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Quarter by Quarter. Competition leaders Melville Saints were given a run for their money on Tuesday night at the picturesque Bicton pool even after scoring the first three goals of the match in convincing fashion. Of those to score for Melville ex-Australian Mitch Ainsworth would end up with five for the night and Australian Olympic hopeful Tim Cleland was contained much to the credit of the Phantoms defensive structure to only two for the match.
The first Phantom score came from the first extra man attack for the game after Melville strong man Tim Cleland came to the attention of referee Mark Ridgewell. Aiden Chrystal who was in great form all night scored with two minutes of the quarter remaining. Melville’s Ainsworth retaliated with a field goal with one minute to play and at quarter time that is where the scores remained at Phantoms 1 Melville 4.
With a full bench and the luxury of some serious depth of talent it wasn’t a killer blow that Scott Davies was ejected with forty nine seconds remaining in the first quarter for what was his second exclusion foul.
Remembering that in rounds one Saints defeated the boys by thirteen goals so it would be regarded as a very satisfactory performance if the boys could be within ten goals of Melville by the final whistle.
The second term started with the almost immediate exclusion of Melville youngster Luke Cranswick which was one of the rare occasions that Phantoms did not capitalise on an extra man attack. A Scott Chrystal field goal one minute later made amends reducing the margin to two goals. Melville retaliated through Beadsworth who to the great credit of our defensive players was held to only three goals for the game. Strong work from Dom Foster, Mitch Gerritzen, Scott Davies and Christian Hoad contributed to containing the Australian centre forward. |
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With a full bench and the luxury of some serious depth of talent it wasn’t a killer blow that Scott Davies was ejected with forty nine seconds remaining in the first quarter for what was his second exclusion foul.
Remembering that in rounds one Saints defeated the boys by thirteen goals so it would be regarded as a very satisfactory performance if the boys could be within ten goals of Melville by the final whistle.
The second term started with the almost immediate exclusion of Melville youngster Luke Cranswick which was one of the rare occasions that Phantoms did not capitalise on an extra man attack. A Scott Chrystal field goal one minute later made amends reducing the margin to two goals. Melville retaliated through Beadsworth who to the great credit of our defensive players was held to only three goals for the game. Strong work from Dom Foster, Mitch Gerritzen, Scott Davies and Christian Hoad contributed to containing the Australian centre forward.
At 5.29 in the second quarter Tom Jasper who was everywhere all night drew a textbook penalty foul which was converted in convincing style by Scott Chrystal. The remainder of the quarter was a goal for goal affair with Henry Brown and Dom Foster adding consecutively. At the long break the score was a very respectable Phantoms 5 Melville 9.
The third term looked like it would be a repeat of the second with each side trading goal for goal. At the 4.30 mark and with the score 11-6 the offensive Phantoms machine went into overdrive putting on three successive goals courtesy of Tom Jasper, Mitch Gerritzen and Christian Hoad. For the second time in the match Phantoms were within two goals of competition leaders Melville Saints. There was a real sense that the seemingly impossible could happen. Going into the final term the score was Phantoms 10 Melville 13. |
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Season Stats...Goal Scorers. Nick O’Hallorhan 23 Dom Foster 13 Scott Chrystal 17 Tom Jasper 11 Glen Nicholson 8 Aiden Chrystal 8 Christian Hoad 8 Henry Brown 5 Scott Davies 3 Mike Cottee 1 Mitch Gerritzen 3 Jeremy Neesham 1 Allister Price - Rob Zuvela - Matt Affleck - Michael McCarrey - James Moorman - |
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“Phantoms find touch with impressive performance against Melville Saints” The first Tuesday night Premier League fixture for the season was a resounding success not just for the fact that the Phantoms Premier League team came within two goals of competition leaders Melville Saints but at what is arguably the best water polo venue in the country the largely Phantom crowd was treated to an exciting match that saw the boys maintain that two goal margin well into the final term. |
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Next Week’s Game.
Next Tuesday evening Phantoms Premier League take on the Melville Sharks at 7.30pm at Challenge Stadium Dive Pool.
Come down and give support to the boys.
What better way to wind down after a day at the office! Get Involved! |
Phantoms Water Polo ClubSummer 2011-12 |
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Phantoms Premier League Team. |
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The last quarter was a testament to the depth of strength of the Melville team that boasted several Australian and ex Australian players and a number of Olympic hopefuls. To the credit of the Phantom team they continued to take the game right up to the Saints refusing to allow Melville even the slightest opportunity to score.
Referee Liz Burman signalled the end to what was a great game of water polo and the Phantom Premier League boys were warmly applauded for a magnificent effort by the Phantom supporters present. The final score: Phantoms 13 Melville 18 The game was remarkable for many reasons not the least of which was for the smiles on the faces of all the guys who clearly enjoyed playing on such a beautiful night and at such a magnificent venue.
The score didn’t seem to be that relevant at the end of the match.
In a game that had many standout performances it was the depth of talent that was the key to success. As we have come to expect Laurie Trettel did a fantastic job as Game Day Coach and Mitch Gerritzen came to the attention of the referees for all the right reasons.
To all players…A job well done. |
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The ‘Phantomettes’ |