. The journey itself down to West Lakes took a little longer than normal due to the Friday night peak hour traffic, although I still arrived a couple of hours early.
Despite the somewhat mild conditions for a night game, Max Basheer Reserve was feeling a little dewy under foot, indicating a slippery night ahead for the players. A golden yellow backdrop of the setting sun basked the western side of AAMI Stadium, as not a skerrick of breeze brushed the stadium surface.
Feeling comfortable back in my stadium seat this week, my English novel found some time to be read. But before I could get too cosy, some friends came over to say hello and whisked me away to their seats momentarily.
We were down near the boundary line and watched the players run out for their pre-match warm-up. During this time Nathan Buckley was nearby carrying out his television duties. I was pretty excited to see him close up, even though I’m not the biggest Buckley fan in the world, and it just so happened he flashed me a smile.
I was back in my seat just in time to see Mark Ricciuto parachute into the stadium - it’s not often you see that - before both teams make their way onto the ground ready to play.
Shades of the Crows’ performance from last week were prevalent as Essendon got off to a quick start, kicking three unanswered goals. Just as the game was looking a tad flat, the tempo and feeling of the crowd lifted as captain Simon Goodwin received a bump front on in a marking contest. The crowd voiced their displeasure with the umpires as a free quick wasn’t paid as Goodwin slowly rose to his feet and proceeded off the ground.
The Crows finally got their first major on the board thanks to ruckman, Ivan Maric, who was able to mark the ball in the goal square and convert the goal. A series of misses left the Crows with just one goal and a stack of six behinds at the quarter time break and trialling Essendon by nine.
During the second term the Crows were able to apply some more pressure to the scoreboard. Jason Porplyzia scored within the first ten minutes from a set shot around the fifty metre mark and a goal to Graham Johncock put the Crows in front for the first time of the match as play looked to have improved.
There was a heated feeling amongst the crowd after a series of free kicks, including a 50 metre penalty lead to an Essendon goal although the Crows were able to score again thanks to a Richard Douglas snap around the body, but Essendon followed and held a two-point lead at half time.
I, as most of the crowd, was left feeling a little baffled at some of the umpiring decisions which had played out before me. There’s nothing more frustrating than inconsistent umpiring and everyone got stuck into them as they were leaving the field for the break.
Essendon got away to a handy lead in the third term before Brett Burton goaled his first half way through the term. The next block of play included a lot of hands on heads, thigh slapping, and sighs of frustration from the crowd. There was point, after point, after point.
Finally the Crows scored a major and a pretty specky one too. Kurt Tippett snapped around his body in front of goals and just as it looked like Burton was going to touch it through by accident, he cleverly stuck out his boot and sent the ball through for six points. Finally! I waved my flag with a sense of relief; the Crows had hit the front.
Scott Thompson kicked the third goal of the quarter and put the Crows ten points up at the final break.
Jason Porplyzia scored early in the last term from a 50 metre penalty and then almost followed up with a goal of the year contender. He was right on the boundary line in the pocket, as clever as he is; he dribbled the ball along the turf goal ward. Just as the words, ‘Don’t tell me, don’t tell me!’ raced through my head, the ball bounced neatly into the left goal post. Not another point!
A couple of misses near goal and a goal to Essendon brought the Crows lead to just three points. Brent Reilly then sent one through from some silky ball work from Bernie Vince, the Crows were back out to a nine point lead, but Essendon weren’t far behind, scoring another major to trial by less than a goal.
Young Richard Douglas, sitting on 1.3 for the night, had an opportunity to seal the game for the home side. He was lining up from almost exactly the same spot as one of his previous behinds earlier in the game, so I was thinking he would probably miss. Nonetheless, I hoped for him to kick the goal to pretty much put the game beyond doubt. He missed, but the siren sounded shortly after.
Phew! Maybe not the prettiest game, but it was a good feeling to prevail in the end.
It was back to the Crows Shed after the game to celebrate the win with some friends. We eagerly awaited the arrival of the players to get some autographs, notably on a Kurt Tippett poster. The night finished late but the close game and end result made it all worth while.
Round 11 next Saturday afternoon sees the Crows up against Richmond at the MCG. Making the journey over for the game, I’ll be eager for the Crows to maybe not kick so many behinds as in the last two weeks, but as long as they get the four points, that’s all that matters.
