Hamilton Stoned By Gargoyles in Guelph to Open '08 Season

Last weekend the Wildcats made the trip across to Guelph to take on the Gargoyles in their first hit out of the season.
After beating the Gargoyles in the pre-season cup the cats went in with a bit of confidence, boasting what was almost a full list. Within 5 minutes of the first bounce this confidence was soon shattered. Guelph came out hard and fast in the first quarter, and the entire of it seemed to be played out purely down their end. The Cats simply didn’t want the ball, the Gargoyles did. Luckily for the Wildcats the oppositions kicking really let them down, kicking a pile of points during the first term instead of kicking goals allowing the Wildcats to stay in the game. A similar scenario ventured into the second term, with again our backline under extreme pressure. The likes of Plugger and Eben stood strong and again were able to hold back Guelph from kicking us out of the game. At half time the scoreline would have been completely different if it wasn’t for our solid defence. Crouchy was also well held in the first half by the strong Guelph defence and struggled to make his usually impact on the game.
After a half time rubbing from the coaching staff the Wildcats to their credit came out hitting the decks hard. The likes of Hilly, Rubs, Rutten and Bulldog were running hard and busting packs creating as much opportunity as they could. With a few aussie down in the 3rd things were looking bad. Watto was concussed in the first quarter and backed it up with a dislocated finger, Johnsy looks out for the season with a knee but still returned to fill space, Harley spent most of the second half on the pine with an injury and Cam was also off with busted ribs. But still in the last term the Cats got within 7 points before a late goal to Guelph sealed the game. A strong 2nd half proved that the cats have got what it takes to push the top sides, but just have to learn that to win a game you can’t play two good quarters of footy. A little bit rusty for round 1, but lets hope they hit the training track hard and smash the Dingos next week!!


HAMILTON GOALS:
Daniel Crouch (2), Derek Rutten (1)

HAMILTON BEST:
Plugger, Eben, Bulldog, Watto, Reuben, Rutten

BOG:
Greg "Plugger" Young

HARD HAT:
Timmy "Bulldog" Wilson

INJURIES:
Johns (Knee), Watto (Concussion, Finger)
Graef (Leg), Cam (Ribs)


OAFL Round 1 Results

Date Game Location Duty 10-May Eagles 98 v Demons 34 Humber N 10am Rebels & Dingos Rebels 43 v Dingos 93 Humber N 12pm Eagles & Demons Rec footy Humber N 2pm Hawks & Blues Hawks 73 v Blues 47 Humber N 3pm Rec footy Guelph 37 v Hamilton 27 Margaret Park 2pm Guelph & Hamilton Roo 138 v Swans 34 Ottawa 2pm Roo & Swans