Last round it was all about two of our veterans but this week it was all about one – our own footballing superstar Christiano Ryanaldo who led us to victory with 9 goals in a magnificent display. Perhaps taking inspiration from his soccer namesake, Christian was on fire from the start of the game. His chase and tackle to earn a free kick that was converted to our first goal set the tone. He kicked goals in every quarter and single-handedly took us to the lead in the final term with three goals in succession before a 100 metre chase on the wing led to an knee injury, leaving us Ryan-less for the last 10 minutes. That was the cue (pardon the pun) for Matt Keown to kick 2 of the best captain’s goals you will ever see to get us home in yet another close game.

It was a crucial win in the context of our season. We are now second, but a loss would have seen us drop to fifth. It was also the first time Old Mentonians had lost at their new home ground at Highett emphasizing just how important it was to bank those away game points.

The game itself ended up being a ripper. There were plenty of errors – particularly by us in the first quarter – but as the scores show it became something of a shoot-out. Early in the match the Panthers missed many easy shots and could’ve have a good lead at half-time. The third quarter saw the lead change many times and 13 goals scored. Then in the last quarter the Panthers made some critical errors in the backline that Christian capitalized on to give us the lead which we managed to hold onto.

The mid-field led by Peter Shepherd in the ruck was hard-working all day. The fact we committed what must have been a record number of turnovers but still took home the points was testament to the effort of the team generally.

Another tricky away game assignment next week awaits us against Yarra Valley who also have a strong home record.