Well Brad another win….five in a row now….but this was the best of them all….
SBMT have really stamped their mark on the competition for 2013 now with a magnificent victory over the competition benchmark Old Xaverians. With Toorak Park being deemed unplayable the game was moved to Stradbroke Park in Kew which was similar in condition to Brindisi St and an advantage to the Tigers.
An even first quarter had the scores level at the first break, so it was game on. The Tigers dominated the second and went into the main break with a handy 3 goal buffer perhaps thinking the game was ours.
Xavs soon put paid to those thoughts as they came out in brilliant fashion and kicked the next 6 goals straight to open up a handy 16 point break, but the quality and resilience of this SBMT side must not be underestimated, as they drew within themselves to kick 4 twins in time on and thus go into the last break some 8 points to the fore.
Again Xavs came at us in a big way and hit the front by what seemed an insurmountable 6 points at the 23 minute and things were looking grim, but one should never underestimate the spirit of this new look Tiger side as they clawed their way back and with barely a minute to go kicked a point to regain the lead. A lead that they gallantly defended in the last minutes.
Jaryd Robertson is having a stellar season and his 17 marks repelled so many Xavs attacks providing us with so many opportunities to go forward, Luke Wintle was a lone hand in the ruck, for 3 and a half quarters, and the move of big Hiwad Shaikaib in the centre to help Luke could have been the matchwinner. Alex Kane was strong up forward, Chris Mangoni benefiitted from his little stint at Collingwood, Cam Hansen continues to improve and young Michael Barnes took them on and broke the lines on many occassions.
Considering we only had 21 fit players for 3 quarters it was a win for the ages, puts us in the top four at the half way mark of the season….. who would have thought that possible after the debacle that was Round 1