A great rivalry was rekindled with our neighbour club in the match-of-the-round that lived up to expectations. We may have lost a game that went down to the wire but it was played in great spirit in a performance that said we are in the mix this season with improvement to come.

It was a close tussle all day. In the end, we had more of the ball in general play and it was probably our own most even contribution across the ground for the year, but at critical times Therry showed their class through the middle and hit their big targets up forward.

From the start of the day, Matt Keown was in brilliant form and he ended with four goals in a great display. Classy Adam Oakley wore out his left foot and leaping Peter Shepherd was again tireless in the ruck. It was tremendous to have Mark Dunlop back from injury, along with Christian Ryan who snagged three goals, including a brilliant shot from the boundary in the last quarter to keep us in the match late in the last quarter, and Pat Kelly. Brad Holland also did a great job down back, as did the Jims, Murfett and Mirstchin.

The end result aside, it was a great day for the club as we paid tribute to our newest honorary life members, Dom Perrone and Pete Hevey, and gave Therry a real wakeup call that they won’t get everything their way this year.

There is still plenty to play out in the rivalry between the clubs this year, and perhaps in the years to come as well.