Wildcats Offense Turned To Stone by The Gargoyles in Guelph

Coming off their first win of the 2006 season, the Hamilton Wildcats packed their bags and headed north to Guelph to face the 2-0 Gargoyles at Margaret Greene Park. As they did last season, the Wildcats were unsure of their number heading into their ’06 match-up versus the extremely fit Guelph side, but looked to continue their winning ways away from the friendly confines of Mohawk Sports Park. As he did for the entire Pre-Season Cup, 6’7’’ ruckman Paul “Cherry Skoal” Lawson dominated in the centre winning every single tap and helping the Hamilton rovers to move the footy up-field early on in the 1st quarter with several strong shepherds and key handballs. Kicking into a very strong wind, the ‘Cats had a hard time hitting their forward line on the chest, as the Gargoyle backline cleared their zone time and time again with a powerful wind behind each kick. The tenacity and speed of the visitors paid off as rovers Ken Tumak, Joel “Damn You Sun Stroke” Carter and Mike Nolan powered their way through the Guelph midfield and helped to lock the footy into Guelphs end for the majority of the first quarter. Despite out kicking the hometown club in the first frame, Hamilton trailed Guelph 3.2.20 to 0.7.7, and looked to straighten their goal kicking sights heading into the 2nd quarter. Now, with the wind in their corner, the ‘Cats came out fighting hard for the any loose footy, took many strong marks and pounded Guelph into the ground with bone jarring shepherds and spine tingling tackles. The banged-up Wildcat backline of Jon Coatsworth, Alex “Who Needs 2 Knees” Thompson and Mark “Where’s My Puffer” Krikke looked good, thwarting any offensive attempts from the hometown side. As the forwards found their goal kicking touch and the Hamilton midfielders seemed to be gaining fitness as the game progressed, Hamilton took the lead into the half leading Guelph 3.10.28 to 3.2.20. No sooner did the third quarter begin, when Hamilton found themselves down to 15 players, as forward Timmy “2 Goals” Norris was told to ride the pine for apparently asking the umpire a question; thus leaving the Wildcats shorthanded for the remainder of the third. Not only did the Gargoyles have 1 extra player on the ground, they also had the wind in their favour and added to their totals with a boatload of goals to regain the lead. Playing 1 man down for the entire third quarter seemed to take away any momentum that the Wildcats had built heading into half time, as Guelph played extremely hard defensively in the final 20 minutes to remain unbeaten in ’06, defeating the Wildcats 9.8.62 to 5.16.46.