On Saturday 26 March we held our inaugural ‘TWO-THIRDS CUP’ between MPLR and MPA. It was a beautiful day and the competition was tough. The first two quarters were a back and forth tussle, with both sides having opportunities to score, but not quite hitting the mark. Goal keepers Corey and Fionn were not letting anything past them, and we went into the half time break at 0-0 – could it get any more exciting!!
The whistle was blown to start the 2nd half. The MPLR took an early lead in the third quarter, when new recruit Phil Martin pounced on a miss-trap, and sent a toma flying into the back of the net! The calm, cool heads of Pen A were not going to let the goal shake them… although speaking to a shattered Sam Butterfield after the game, they may have been a little shook! Some beautiful play ended in the Pen A side scoring themselves a corner. With confusion over who wanted to take on the drag flicking responsibility, up from the backline strutted Jarrod Lougoon with his trademark line ‘hold my beer’. The push was perfect, Jarrod ripped the ball and it pin-balled off Josh Shipton, then off Corey and into the goal – GAME ON!!
The final quarter was going to be one of resilience – luckily Jeremy Edwards had given a five hour presentation the week prior to all the MPLR boys about what resilience was, I wondered if they’d remember. Back, forth, up, down, the more the seconds ticked, the more excited the crowd on the sidelines got at the prospect of a penalty shoot out – then came Taj Alcott. Pen A, looking a little tired, had a lapse of concentration in the D. Taj took his opportunity and bang, in went goal number two!!
Although fighting with every ounce they had, Pen A couldn’t quite manage to get the equalizer in the last minutes of the game. MPLR and Coach Lachie Day came out victorious, with a 2-1 win.
Post game nibbles and drinks were a treat, and everyone had an awesome day! A big thank you goes to James Jones and Tom Edney, who showed they can umpire as well as they play.
