All four Emmaus St Leo’s teams were in full flight on the weekend as the women’s team went down to Parkside at Bennettswood Reserve, while the Thirds travelled to Lindsay Hassett Oval and were subsequently beaten by a tough AJAX side. North Brunswick were on the list for the Animals reserves and seniors as they made the trek away from home looking for their next four points, where unfortunately only the latter took their opportunity with both hands.
If you’d stumbled onto a cold and wintery Allard Park on Saturday at quarter-time, you might have had to double-take the scoreboard, with the three goals to the home reserves side and zero to the third-ranked Emmaus St Leo’s. It would continue to be the story for the reserves all game, who only managed four goals for the day, with Kieren Jenkins kicking half of them despite playing predominately in the middle. The Animals stayed in it, but it could be argued it was more that North Brunswick hadn’t put final nail in the coffin and less those in the blue and blue keeping themselves above water. Despite this, they limited their North Brunswick to just one goal in the third quarter before the Bulls became bullish, inevitably kicking away in the final term to win by 33 points. Anthony Smith and Matthew Price were the only other contributors on the scoreboard, and Nic Glanville was strong down back in defence.
For the seniors, it was an arm-wrestle all day as North Brunswick took an early lead into the first break before the Animals came to their senses to be in front by 9 points at half time. Five goals to one in the third quarter was the result of one side making the most of their opportunities as Emmaus St Leo’s added five behinds to their only major, with Emerson Lemkau the only goalkicker.
The Animals didn’t really start the party until the final quarter, where they piled on nine goals to pinch the victory from North Brunswick’s grasp, who had arguably decided the game was won after a couple quick goals to start the last term. But it wasn’t to be for the home side, as soon after, Emmaus St Leo’s put their foot on the accelerator and controlled the ball for the final minutes of the game to make the trip to Allard Park at least partly worth it.
In a game where defensive presence was of utmost importance, Baxter Newbegin was everywhere, holding the fort down back with his expert read of the play and taking intercept marks that surely would have made those following North Brunswick question whether their players were lining him up on purpose. (Note to NB: if you want to score goals, do not kick the ball in the direction of #1 for the Animals. That much should be obvious.)
Seniors debutant Dan Quattro waited until the last couple of minutes of game time to fully make his first game in the ones memorable enough, collecting the ball outside of the attacking 50 with the game all but won and streaming into the goalsquare to kick his first goal, burning free teammate (and also multiple-goalscorer on the day with three) Lawrence Virgo who had also ran freely forward of the ball. Quattro’s celebration was very nearly Zac-Kearns-in-the-dying-moments-of-a-reserves-grand-final, just lacking the hundred hi-fives, but still, the Animals contingent behind the goals lapped it up, as did those on the bench with everyone certain the win had finally arrived.
This weekend, it’s the VAFA-wide representative bye meaning that, technically, there should be no Animals footy on Saturday. But a make-up game between the Emmaus St Leo’s women’s team and Albert Park looms on the horizon, giving those in the blue and blue something to get around on a day normally reserved for non-footy-related things. The men’s squads will return the following weekend to face Parkside and Whitefriars. All the action this Saturday begins at 9:20am, and with the women’s draw nearing its 2021 end, get down to Bennettswood Reserve to cheer on your favourite Animal!