SYDNEY 7.0 8.2 10.6 12.8 (80) GEELONG 1.1 3.3 6.6 11.8 (74)
GOALS Sydney: McGlynn 2, Jack 2, Reid 2, Everitt, Bolton, Kennedy, Jetta, Pyke, Armstrong. Geelong: Podsiadly 2, Chapman 2, Enright, Hunt, Selwood, Motlop, Hawkins, Hunt, West.
BEST Sydney: Jack, Bolton, Johnson, McGlynn, Kennedy, O'Keefe. Geelong: Bartel, Enright, Selwood, Taylor, Chapman, Johnson.
UMPIRES C Donlon, S McInerney, D Margetts.
CROWD: 27,400 at SCG.
One of these days - somewhere in the near future - I'd love to see the Swans play a four-quarter game. It'll certainly do wonders for the legions of red-and-white fans who pack the stands each week. Last night, under the Friday night spotlight against the defending premiers, apart from their colours being different to Essendon's two weeks ago, it seemed like I was watching the same fourth quarter from that epic win at Etihad Stadium two Saturdays previous, when the Swans had to withstand a hell of a comeback from the Bombers, who very nearly erased a 47-point three-quarter-time deficit.
After two weeks to digest that near-meltdown in the last quarter...it couldn't happen again...surely it couldn't happen again, right? Wrong. It nearly happened again. After playing like world beaters in the opening three terms - and particularly during another scintillating opening quarter - Geelong came storm back into the contest, spearheaded by the irrepressible Paul Chapman, and that unfortunately for the faithful in Sydney coincided with a major fade-out by their team. As patented as the Swans and their fast starts at the SCG are becoming (9.0 three weeks ago, 7.0 this week), it seems that their late-game meltdowns are becoming patented, as well, and to the heartache of so many. Last night was not good for those with a week heart.
The last quarter was pulsating football, and the Swans seemed destined to lose. Geelong, it could be side, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They were all over the Swans, attacking where the Swans could only lock the football down. They had the momentum, every single bit of it. Their stars were up and about. The same could not quite be said fot the Swans, whose big guns, Goodes and ruckman Shane Mumford, trumpeted returnees this week, were ineffective in their first games back, which is, of course, not a surprise.
John Longmire's brave move to sub Goodes for Andrejs Everitt in the fourth proved the match winner. It was a good substitue on a night, in it's final gasps, where fresh legs were going to make all the difference. And they did. Sydney seemed to revive somewhat on the back of a gorgeous running goal from the enigmatic Kieran Jack and, at the twenty-eight minute mark of the final quarter, there was another attacking foray, a desperate one - it was that time where you sensed that the next goal, either way, would probably win the game - that ended with the brother of Swans cult hero Peter 'Spida' Everitt taking a mark. But he was forty meters out, at the least, and on a tight angle. And the junior Everitt hadn't exactly displayed sharpshooting skills to this point.
No problem. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, as Dennis Cometti says. Everitt's bomb barely looked like missing. It was a beautiful kick, and a spectacular on-field celebration as the SCG went into pandemonium. It was shades of Nick Davis in 2005 all over again. Great for Swans fans, a recurring nightmare for those in dark blue and white. That goal, to the construction end of the venerable ground, proved to be the difference. For Sydney, it was a desperate win against all odds considering how the last quarter had gone. For Geelong, perhaps just one contested mark away from reviving their top four aspirations, it was a cruel loss. So close, yet so far.
So the Swans march on, albeit a little shakily. They must be considered genuine premiership contenders now. In Essendon two weeks ago and Geelong this week, they have beaten other teams touted as being genuine premiership contenders. Of course, it would be good for them to play four quarters. You can't take a quarter off in a final and hope to win a flag.
At the end of it all, as the crowd filed home, many hoarse from screaming, frustrated and then delirious with celebration, the Sydney Swans sit atop the 2012 Toyota AFL Premiership ladder - as they were after their victory against Essendon two weeks before - at least through about 4.00pm this afternoon. And that should make the rest of the football world really sit up and take notice.
GWS next week at ANZ Stadium in the second edition of the Sydney Derby. Go Bloods!!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
2012 24 Heures Du Mans (24 Hours of Le Mans) - #23 Signatech Nissan LMP2
Gorgeous early-morning restart from the viewpoint of the #23 Signatech Nissan prototype in LMP2 category. Caution for a a crash in the high-speed Porsche Curves, and then the green flag, just before sunrise.
Incredible.
Incredible.
Audi Wins 2012 24 Heures Du Mans (24 Hours of Le Mans)
The headlines will scream Audi 1-2-3 at Le Mans, with the revolutionary e-tron quattro hybrid prototypes leading home that charge, occupying the top two steps of the podium, but the story of the race wasn't that straight-forward.
It was suggested that the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans would be a snoozer, at least as far as the overall honours were concerned. Peugeot had withdrawn their factory effort - the only real challenger to Audi's domination in the last half-decade - on the eve of the 12 Hours of Sebring, and although Toyota had announced their return to the LMP1 ranks with an interesting hybrid prototype, they were thought to be a year away from competition at Le Mans.
When Toyota announced that they would indeed be bringing two cars to Le Mans in 2012, some eyebrows were raised. Rumours abounded that the Japanese brand had been somewhat pressured by the ACO, the governing body of the Le Mans classic, to legitimise the 80th anniversary running of the world's greatest race. Whether or not this was the case, Toyota did answer the bell a year early, but their hybrid cars were woefully short on test miles and development, at least compared to their counterparts down pit lane, the formidable Audi Sport entries.
As it turned out, Toyota's problem wasn't speed or reliability. At least, not that we saw. In a hero-to-zero moment, as one of the team's hybrid prototypes took the lead after a fantastic scrap with the Audi - perhaps the best moment of racing all day long - Anthony Davidson has his well-documented run-in with the Ferrari car that destroyed the Toyota and left the British ace in a French hospital with broken vertebrae and, most likely, a generally sore body. On the restart after the safety car triggered by the horrible accident, the second Toyota punted the revolutionary Nissan Delta Wing and thus began a series of problems that eventuated in it's retirement during the night.
With the demise of the Toyota's Audi had the race to their own. But it was far from the smooth. Romain Dumas (with Gene and Duval) crashed the #3 R18 Ultra - the diesel prototype not the hybrid - and never recovered. The #4 Audi, led by the 2010 winner, Mike Rockenfeller, finished third, laps behind. It left the #1 (Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer) battling the #2 (Kristensen/McNish/Capello), the Young Guard vs. the Old Guard, and perhaps a sign of things to come, the driving landscape inside Audi Sport perhaps a shifting one.
With three hours to go, Alan McNish, the last man you'd expected to make a mistake at such a crucial time of the race, spun in the Porsche Curves. Before that, it seemed like it would be a cat-and-mouse game, the old boys stalking the youngsters, with no team orders. Mere minutes later, the #3 was in the wall again. It had been a horrible few minutes for Audi. Had Peugeot been around at all, or Toyota still running, it could have been disaster for the Four Rings. It was very un-Audi like, to be sure, but wonderful for some late-race drama in the LMP1 category.
As it turned out, it was McNish's spin that gave the #1 Audi R-18 the win, their second in a row, and a historic moment, the first ever hybrid overall victory at Le Mans. Second place wasn't a bad birthday present for 48-year-old Dindo Capello - he was 47 when the race started; they say that Le Mans is an aging experience, and it literally was for the Italian, who might've run his last 24 Hours with Audi - and the Rockenfeller Audi, #4. Rocky, who spends most of his time running DTM, is building up an impressive Le Mans resume, and has also won the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
LMP2 winner Starworks Motorsport continued an incredible year. The Honda-powered HPD ARX-03b car also won class at Sebring and, in a different series, finished second overall at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in February. Not a bad year to be having, if you're Peter Baron and his race team. Tom Kimber-Smith, drafted in at the last minute to join Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio, has another Le Mans class win. Surely, that never gets old.
Ferrari had a 1-2 in GTE-Pro, and completed an amazing story for the class-winning AF-Corse F458 (Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander) whose car was destroyed on Wednesday night. It was completely rebuilt, qualified on Thursday night and, with all their problems out of the way before the drop of the green, ran out three-lap winners over another Ferrari, the Luxury Racing outfit's #59 car. Returning to GT competition at Le Mans, Britain's pride and joy, Aston Martin took the third step of the podium. It was an encouraging start.
Finally, in GTE-Am, the IMSA Performance Matmut's Porsche seemed to have the win in the bag, but a late driver change followed by a disastrous puncture handed the class win to the #50 Labre Competition Corvette C6-R, at the very last moment. Literally, as the Audis were coming around in formation for the win. The 2011-model C6-R's win provided a silver lining on what was a very long and tough day for the factory Corvettes in GTE-Pro. The Compuware-branded American muscle cars had all manner of problems, hobbling a two-car effort that many had as favourites to win GTE-Pro. Pre-race favouritism means little when the race begins.
Onto 2013. Only 364 days to go...
As it turned out, it was McNish's spin that gave the #1 Audi R-18 the win, their second in a row, and a historic moment, the first ever hybrid overall victory at Le Mans. Second place wasn't a bad birthday present for 48-year-old Dindo Capello - he was 47 when the race started; they say that Le Mans is an aging experience, and it literally was for the Italian, who might've run his last 24 Hours with Audi - and the Rockenfeller Audi, #4. Rocky, who spends most of his time running DTM, is building up an impressive Le Mans resume, and has also won the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
LMP2 winner Starworks Motorsport continued an incredible year. The Honda-powered HPD ARX-03b car also won class at Sebring and, in a different series, finished second overall at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in February. Not a bad year to be having, if you're Peter Baron and his race team. Tom Kimber-Smith, drafted in at the last minute to join Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio, has another Le Mans class win. Surely, that never gets old.
Ferrari had a 1-2 in GTE-Pro, and completed an amazing story for the class-winning AF-Corse F458 (Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander) whose car was destroyed on Wednesday night. It was completely rebuilt, qualified on Thursday night and, with all their problems out of the way before the drop of the green, ran out three-lap winners over another Ferrari, the Luxury Racing outfit's #59 car. Returning to GT competition at Le Mans, Britain's pride and joy, Aston Martin took the third step of the podium. It was an encouraging start.
Finally, in GTE-Am, the IMSA Performance Matmut's Porsche seemed to have the win in the bag, but a late driver change followed by a disastrous puncture handed the class win to the #50 Labre Competition Corvette C6-R, at the very last moment. Literally, as the Audis were coming around in formation for the win. The 2011-model C6-R's win provided a silver lining on what was a very long and tough day for the factory Corvettes in GTE-Pro. The Compuware-branded American muscle cars had all manner of problems, hobbling a two-car effort that many had as favourites to win GTE-Pro. Pre-race favouritism means little when the race begins.
Onto 2013. Only 364 days to go...
2012 24 Heures Du Mans (24 Hours of Le Mans) - #1 Audi R-18 Onboard
A spectacular and glorious morning at Le Mans - a far cry from the weather in Western France twenty-four hours previous - onboard with Andre Lotterer in the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro hybrid prototype, the eventual race winners. Fast laps, spectacular scenery, amazing machinery. Enjoy!!
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Anthony Davidson's Massive Accident At The 2012 24 Heures Du Mans (24 Hours of Le Mans)
The 2012 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the 80th anniversary edition of the greatest race in the world - sorry Indianapolis, Bathurst and Monaco - and much has changed since the very first time the twice-around-the-clock French classic began. One thing that has not, and most probably never will, is the age-old problem out on the Circuit de la Sarthe: traffic.
Last year, it was the Audi of Alan McNish involved in a massive accident early in the race after a bold overtaking move on a Ferrari GT car, just over the rise, beyond the Dunlop Curves. Hours later, McNish's team mate, Mike Rockenfeller, had a run-in with a sister car from the same Ferrari team, and, suddenly, thanks to slower traffic (and some questionable driving on both sides) two of the three bullets in the Audi gun were gone.
Fast forward a year, and it was the Toyota prototype driven by Brit Anthony Davidson, who found himself in the unenviable position of being wrapped up - and caught up - in the mess at least partly-created by a slower Ferrari driver. It seems the Prancing Horse cars attract trouble at Le Mans. The Toyota man was run into by Pierguiseppe Perazzini, causing the prototype to flip over the GT racer, and both cars thundered into the tire barriers. The impact speaks for itself (apolgies for the German, from the live broadcast).
Incredible. Ten years ago - or maybe even less than that - you would be honestly worried that one or both drivers would not walk away. It was a relief to see Davidson climb out of the cockpit of the Toyota, though he laid down on the road after, and good to see Perazzini escape his car, too. It says a lot about the way these cars are built now. They're almost bulletproof.
On the flip side, blame should (and undoubtedly will be) attributed solely to Perazzini who didn't do what the slower classes need to do - move over and allow the much-faster car through to continue what had been a surprisingly good run for the Toyota to that point. Instead, he ran into the back of the Toyota, and caused the racing world to hold their breath as the terrifying pictures were beamed around the world.
Very, very lucky that things weren't much worse. A shame for Toyota, a shame for Anthony Davidson, who will watch the rest of the race from a Le Mans-area hospital, with a broken back to rehab, and hopefully a lesson learnt for the rest of the GT field (and the LMP2 field, for that matter) in giving the fastest cars on the racetrack a clean run. Banzai moves aren't cool.
Last year, it was the Audi of Alan McNish involved in a massive accident early in the race after a bold overtaking move on a Ferrari GT car, just over the rise, beyond the Dunlop Curves. Hours later, McNish's team mate, Mike Rockenfeller, had a run-in with a sister car from the same Ferrari team, and, suddenly, thanks to slower traffic (and some questionable driving on both sides) two of the three bullets in the Audi gun were gone.
Fast forward a year, and it was the Toyota prototype driven by Brit Anthony Davidson, who found himself in the unenviable position of being wrapped up - and caught up - in the mess at least partly-created by a slower Ferrari driver. It seems the Prancing Horse cars attract trouble at Le Mans. The Toyota man was run into by Pierguiseppe Perazzini, causing the prototype to flip over the GT racer, and both cars thundered into the tire barriers. The impact speaks for itself (apolgies for the German, from the live broadcast).
Incredible. Ten years ago - or maybe even less than that - you would be honestly worried that one or both drivers would not walk away. It was a relief to see Davidson climb out of the cockpit of the Toyota, though he laid down on the road after, and good to see Perazzini escape his car, too. It says a lot about the way these cars are built now. They're almost bulletproof.
On the flip side, blame should (and undoubtedly will be) attributed solely to Perazzini who didn't do what the slower classes need to do - move over and allow the much-faster car through to continue what had been a surprisingly good run for the Toyota to that point. Instead, he ran into the back of the Toyota, and caused the racing world to hold their breath as the terrifying pictures were beamed around the world.
Very, very lucky that things weren't much worse. A shame for Toyota, a shame for Anthony Davidson, who will watch the rest of the race from a Le Mans-area hospital, with a broken back to rehab, and hopefully a lesson learnt for the rest of the GT field (and the LMP2 field, for that matter) in giving the fastest cars on the racetrack a clean run. Banzai moves aren't cool.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The Los Angeles Kings Are Stanley Cup Champions!
Six games before the playoffs, the Los Angeles Kings were on the outside looking in. That they would make the top eight in the Western Conference and progress to the tournament wasn't a sure thing. Some wins and some other results going their way saw them sneak in as the eighth seed in what looked to be the stronger of the two conferences - the West featured league front-runners Vancouver and St Louis, the perennially-dangerous Detroit and Chicago, whom many thought were dark horses to have a playoff explosion.
How often have we heard that tried-and-true cliche, the one about how, no matter how you qualify for the playoffs, if you make it, you're a shot.Simply put, you only have to be in it to win it! That the NHL's best team could, possibly, be the eighth seed. Sure, it's possible...always possible, but how likely? I certainly didn't think the Kings would do much damage. I'd seen them play twice in January, and neither game was particularly exciting. They struggled to score in both losses, and would have probably lost by more than they did had it not been for Jonathan Quick. Alone amongst the Kings roster at that time, Quick looked like he could win a Stanley Cup.
Things happened. New coach Daryl Sutter, installed in favour of Terry Murray before thirty games had fallen by the wayside in the 2011-12 season, finally got his system to click. The Kings bought in. Quick got even better, to the point where he was probably the best goalie in the league, even better than the St Louis tandem and Henrik Lundqvist in New York. There was talk of trading captain Dustin Brown. It didn't happen. The Kings did send D Jack Johnson to Columbus in favour of disgruntled F Jeff Carter. To my way of thinking, the two events were the trade and non-trade that won the Stanley Cup for Los Angeles. In the series-deciding sixth game, Brown had a three-point night and Carter scored two goals. That's validation for both pulling the trigger and deciding against it. The Kings front office played it smart, and are reaping the rewards now.
From maligned and on the trade block in LA, Brown, the Kings captain became only the second American to hold the Stanley Cup aloft as team leader. Jettisoned from Philadelphia, unhappy in Columbus and traded to Los Angeles to be reunited with his buddy, another ex-Flyer, Mike Richards, Carter tasted ultimate success after a poor season in C-Bus, where not even Rick Nash could lift the Jackets from the NHL's doldrums.
In the playoffs, the Kings beat, in order, the first-ranked (Vancouver), second-ranked (St Louis) and third-ranked (Phoenix) teams in the Western Conference, then went 3-0 and cruised home to win the franchise's first Stanley Cup in forty-five years, putting away a New Jersey Devils team who discovered that the least-lethal power play in Stanley Cup Playoff history could come alive and hurt them if given the opportunity. The Devils' Steve Bernier was called (and ejected) for a brutal, nonsensical boarding call eleven minutes into the first period of Game Six, gifting the Kings a five-minute major. The boys in black and white found the net three times in 3:58, and set in motion a 6-1 rout that ended in feverishly epic pandemonium inside Staples Centre.
For Quick, Conn Smythe Trophy winner for Playoff MVP - well deserved, and deservedly unanimous - and Carter and Brown and others, like the Slovenian rocket Anze Kopitar, rugged Jarret Stoll, gold medal-winning Drew Doughty, the bloodied Rob Scuderi, another ex-Flyer Simon Gagne, Dustin Penner, Colin Fraser and more, this was a team with so many good stories. The team itself was a story, their transformation from Murray to Sutter, the late-arriving Carter and Quick showing why he's the best goalie in the league heading into the 2012-13 season.
And so the 2011-12 NHL Season ends, and the league's best team, it's deserving champion, is an eighth seed who lost only once on the road, with a goalie who continued to baffle opposition skaters and star players who stood up when they had to, turning scoring playoff hat-tricks and game-winning goals into an art form. And, in the process, they proved the old adage true: you only need to be in it to win it. Win it, the Kings did.
Talk about a team of destiny. Congratulations, Los Angeles, 2012 Stanley Cup Champions. Is it October yet?
Sunday, June 10, 2012
2012 24 Heures Du Mans (24 Hours of Le Mans)- Australian TV Guide
Wednesday 13 June
Le Mans 24 Minutes (11.00am - 11.30am; Eurosport)
Thursday 14 June
Le Mans 24 Minutes (1.30am - 2.00am; Eurosport)
24 Hours of Le Mans Free Practice (2.00am - 6.00am; Eurosport)
24 Hours of Le Mans Qualifying 1 (6.00am - 8.00am; Eurosport)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (8.00am - 8.30am; Eurosport)
Friday 15 June
24 Hours of Le Mans Qualifying 2 (3.00am - 5.00am; Eurosport)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (5.30am - 6.00am; Eurosport)
24 Hours of Le Mans Qualifying 3 (6.00am - 8.00am; Eurosport)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (6.00pm - 6.30pm; Eurosport)
Saturday 16 June
Le Mans 24 Minutes (4.30pm - 5.00pm; Eurosport)
24 Hours of Le Mans Warm-up (5.00pm - 6.00pm; Eurosport)
24 Hours of Le Mans Legends Race (6.00pm - 7.00pm; Eurosport)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (10.15pm - 10.45pm; Eurosport)
2012 24 Hours of Le Mans (10.45pm - 11.59pm)
Sunday 17 June
2012 24 Hours of Le Mans (1.30am - 6.30am; Eurosport)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (6.30am - 7.00am; Eurosport)
2012 24 Hours of Le Mans (7.00am - 5.30pm; Eurosport)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (5.30pm - 6.00pm; Eurosport)
2012 24 Hours of Le Mans (6.00pm - 11.15pm; Eurosport)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (11.15pm - 11.45pm; Eurosport)
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Swans Review - Essendon (9 June 2012)
An incredible football game.
Where does one start with a contest like this? It seems to always happen, when the Swans and Bombers get together in Melbourne, there is last-minute - last second, after the siren, even - drama that gives the football world something to talk about for the next few days. Last year, it was Adam Goodes missing after the siren. This year, it was the unfortunate Courtenay Dempsey wheeling around to play on as the clock went to 0:00, ending the game and ending, too, a most furious comeback from Essendon. Clearly, these are must-see games, year-in, year-out.
The Swans, thanks to Lewis Jetta, executed the mother of all great escapes tonight. It was all Essendon all the time in the fourth quarter, except when Jetta seemed to have the football on a string and the Bombers clutching vainly at his shoestrings. Down 47 points at half time, even the staunchest of Essendon fans had to think their goose was cooked. Only the most pessimistic Swans supporters were even barely entertaining the thought of anything but a comfortable, statement-making win.
Then, the flood gates opened and Essendon, dead and buried in the third, came roaring back, erasing forty-three of the forty-seven point three quarter time deficit, thanks to brilliant work from another Jetta, from a Watson and from a Hocking, and there seemed a time where the Bombers would make history, recording a famous victory in front of an electric Etihad Stadium crowd, and, in the process, recording the greatest comeback from a three quarter time deficit in history.
It was that close. But Lewis Jetta and Jude Bolton, the only two Swans who made a major mark in the scorer's book in the final, did enough to stem the tide before Dempsey's moment at the death, one that is sure to be spoken about for a long time. It's added to the recent lore between these teams. For both teams. It was penthouse to outhouse, hero to zero - or vice-versa - stuff.
Yet the best team across four quarters undoubtedly won the game tonight. The Swans were ruthless for three quarters, the midfield slicing apart Essendon - the Bombers looked pedestrian at best until the commencement of the final term - thus giving the forwards, led by the remarkably-improved Jetta, wonderful scoring opportunities. What happened to all of that in the last quarter? That, surely, is the question every Swans fan the world over is asking. The separation between being such a lofty position and almost recording a most humiliating defeat was mere seconds, heart-stopping, breathless seconds for fans on both sides of the fence.
Essendon were like a snowball in the final quarter, and it seemed like there would be no stopping them. Credit to the Bombers. They showed an incredible amount of moxie in coming back the way they did. It was as if the Swans had poked the big bear enough to wake them up, and once the Bombers were awake, they were impressive. It was easy to see why Essendon are being spoken about as Flag favourites - at least in the final quarter. Poor kicking and general ineffectiveness killed them early, and set up what was eventually a thrilling, grandstand finish win.
For the Swans, there is work to be done over the bye weekend. Most importantly, they need to work on playing a full game against good teams, not just against the lower-tier teams. Yet, the first three quarters proved that they are capable of matching it with the best in the AFL. Their ability to play coast-to-coast football, cutting through the middle of the park, was impressive. There was forward pressure, fierce tackling, smooth handballs, a great pack mentality down back, where there was a pleasant absence of the helter-skelter defensive work that sometimes appears. It was like watching a well-oiled machine. The entirety of the first three quarters was a thing of beauty, unless you were an Essendon fan. Really, it was an absolute beating. Then the amazing comeback. The siren was a relief tonight like it's rarely been such a relief before.
The bye awaits - just as well, with injury concerns for Hannebery and Nick Smith, both of whom missed the furious final quarter - and then Geelong on a Friday night at the SCG. Given the way this one ended tonight, Swans fans are likely glad of the two-week break. They'll need it to let their heart-rate return to normal!
Where does one start with a contest like this? It seems to always happen, when the Swans and Bombers get together in Melbourne, there is last-minute - last second, after the siren, even - drama that gives the football world something to talk about for the next few days. Last year, it was Adam Goodes missing after the siren. This year, it was the unfortunate Courtenay Dempsey wheeling around to play on as the clock went to 0:00, ending the game and ending, too, a most furious comeback from Essendon. Clearly, these are must-see games, year-in, year-out.
The Swans, thanks to Lewis Jetta, executed the mother of all great escapes tonight. It was all Essendon all the time in the fourth quarter, except when Jetta seemed to have the football on a string and the Bombers clutching vainly at his shoestrings. Down 47 points at half time, even the staunchest of Essendon fans had to think their goose was cooked. Only the most pessimistic Swans supporters were even barely entertaining the thought of anything but a comfortable, statement-making win.
Then, the flood gates opened and Essendon, dead and buried in the third, came roaring back, erasing forty-three of the forty-seven point three quarter time deficit, thanks to brilliant work from another Jetta, from a Watson and from a Hocking, and there seemed a time where the Bombers would make history, recording a famous victory in front of an electric Etihad Stadium crowd, and, in the process, recording the greatest comeback from a three quarter time deficit in history.
It was that close. But Lewis Jetta and Jude Bolton, the only two Swans who made a major mark in the scorer's book in the final, did enough to stem the tide before Dempsey's moment at the death, one that is sure to be spoken about for a long time. It's added to the recent lore between these teams. For both teams. It was penthouse to outhouse, hero to zero - or vice-versa - stuff.
Yet the best team across four quarters undoubtedly won the game tonight. The Swans were ruthless for three quarters, the midfield slicing apart Essendon - the Bombers looked pedestrian at best until the commencement of the final term - thus giving the forwards, led by the remarkably-improved Jetta, wonderful scoring opportunities. What happened to all of that in the last quarter? That, surely, is the question every Swans fan the world over is asking. The separation between being such a lofty position and almost recording a most humiliating defeat was mere seconds, heart-stopping, breathless seconds for fans on both sides of the fence.
Essendon were like a snowball in the final quarter, and it seemed like there would be no stopping them. Credit to the Bombers. They showed an incredible amount of moxie in coming back the way they did. It was as if the Swans had poked the big bear enough to wake them up, and once the Bombers were awake, they were impressive. It was easy to see why Essendon are being spoken about as Flag favourites - at least in the final quarter. Poor kicking and general ineffectiveness killed them early, and set up what was eventually a thrilling, grandstand finish win.
For the Swans, there is work to be done over the bye weekend. Most importantly, they need to work on playing a full game against good teams, not just against the lower-tier teams. Yet, the first three quarters proved that they are capable of matching it with the best in the AFL. Their ability to play coast-to-coast football, cutting through the middle of the park, was impressive. There was forward pressure, fierce tackling, smooth handballs, a great pack mentality down back, where there was a pleasant absence of the helter-skelter defensive work that sometimes appears. It was like watching a well-oiled machine. The entirety of the first three quarters was a thing of beauty, unless you were an Essendon fan. Really, it was an absolute beating. Then the amazing comeback. The siren was a relief tonight like it's rarely been such a relief before.
The bye awaits - just as well, with injury concerns for Hannebery and Nick Smith, both of whom missed the furious final quarter - and then Geelong on a Friday night at the SCG. Given the way this one ended tonight, Swans fans are likely glad of the two-week break. They'll need it to let their heart-rate return to normal!
Monday, June 4, 2012
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