Braves held at home

(above)Bugger all to do with football, but cool all the same...

It was a very different Tathra lineup that the Braves trotted out to meet in battle at Brave Park on Sunday. With the Tathra first grade folding, a number of their team slipped down to ressies for Sunday.

The Braves started as freely as they did last game- Dunko's highlight being the stupid pass from the kickoff. He just spent the rest of the game getting kicked- Karma?

After monopolising the possession, as per training the Braves unfortunately were unable to open the Tathra defence up, some snatched shots here and there hardly troubling the Tathra keeper. Still it must have looked good- the ball being spread from side to side and back to front quite well. Paddy was his normal composed self- except when he rowled at Fox in the second half and then spent 5 minutes apologising:) Crouch was the best man on the park again (just ask him), but his shitty shooting was consistent (till later on). Maz had an acre of space on the right and although not quite as entertaining as last game, he was handy enough. McLoskey and Donnie worked well again this week- even though they didn't have quite as much ball into their feet- next week boys.
Fox scampered up and down the wing, week by week his passing becoming more and more accurate and useful to the Braves. Except that one in the second half when Paddy gave him a bollocking.
Simo spent some quality time taking airswings at the ball from time to time, but as ever, never pulled out of a tackle and bustled his way through a number of tackles. Buzz was as keen as ever and tighter than a piston bore to his men all day. Conversely, Ad Hill was the loosest unit on the field- his 21 beers the night before not doing him or his laryngitis any favours. Friday is party night big boy. Read the Braves player code of conduct before the finals series please. You too Crouch and Maz..

JMac was as solid as a Banker at the middle of D. He put some pretty special balls all over the place, but blamed his lovesickness on his radar being out from time to time. He blamed big Ken for the goal Tathra scored after he picked up the ball on halfway and used his speed to slide one past poor sick old Barney at the scoreboard end. Barney was earlier quoted as saying that he's looking forward to starting a game more than 50% well this year. More veggies and water son:)

Lenno, big Al, Miko all made special guest appearances during the first half. Miko looking for a spell 13 seconds after taking the field. Thank god for halftime eh?

The talk at halftime was pretty relaxed- Fox starting with his two cents as always, followed by less respected team members. Fox said all the right things as it was the Braves who hit back midway thru the second half, Crouchy getting on the end of another super Donnie long throw. There were other opportunities at both ends in an entertaining second half, which as always, finished just as the Braves were just about to win. A quick check with Robbo showed he had played at least 5 minutes more than Jimmy C did in the second half.. As always, a flawless performance for the great whistle blower- although he missed a blatant handball (according to one moaning Brave), from Chinky from Tathra in the second half.

Draw was the order of the day, and the current strength of the Tathra team makes the finals series that much more interesting. There will be 4 very evenly matched teams come August 31- Hopefully the Braves are full strength and keen as mustard then!

Go you Braves!