(above)A Glorious day for the Bemboka Braves!
Sunday saw a momentous day for the Braves when they opened a can of whoop ass on the Eden Wailers! The Braves went undefeated in all grades-U7’s, 25-0 in U9’s (might have been 5-0), 5-1 in U11’s, 1-1in Ressies (should have been 2-1) and a magic 2-1 win in First grade!
Club cornerstone Mick O’Reilly and his comedy curators had the ground marked up a picture on Saturday afternoon while the rest of the Braves were at Maz’s BBQ. Miko found the paint explosion over poor Dunko particularly funny when he tried to open the line marker canister which was still pressurized.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny (not that anyone but Donnie was up), and most of the Braves were able to meet the 12 noon deadline down at the ground. Ressies still struggled to get ready for the 12.50 kickoff, which is something we will work on at training (getting changed quicker). As the U11 Braves slipped in 3 in less than 3 minutes (surely a full field record for the club), the Ressies began their lack lusture warmup moaning of their calamitous evening and lack of sleep. With Braves custodian away for the day with a nasty case of Bankitis (only affects those who work in a bank), Dunko stepped in to his rather large purple goalkeepers jersey for Ressies. Johnny (Whiskey) Walker was also out for the day due to illness and became the first Brave ever to ring in sick more than 5 minutes before a game. Well done Whiskey and get well soon! With Gareth Burns pursuing other forms of exercise in Bungandore (see post), the Bemboka Hotel Motel Ressies took a different shape and look onto the field, with young enthusiastic striker Donnie Canby booting up looking for a goal.
It was Donnie indeed who opened the scoring after the Braves has peppered the Eden goal, He took a crossed pass on the chest on the edge of the Eden area and bought the ball down and beat the keeper with an unstoppable volley which brought the hundreds of Braves faithful to their feet. Unfortunately the Braves couldn’t keep the Wailers out, and after a slight mix up in defence the Eden Striker slipped past Barney to lob Dunko who had anticipated a low shot and already hit the deck.
The Braves continued to push forward in the second half, Adam Hill really shining on the right of defence and Maz running about chasing Dunko’s long and sometimes wayward goalkicks about. Towards the end of the game (last 30 seconds), a long ball forward led to the Braves breaking into the Eden area and a perfect lovely low cross eluded Lenno(airswing), and enabled the Fox to accurately pass the ball back across the goal from point blank range into the hands of the hopelessly out of position keeper with the goal yawning. It was one of those that was simply harder to miss than score. So, the Braves Ressies had to be content with (yet another) draw that probably keeps them at the top of the pile in their grade.
First grade was a tight tense and entertaining affair. The Bemboka Pie Shop Bemboka Braves were hoping to break a hoodoo of never having beaten Eden in the First grade competition. With the Bemboka Braves Bevitt Noise Orchestra creating stirring encouragement, the Blues took the field exchange pleasantries with the opposition. A slightly shuffled lineup had Birthday Boy Maz O’Reilly in goal, throwing on the large purple and yellow number the Brave Matty Ellwood usually wears. He showed his worth too, positioning himself well right throughout the game to grasp cleanly most of the shots aimed his way from the Wailers attack. He also showed that wayward goal kicks run in the family, putting most of his over the sideline as per the stand in reserves keeper.
There was more than a few nervous moments for the Braves, but they were able to push forward well in attack, winning a number of corners in the first half, but failed to make anything of their set pieces. It was from a cross however that the score board started ticking over for the day, when an unfortunate Eden defender nodded an accurate cross into his own net past his keeper. It was a deserved score for it was the Braves exerting the most pressure at the time. In the period shortly before half time the Wailers showed their teeth, cutting through the Braves solid backline and slotting past stand in goalkeeper Maz O’Reilly. The Braves were reasonably happy at half time despite conceding, and knew it was going to be a battle to break the hoodoo of over 25 years.
In a real ding dong contest, the ball swung end to end with both sides shooting at goal and possession shared quite evenly.It was a penalty decision that decided the next goal, after the Braves Italian import was bought down 3 times for good measure in the Eden area. Glory Boy Mc Paul stepped up to make his mark on the game after Luigi politely turned down the opportunity to convert the penalty. No mistake from Mc Paul, even if he was a little lucky to slip the ball under the Eden keeper.
The next bit of excitement was Braves striker Magical Pip Pearson receiving marching orders after an accidental high foot led to some grappling (more like an unfriendly ball room dance really), in retaliation between he and an Eden defender. The Braves down to 10 for the remainder of the game. The braves backline and midfield held together well in the final stages of the match to keep Eden at bay and a famous win for the Braves in front of at least 14 proud supporters. All the Braves would like to thank Bevo for his unwavering support as well as the rest of his band of merry supporters for the day.
Hoodoo broken.
The Braves meet the competition leaders the Bega Roosters this weekend at Brave park (3.00), with Ressies taking on the Mallacoota Maulers in the lead up game at 1.50. All senior players are requested to be there12.30ish or before to cheer on the kids:)
See you there!
Go you Braves!
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