TOPIC:

A great win after conceding the first 4 goals.
The midfield was always the concern this year and it was good to see how they would go against a very good midfield,
Today they showed they will be more than competitive.
Good to see a few of our forwards who were quiet make an impact when it was needed.
The goal Boules got in the last quarter was a bit of luck. The bounce of the ball can be cruel.

chaddy22 wrote:

A great win after conceding the first 4 goals.
The midfield was always the concern this year and it was good to see how they would go against a very good midfield,
Today they showed they will be more than competitive.
Good to see a few of our forwards who were quiet make an impact when it was needed.
The goal Boules got in the last quarter was a bit of luck. The bounce of the ball can be cruel.

I’m a true believer after tonight’s performance,the Tigers we’re a great litmus test,and to be quite frank,after their fast start,they were flattered by the scoreboard.We can definitely go one better this year,and your were right in saying Chaddy that we will have some selection headaches,as I saw no real weaknesses out on the park tonight,and that was an all round quality and committed performance.

It was certainly a gritty win, chaddy22, because after Claremont booted the opening four goals in the first 10-12 minutes, I feared we were looking down the barrel of a 10-goal loss.
However, the lads are made of far sterner stuff than arch-pessimists like myself and willed themselves back into the contest.
Yes, Adam Boules' second goal did involve a lucky bounce, but he had the presence of mind to be in the right spot at the right time and was able to level the scores.
While we miss the likes of Mitch Crowden and Angus Schumacher, Hamish Brayshaw seems to have rediscovered his 2023 form (and let's hope he stays injury-free), while Christian Ameduri, Tom North and Liam Tedesco are playing some tough contested footy and Angus Scott had a good first game for 2025.
Full credit to our defence, which has restricted our three opponents to a total of 23 goals.
I think Ross McQueen's fitness team has the boys in great condition because we've scored 12.6 to our opponents' 1.5 in our three final quarters this season.  
 

Great to meet you and Theo tonight, Lucky.
I agree that tonight was a litmus test, particularly given that Claremont has recently been our nemesis.
With a few players to return (as is the case for all sides), there's still room for considerable improvement.
However, what most impresses me about this side is their collective hardness and never-say-die spirit.

Archie Duda Goal Machine wrote:

It was certainly a gritty win, chaddy22, because after Claremont booted the opening four goals in the first 10-12 minutes, I feared we were looking down the barrel of a 10-goal loss.
However, the lads are made of far sterner stuff than arch-pessimists like myself and willed themselves back into the contest.
Yes, Adam Boules' second goal did involve a lucky bounce, but he had the presence of mind to be in the right spot at the right time and was able to level the scores.
While we miss the likes of Mitch Crowden and Angus Schumacher, Hamish Brayshaw seems to have rediscovered his 2023 form (and let's hope he stays injury-free), while Christian Ameduri, Tom North and Liam Tedesco are playing some tough contested footy and Angus Scott had a good first game for 2025.
Full credit to our defence, which has restricted our three opponents to a total of 23 goals.
I think Ross McQueen's fitness team has the boys in great condition because we've scored 12.6 to our opponents' 1.5 in our three final quarters this season.  

 

Yes Archie,we both feared the worst after the Tigers jumped to a 24 point lead,but we steadily wrestled back control of the game,and we definitely outmuscled them in most contests as the game wore on.One also had to be impressed with our ball use,especially coming out of the backline,and a pleasing feature was the boys ability to lower there eyes,and find targets up the ground,and we certainly have a plethora of lead up forwards this season who can take grabs.

Archie Duda Goal Machine wrote:

Great to meet you and Theo tonight, Lucky.
I agree that tonight was a litmus test, particularly given that Claremont has recently been our nemesis.
With a few players to return (as is the case for all sides), there's still room for considerable improvement.
However, what most impresses me about this side is their collective hardness and never-say-die spirit.

Yeah good to confirm Archie’s identity Pete,although we have chatted a few times in the past,,and I’ve lost count of the regulars you can chat to over the years,without actually knowing their names,and it’s always a bit awkward when they know yours.

There's a certain collective anonymity about following a footy team, Lucky.
Many supporters (via pseudonyms) converse freely with fellow supporters on forums such as this one and our own East Perth messageboard elsewhere, yet may sometimes not realise that they're sitting next to the very same people at the game itself.
I enjoyed our post-game chat about the great 1978 Grand Final and the not-so-great 1976 Grand Final.  
  

Archie Duda Goal Machine wrote:

There's a certain collective anonymity about following a footy team, Lucky.
Many supporters (via pseudonyms) converse freely with fellow supporters on forums such as this one and our own East Perth messageboard elsewhere, yet may sometimes not realise that they're sitting next to the very same people at the game itself.
I enjoyed our post-game chat about the great 1978 Grand Final and the not-so-great 1976 Grand Final.  
  

Yep it was good to catch up with you and Larry Bird,and my young fella was crook tonight and in doubt to make the game,but he’s got the good old Royals DNA genes,and he didn’t want to miss tonight’s big test.

Cl murdered EF for height last week, EP seem to have that balance of quality tall forwards and defenders plus  Scotty Jones to counter that....something EF couldn't do.....if EP stay fit those quality talls will be hard for a lot of opposition teams to counter.

I would of loved to of been listening to some of that 78 reminiscing....some great players in the blue n black back then.....Curtis was a fave of mine back then.....no thrills no fuss, just got the job done. I would of loved to of talked to you boys about that 79 1st semi.....not sure how EF won that...or EP lost it!

Freezin wrote:

Cl murdered EF for height last week, EP seem to have that balance of quality tall forwards and defenders plus  Scotty Jones to counter that....something EF couldn't do.....if EP stay fit those quality talls will be hard for a lot of opposition teams to counter.

I would of loved to of been listening to some of that 78 reminiscing....some great players in the blue n black back then.....Curtis was a fave of mine back then.....no thrills no fuss, just got the job done. I would of loved to of talked to you boys about that 79
1st semi.....not sure how EF won that...or EP lost it!

As a young bloke at the time, dashing Steve Curtis would've been my favourite EP player of that era, Freeze.
EF's 1979 first semi-final win over the Royals was all the more remarkable because just four weeks earlier, EP had inflicted what was, at that stage, Old Easts' biggest loss (103 points) at EF Oval.  
I attended that 1SF and had managed to erase it from the memory bank until a year or two ago when I saw a replay of the last few minutes of the game.
I recall that EF may have been a point behind with about five minutes to play but scored three successive points to, first, draw level and then take the lead.
I seem to recall that Larry Kickett may have been unlucky to not receive a late free kick, but we always remember the late ones adversely affecting our team.
Of course, the real "culprit" was the great Ian Thomson (and, of course, Brad Smith) and his seven goals for the afternoon.
Had Thommo stayed in favour at EP and been selected in the 1978 GF side, he may never have been in a position to accept Big Bad Brad's overtures to join Old Easts.
I recall Thommo was playing in the Sunday League in 1979, but can't remember which club.