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hnpccIn the last three weeks all three of my sporting teams made it into the Grand Final. This was (in order) a surprise, given that we finished 6th on the ladder (mixed); less of a surprise, given that we finished 2nd (soccer); and a really big shock given that we finished 8th/9 teams (women's).
The mixed finals went on for a while. We lost the first final, and went "oh well, we're out of it." Then they rang us and gave us another final, as apparently we'd only lost the preliminary rather than an elimination final. Much to our own shock we won that final. So we ended up playing the same team again in the Grand Final - and promptly lost to them again by the same amount. At least this time we actually were leading for a quarter! We didn't have the same team for any of the three games, as our major shooter was in Bairnsdale for work two of the weeks, one player returned from her overseas holiday for the last game and one player left to go on their overseas holiday for the next game. All up? Bizarre, but mostly fun.
The soccer finals were a bit more hard core. We knew we'd finished 2nd on the ladder and were absolutely determined not to choke this time (we've done that before). I was away for the elimination final, which much to everyone's surprise we won 12-4. Even for indoor soccer that's a bit of a shellacking. Sunday we all gathered at 5.15pm... except Steve, who'd said he was playing but was obviously running late. They scored. We scored. We scored again. They scored again. We scored again, and then, with two minutes to go, they evened the score. The final whistle went. "OK, we're playing three minute halves, and it's a golden goal." Steve rocked up, having gotten the time wrong. We didn't mind - fresh legs! "Goal to goal?" asked Chris. "Golden goal. Whoever scores first wins." We had the kick off. Down towards our goal we went. The keeper picked it up, and threw it down the court towards their star striker. Somewhat desperately we intercepted. The ball went out. Kick in. Intercept. Pass to Marcus, who weaved around three players... and scored!!! We won!!! Woo-hoo!!
Interestingly the team that we were sure we'd be playing in the final (and who finished first on the ladder) weren't the ones who actually were playing in the final. Obviously they had one of those choking days too.
All up? Fantastic win, and congratulations to Billie who won player of the match. All of us played really well (especially Steve in his 1.5 minute contribution!) so it felt like a good win.
Tonight was the women's final. After finishing 2nd last on the ladder we were somewhat bemused to discover we had an elimination final. And that we'd be playing the team who finished 5th, and who we'd lost convincingly to a couple of weeks before. Oh well, we thought, this will be fun. Much to our surprise it was a really close game. Even more to our surprise we were winning at the end of the first quarter. And the end of the second. And the end of the third! In the fourth they started clawing back. I was playing GK, and completely unable to see what the score was at the other end of the court. I knew the gap was closing, but that was it. And their GA was good, I think she missed once out of all her shots at goal. With what we knew to be minutes left, our GA decided to play the equivalent of kick-to-kick in the centre third. "Play it in attack!!!!" I screamed, having watched Essendon draw with Brisbane a week or so previously while doing just that. Sure enough they intercepted, and started passing down the court. The ball reached their GA just inside the ring... and the whistle went. We'd won by a goal. I have never been so relieved in my life, not least because I thought we'd drawn and would now have to play Golden Goal, which we almost certainly would have lost.
This meant that we were in the Grand Final. For three quarters we were a goal or two behind. The last quarter though... we fell in a heap, ably assisted by some very interesting umpiring. (It's contact on you if a player runs into you from behind while you're standing still? Really? How about if they knock the ball out of your hands? Still contact on you? And for crying out loud, will someone please explain what the interpretations of 'replay' are based on, because they're not consistent from minute to minute, let alone game to game.) The opposition had also brought along what appeared to be all their parents (I think there was a minimum 15 year age gap between players on the two teams...), whereas our cheer squad consisted of a two year old, her father, her uncle, and two players. It was like being a Melbourne team playing an away game in Adelaide - they'd get a goal, there'd be this frantic cheering, we'd get a goal - dead silence. Anyway, runners up again. The other team and their extended families were all very happy. The presentations were... bizarre, in that they presented the winning trophies first, then got me (as captain) to present the runners-up. Normally it's the other way around. Also? No player of the match award, which... there was supposed to be. Then again, based on Thursday night I'd also have expected an umpire to be doing the scoring, but no, they wanted a representative from each team to do it. Good thing we both had extras. I will be e-mailing to ask about this, because it annoyed me (not as much as the umpiring, but still).
Anyway, I now have five extra trophies sitting on the mantlepiece. Why 5? Two of my players from tonight buggered off before the presentations. I intend to hunt them down and force them to accept a trophy. Heh. :-)
And now we start up a new season (or, in the case of the mixed have already started a new season.) Onward, and this season? We plan to win the trifecta. Heh.
The mixed finals went on for a while. We lost the first final, and went "oh well, we're out of it." Then they rang us and gave us another final, as apparently we'd only lost the preliminary rather than an elimination final. Much to our own shock we won that final. So we ended up playing the same team again in the Grand Final - and promptly lost to them again by the same amount. At least this time we actually were leading for a quarter! We didn't have the same team for any of the three games, as our major shooter was in Bairnsdale for work two of the weeks, one player returned from her overseas holiday for the last game and one player left to go on their overseas holiday for the next game. All up? Bizarre, but mostly fun.
The soccer finals were a bit more hard core. We knew we'd finished 2nd on the ladder and were absolutely determined not to choke this time (we've done that before). I was away for the elimination final, which much to everyone's surprise we won 12-4. Even for indoor soccer that's a bit of a shellacking. Sunday we all gathered at 5.15pm... except Steve, who'd said he was playing but was obviously running late. They scored. We scored. We scored again. They scored again. We scored again, and then, with two minutes to go, they evened the score. The final whistle went. "OK, we're playing three minute halves, and it's a golden goal." Steve rocked up, having gotten the time wrong. We didn't mind - fresh legs! "Goal to goal?" asked Chris. "Golden goal. Whoever scores first wins." We had the kick off. Down towards our goal we went. The keeper picked it up, and threw it down the court towards their star striker. Somewhat desperately we intercepted. The ball went out. Kick in. Intercept. Pass to Marcus, who weaved around three players... and scored!!! We won!!! Woo-hoo!!
Interestingly the team that we were sure we'd be playing in the final (and who finished first on the ladder) weren't the ones who actually were playing in the final. Obviously they had one of those choking days too.
All up? Fantastic win, and congratulations to Billie who won player of the match. All of us played really well (especially Steve in his 1.5 minute contribution!) so it felt like a good win.
Tonight was the women's final. After finishing 2nd last on the ladder we were somewhat bemused to discover we had an elimination final. And that we'd be playing the team who finished 5th, and who we'd lost convincingly to a couple of weeks before. Oh well, we thought, this will be fun. Much to our surprise it was a really close game. Even more to our surprise we were winning at the end of the first quarter. And the end of the second. And the end of the third! In the fourth they started clawing back. I was playing GK, and completely unable to see what the score was at the other end of the court. I knew the gap was closing, but that was it. And their GA was good, I think she missed once out of all her shots at goal. With what we knew to be minutes left, our GA decided to play the equivalent of kick-to-kick in the centre third. "Play it in attack!!!!" I screamed, having watched Essendon draw with Brisbane a week or so previously while doing just that. Sure enough they intercepted, and started passing down the court. The ball reached their GA just inside the ring... and the whistle went. We'd won by a goal. I have never been so relieved in my life, not least because I thought we'd drawn and would now have to play Golden Goal, which we almost certainly would have lost.
This meant that we were in the Grand Final. For three quarters we were a goal or two behind. The last quarter though... we fell in a heap, ably assisted by some very interesting umpiring. (It's contact on you if a player runs into you from behind while you're standing still? Really? How about if they knock the ball out of your hands? Still contact on you? And for crying out loud, will someone please explain what the interpretations of 'replay' are based on, because they're not consistent from minute to minute, let alone game to game.) The opposition had also brought along what appeared to be all their parents (I think there was a minimum 15 year age gap between players on the two teams...), whereas our cheer squad consisted of a two year old, her father, her uncle, and two players. It was like being a Melbourne team playing an away game in Adelaide - they'd get a goal, there'd be this frantic cheering, we'd get a goal - dead silence. Anyway, runners up again. The other team and their extended families were all very happy. The presentations were... bizarre, in that they presented the winning trophies first, then got me (as captain) to present the runners-up. Normally it's the other way around. Also? No player of the match award, which... there was supposed to be. Then again, based on Thursday night I'd also have expected an umpire to be doing the scoring, but no, they wanted a representative from each team to do it. Good thing we both had extras. I will be e-mailing to ask about this, because it annoyed me (not as much as the umpiring, but still).
Anyway, I now have five extra trophies sitting on the mantlepiece. Why 5? Two of my players from tonight buggered off before the presentations. I intend to hunt them down and force them to accept a trophy. Heh. :-)
And now we start up a new season (or, in the case of the mixed have already started a new season.) Onward, and this season? We plan to win the trifecta. Heh.
