Limping 'Cats Leave Central Black & "Blue"

After an extremely hard fought loss versus the Etobicoke Kangaroos only 6 days earlier, with the ‘Cats losing 3 key players for the remainder of the season due to injury, (3-6) Hamilton limped their way to Humber College North this past Saturday to face the (0-10) Central Blues with less than a full compliment of players. Only able to scrounge-up 16 players for the must win game versus the Blues, who were coming off a very close loss to the Guelph Gargoyles only a week earlier and looking for their first win of the 2006 season against the injury-riddled visitors, optimism was not at a high on the Hamilton bench. As the game got underway, the ‘Cats lack of confidence showed, as the Blues controlled 90% of the play right from the opening bounce. Despite winning the taps in the centre, Hamilton seemed to be put back on their heals with the quick play of the Central midfielders, and accurate kicks to their forward line put the Blues up early. Hamilton tried to chip away at the hosts’ lead as seconds ticked away in the first frame, but inaccurate kicking and sloppy handballs had Hamilton down by 5 points heading into the second quarter. As their first quarter wake-up call looked like it started to sink in, a to-the-point pep talk from interim Captain Charles Thompson and Head Coach Dave Ralph seemed rejuvenate Hamilton and they looked to take control for the remaining 3 quarters. Right from the opening bounce, the ‘Cats looked determined not to become the first team to lose to the Blues in ’06, and began working hard to win the footy out of the centre. Strong marks across the backline from full back Rich Burgess, Damian “Captain Kirk” Lowry, Hugo “Banana Pancakes” Speksnyder, Mark Krikke and Alex Thompson helped to shutdown Centrals’ offensive attack while Hamilton started to mount an offensive push of their own. Aussie newcomer, Tim Wilson, looked at home in the ‘Cats forward pocket, as he picked up his first international goal, and celebrated the first with a second only minutes later. The much anticipated return of the hard-hitting Rob McElwain to Hamilton’s midfield core also seemed to spark the Wildcats, as he used his speed and power to burst through the packs and deliver the footy into the Blues backline with ease all day long. Wildcat winger Reuben Sculthorp also played extremely well, throwing his body at anything that moved and taking several tricky marks to frustrate the opposition all afternoon. As the Wildcats seemed to be gaining their confidence with every passing minute, they also were gaining ground on the scoreboard, overtaking the Blues and headed into the half with a solid 3 goal advantage. Not ever wanting to take their competition for granted, Hamilton looked to add to their lead, as in footy…no lead is ever safe. Wildcat rover Ken Tumak made his presence felt in the third, as he picked up his first of 2 great goals on the day, as well as using his blazing speed to ware out the Blues backline. Hamilton’s ruck tandem of Paul Lawson and Mike “Mr. Incredible” Nolan did an exceptional job all day long, winning 95% of the taps in the middle as well as helping to contribute to rover Brett Hill’s “leather poisoning” and BOG nomination for his courageous efforts versus the Blues. Veteran forward Charles Thompson broke out of his scoring slump with 6 “sausage rolls” on the day, 4 of his tallies coming in the third to help Hamilton mount a sizeable 8 goal lead heading into the final frame. Valiant efforts from the entire Wildcats roster, especially energetic new recruit Alex “Brittney” Speirs, helped the visitors to a 13.17.95 to 5.6.36 victory even after a disastrous first quarter.