The Cygnet Football Club travelled over the hill to Snug Park last Saturday, and returned home with a win in the Seniors and Colts while the Reserves struggled against a determined Channel side. The Colts kicked off the day in fine but extremely chilly weather, and were made work hard by a much improved Saints side, especially in the first quarter. Slowly but surely, the Cygnet boy’s edged away from the Saints and by three quarter time had the game well in hand. While the end result was a resounding 90 point victory, the side has lost a little of the zest it was playing with earlier in the season, and Coach Jason Clark will no doubt work on this over the extended break. Best players included Ben Halton who with his 12 goals, mostly from full-forward was easily best on ground, and he received great assistance from the consistent Sam Dean. Adam Duggan again controlled the backline and consistently turned defence into attack. Loic Auderset was extremely good in the ruck and around the ground while Max Carter was instrumental in creating many goals, especially with his smart play and dominant final quarter. Tom Slevin continued his fine form in the backline. Other goal-scorers were Joe Shields and Brendan Shaw with 2 each. The Reserves with the inclusion of Daniel Walter, Vorne Graham, Sam Calvert and Damien Clifford fielded one of their strongest sides this season, but were unable to contain the Saints who, with the aid of a reasonable breeze, kicked 6 goals to place their stamp early on in the match. From there, the Port were basically playing catch up football all day, and while there were really good passages of play from both sides, the Saints always appeared to hold the upper hand. The Port battled hard till the final siren, but eventually went down by 61 points. Best players included Peter Roberts and Stuart Eaton who rarely miss a mention each week; such is their consistency, while Josh Wilcox again tried hard to lift his side. Sam Calvert provided flashes of exhilarating play from his wing while Brad Cordwell and Damien Clifford (in his first game for quite a while) both battled hard and never threw in the towel at any stage. Sam Calvert with 3 goals capped a very good game and demonstrated he could be a really exciting talent on the football field. The Seniors were hell-bent on making up for the disappointing performance against Huonville, but were not taking the Saints lightly, knowing “Boots” would have the Channel side fired up, especially with their old players reunion and sponsors day being conducted. The first term was a really dour struggle with both sides attack at the footy and tackling, really fierce, resulting in a low scoring quarter. Poor conversion for goal did not help both sides cause. The Port started to get on top in the second term, mainly by winning the ball from the centre, and with Gerard Brereton getting the ball down to Bradley Watson, and Tim Bone, started to feed the ball to Billy Lamprill in the goal square. The Port held a handy lead at the long break, but a plea from Coach Darcy to break the game open seemed to have effect with the Port kicking six goals to one in the third term. From there on it was a matter of what the final margin would be, and with another six goal final term, the final margin of 100 points was a pleasing result for supporters. To the Saints credit, they battled hard right up until the final siren, and also put in some good passages of play. Bradley Watson displayed outstanding leadership (yet again) with 40 possessions and five goals playing in the centre, while Tim Bone (2 goals) used all his experience while on the ball or resting on a flank to chalk up numerous possessions. Sam Haughland who was promoted to the Seniors, and given a defensive shut-down role played it to perfection in his first senior game of the year. Billy Lamprill (7 goals) was really strong at full forward, and took some super marks under pressure. Rhys Synnott also led his side really well and Mitchell Direen continued his consistent form, highlighted by clean and accurate disposal to his teammates. Other major goal-scorers included Jamie Direen and “Pud” Darcy with 2 each. All in all, a good result and I am sure all Clubs are looking forward to the bye to rest niggling injuries and prepare for the tough run to the finals. It was great to catch up with many old faces in the Saint’s Clubrooms after the match, and while there was general agreement that both Clubs are rebuilding and concentrating on playing local youth, there is great optimism both sides can still help shape finals action this season, and next year and beyond will see the rise of both sides back up the ladder. The winning margin ticket was held by Bobby Direen who shouted the boy’s two cartons of refreshments from his winnings – thanks Bobby! The Cygnet Football Club extends best wishes to all players including “Pud’ Darcy and Bradley Watson for the representative match to be played this coming weekend up North. We know you both will represent the Club and the southern team proudly! The next match for the Port is against Dodges Ferry at home on Saturday (5^th July) and we anticipate a big vocal crowd to witness three good games of football. See you all there! “Support the Port”

Footnote: It was good to see David Bone kick a beautiful foot pass to his older brother Timmy last Saturday to enable the Port to kick an easy goal. I guess “old habits do die hard” for the Bone brothers, even if they are playing in opposing jumpers at present!

PORT VOLUNTEER OF THE WEEK:

This week we acknowledge Trent Cowen of Abel Labels and Julian Direen who update and keep supporters informed through our Football Club website. Supporters who have not visited the site before can simply type www.cygnetfc.com into Google or any search engine and select the various sections containing photos, data and general interesting information on the Club.