Round 9: Blown Away in Brighton

For the penultimate round of the regular season I headed off to a blustery (that's probably being kind) Waterhall Playing Fields on the outskirts of Brighton, for a double header between the Sussex Swans and Wandsworth Demons in the Women's Premiership and Mens Socials. Waterhall is a venue I have visited on a few occasions (only once though for footy), with the fields and woods behind the playing fields being ideal for a dog walk (coincidentally it was the place I found out about the Apple Watch health alarm - long story!).

First up, it was the Women's Premiership clash, and With the wind blowing fiercely from the rugby club end, and directly down the pitch, it was always going to be those who did better into the wind defensively who would likely win. The opening quarter was effectively spent with the D's camped inside the Swans defensive third, but sterling effort by those overworked women in blue kept the D's to just a couple of behinds and at the end of the first quarter it was the D's who held a 0.2.2 to 0.0.0 lead.

I will eventually sound like a broken record but with the wind at their backs the Swans put the D's defence under a huge amount of pressure and several behinds saw them take the lead, before the impressive Andjelika Opacak notched the first goal of the game from distance. The D's to their credit managed to actually pick up a point against the wind, and the sides went into the big break with the Swans 1.4.10 to 0.3.3 ahead.

The Swans struck an early behind into the wind in the third quarter before normal service was resumed, with the D's pinning the Swans back and peppering the posts but not managing to register a goal, and although they cut the hosts lead to three points it was going to be a tough ask for them to get anything out of the game. Quarter 3 ended with the Swans 1.5.11 to 0.8.8 ahead.

Early in the fourth quarter and with the D's pinged for a throw, Ruth Moore converted a set shot to stretch the Swans lead and shortly after, an interception lead to Lily Miles converting from distance to increase the lead. Holly Thoms converting from a wide angle was the icing on the cake for the Swans and the picked up a 4.6.30 to 0.9.9 win.

Game 2 saw the wind still fiercely blowing from the rugby club end and the first drops of rain - hopefully they would pass...nope. The Swans started brightly and had the first chance of the game into the wind but the set shot by Jack Hart was superbly smothered by the D's Jason Farley. The Demons struck the opening blow a neat flick pass by Todd Ripps finding Harry Luff who finished neatly on the run. Minutes later and a great mark by Riccardo Laumann led to him finding Luff again who found the target as the Demons dominated with the wind. A huge strike from wide by Cameron Wilkinson with the last kick of the quarter saw the Demons into the first break with a commanding 3.6.24 to 0.0.0 lead.

The Swans responded in the second quarter, but some wayward finishing saw only a few behinds, and as conditions worsened so did the tempers with the game close to boiling point on a couple of occasions. Ombaashi Grech Cato scored from wide to give the Swans hope, but the Demons still held a good lead going into the big break. 3.6.24 to 1.3.9.

Early in the third period and Harry Unwin scored into the wind to give the Swans some hope but a couple of goals from the Demons, from Fraser Fosford and a superb effort by Jayden Medwin-Smith, spinning out of a tackle and converting with a neat left footed finish took the Demons into the final quarter with a 24 point lead, 5.9.39 to 2.3.15.

Could the wind-assisted Swans respond in the final quarter, honestly who knows...no seriously, with yours truly frantically putting the camera condom on and desperately wishing someone would invent windscreen wipers for glasses, it was very much a case of peering through the gloom. The camera condom whilst keep equipment dry effectively means you are breathing into a plastic bag, so both steaming up and potentially passing out, but I digress - it's all for the game. Anyway, once I had found a brief moment of clarity Anthony Chiu had apparently notched a couple for the Swans, but it was too little to late, the Demons to their immense credit defended resolutely in the final quarter and held on for a deserved win, 5.9.39 to 4.5.29.

I have to say, kudos to all four teams for actually managing to put on two really entertaining encounters despite the conditions, some of the marks taken were miraculous with the Sherrin seemingly dropping into hands only for a gust to take it in a different direction. Fantastic work from all involved. Here's hoping the final round of the regular season is drier.

Over in Chiswick there were three matches, where the Wildcats men were all involved, a Premiership clash and Conference match up against the Wandsworth Demons and the Men's Socials against the Reading Kangaroos.

The opening game in the Men's Conference saw the Wandsworth Demons rock up and put the Shepherds Bush Raiders to the sword, recording a 12.8.80 to 5.3.33 win. A hard-fought and often tight encounter being blown wide open in the final quarter as the Demons ran riot. Goals for the Demons came from Zach Rollason (4) and Oscar Gibbons (3), who were the chief Raiders tormentors, plus one each for Liam Murphy, Jonathan Newton-Jacobs, Lewis Radford and Samuel Jensen, whilst for the Raiders it was doubles for Jeremy Schoenmaker and Paul Watson, with one for Chris McDougall.

The result means the Demons go into this weekends clash with the Wimbledon Hawks knowing a win will put them into a Qualifying Final against the London Swans, whilst any other result drops them into an Elimination Play-off against the Raiders.

The second game came in the Mens Socials, where the Ealing Emus, who have been the shining light for the Cats this season, winning four of the games entertained bottom of the ladder Reading Kangaroos. Once again the Emus came up with the goods, recording an 11.12.78 to 3.3.21 win over a competitive Roos team. Goals for the Emus came from the boot of Jesse Rosomacki with a remarkable half dozen, plus two for Tom Clarke and one each for Jeremy Christianopoulos, Jeremy Landberg and Zac Hooper, whilst for the Kangaroos single goals went to Michael McCombe, Alex Toogood and Travis White.

Ironically, despite being the best performers in Wildcat manor, the Emus are the one side that have not made the play offs, finishing the ladder in fifth spot, and behind the Lions by percentage. The Roos remain rooted - no pun intended - to the bottom of the table, but bar a couple of fixtures have been really competitive this season.

Finally, it was the Premiership boys in action, and a tight contest saw the Demons take an early lead which, despite the efforts of the Wildcats, they never relinquished and held there nerve to win a tense encounter 12.8.80 to 9.13.67. Getting the goals for the Demons were Blake Grewar with three; there were two each for Charles Burgess-Hoar, Brayden Irving, Oliver Lewey and one apiece for Isaac Conway, Dylan Gollant and Matthew Nicholson. On target for the Cats were Ted Clayton with four; Mitchell Rudrum with two and one each for Matthew Djordjevic, Fionn Gallagher and Tyson McWilliam.

Next up for the Demons is Saturdays clash with the North London Lions, where the winners will progress directly to the Grand Final, and the losers head off to the Qualifying play off against the Wildcats.

Finally there was a huge clash at Hackney Marshes, where the North London Lions - temporarily using the London Swans base for their games, hosted the Wimbledon Hawks in the Women's Conference and Men's Socials.

Going into the game the opening game both the Lions and the Hawks were unbeaten, although the Hawks had an imperious no goals against record. Both sides had goalscoring machines on show, with Sarah Marshke regularly finding the target for the Lions, and the imperious Melanie Hogg frequently troubling the scorers for the Hawks.

As it turned out, it was the Hawks who maintained that 100% record, courtesy of a Hogg hat-trick and another from Jacinta Costanzo, with Marshke and Kayleigh Aylmer responding for the Lions, as the Hawks picked up a 4.5.29 to 2.1.13 win. The sides will met again in the Qualifying Final, and you would be hard pushed to bet against them both appearing in the Grand Final.

All bar the Wildcats can make the Elimination Final, although in truth it will take a mammoth win for the London Swans to reach it. Have stranger things happened, possibly, Leicester won the Premier League, Crystal Palace won the FA Cup, I feel in love with this weird sport from the bottom of the world - so who knows.

The last game to report on saw a huge blowout between the Lions Men and their Hawks counterparts in the Men's Socials. A strong Lions socials team and a

huge display of accurate kicking saw the Lions pick up a 20.4.124 to 0.1.1 win. On target for the Lions were Joshua Richmond with five; Simon Bernard and Jake Whatman with three each; two for Michael Sharp and one each for Fraser Allen, Will Campbell, Stephen Dittmar, Thomas Fraser, Ryan Smith, Andrew Walkden and Kyle Lattarulo.

The Lions head into the Elimination Play off against most likely the Sussex Swans, but it is still possible for the top three to swap positions. For the Aubergine Machine it was one win this season, but brilliant to see them back.

So, the final week of the season is nearly upon us, and for the last weekend I will be making the trip to Clapham Common, to spend some time with the Demons as they host four game.