Shorthanded Wildcats Give Undefeated 'Roos a Run But Fall Short at Home

After a disappointing opening 2 rounds the under performing 'Cats were playing host to the 'Roo's in Hamilton for there first home game for the year. At the start of the bounce the 'Cats had about 14 or so players due to the guys being late and many others out due to work and personal commitments so it looked like it was going to be a tough struggle all day against the top of the ladder 'Roos.
The hometown boys again got off to a slow start. The Wildcats kicked with a strong wind in the first quarter but still failed to produce being down by about 4 goals at quarter time. The skills of the 'Roo's really blitzed thw 'Cats early whom again still seemed to struggle with manning up in defence and getting switched on for the opening bounce. Some highlights during the first half were again 2 rookies for the 'Cats, Canadian Chris "Frodo" Frey and Aussie Craig "Can I grab your balls?" Watt both playing some hard footy off the forward flanks. At half time things were looking pretty bad for the home side, whom at the time were looking at a 51 point deficit.
Finally in the 2nd half the 'Cats came out to play some seroius footy. chuck was standing out as a great option down forward (who ended the day with 2.4), Clint was working the ball well out linking up well with Harley, Bulldog moved up and down the defensive wing well getting plenty of the footy and setting up play, and the guys in the center, Nolan, Barry, Settle busted their balls and and dominated the clearences. The 'Cats finally went down by 10 goals at the blow of the final siren but can take a lot away from the game. During the second half they played some tough, hard, attacking football and moved the ball far better by foot and hand than they have all year. To quote Mike Nolan; "It just goes to prove that our game is 80 minutes of HARD work, right up to the final whistle (the gash on Tim's face a testament to this fact!)" For the whole second half the 'Roo's only outscored the 'Cats by 2 kicks, so a great effort by the boys. If only someone could have been able to control Russo from the 'Roo's things may have been different (He ended up with 11 goals fo the day!!)
This wek the 'Cats head up to Ottawa with again lokks like a heavily undermanned team. The 'Cats will really need to work hard to get their first win on the board, as i'm sure the Swans will be oumped to also get on the winning side of the Heath (aka, the Ledger).


HAMILTON GOALS:
Watt (2), Crouch (2), Thompson (2), Crow (1)

HAMILTON BEST:
Nolan, watt, Wilson, Frey, Thompson

BOG:
Mike "Abs" Nolan

HARD HAT:
Craig "Watto" Watt

INJURIES:
Bulldog Wilson (face, ass, arms)

OAFL Round 3 Results

Date Game Location Duty 31-May Dingos 36 v Hawks 73 Humber N 10am Hamilton & Roos Hamilton 52 v Roos 110 Hamilton 11am Eagles & Rebels Eagles 106 v Rebels 35 Humber N 12pm Dingos & Hawks Guelph 65 v Blues 19 Guelph 2pm Guelph & Blues Demons 99 v Swans 20 Ottawa 2pm Demons & Swans