Hornet's sting is no match for the Pirate's sword

August 24, 2010 By Mark Beare Scoresheet
After a disappointing loss by the Oakland Pirates the last time they played the San Jose Hornets the Pirates were eager to bring their "A" game to compete against the Hornets in the Semi Final for the 2010 GGAFL season. And the Hornets, having tasted victory were keen to back it up.

The feeling in the air was tense leading up to the start of the game as both sides were affected by either players missing or players carrying injuries. With a spot in the Grand Final at stake both sides were sure to give it their all.

Out of the gate the Hornets showed that they were there to win with some great running play and goals from the likes of Davide de Vellis and Chris O'Meara. Richard Doyle crumbed well off a marking contest. Dour defense from Michael "He's so smooth" Stone and John "Anamananna" Annany prevented many major scores, but they did rush 5 behinds, would this come back and haunt them? The Oakland Pirates seemed to be hesitant at times, skill errors, poor decisions and failure to convert opportunities made for a nearly 2 goal deficit at quarter time.

In the second quarter the coffee must have set in for the Pirates as they found their run and a strong marking target in the form of Chris ''Buckets" Johnson who snagged 4 goals in the second quarter. However it wasn't done easily with tough competition in the air and on the ground provided by Michael Stone. At the other end of the ground, the Hornets could not find a reliable avenue into attack. Mark "Yogi" Beare cut off numerous attacks and was supported well in defense by his midfielder Matt "Coach" Bishop, who was willing to run back when required.

At half time the Pirates had pushed past the Hornets and held a 3 goal lead. San Jose had the advantage of a three goal wind in the 3rd, and they would need to capitalize.

The Hornets were able to put a couple goals on the board thanks to the straight kicking of Rod Bell and the deadly accurate Davide de Vellis (who seemed to forget how to kick his signature 'helicopter' punt). Mark Beare again was superb in defense for the Pirates. His rebounding play was the basis of the Pirates counter attack. Brian Lewis was wining most of the Ruck contests giving Tocher "Cupcake" Kellom and Kyle "Manly" Johnson opportunity to win the ball for Oakland out of the middle. They, along with Matt Bishop provided superb clearance efforts. Jeff Soesby started working himself into the game and Oakland were able to kick 3 goals in the quarter while kicking into the wind.

In the final quarter San Jose experimented with their mid field to see if they could have some success against Brian Lewis in the ruck. Unfortunately the Hornets seemed to run out of legs in the last quarter while Oakland's mid field players with support from flanker Nathan "Shoe" Minshew continued to run and make space for themselves which lead to another 4 goals for Oakland compared to the Hornet's individual goal for the quarter, kicked by Michael Tattersall. Milli "Vanilly Chilli" Bruce also kicked her first goal in her GGAFL career.

At the final siren the Pirates were victorious by a margin of over 7 goals, a great result to send them into the Grand Final against the Marin Mavericks.

Best:
OAK: Mark Beare, Chris Johnson, Matt Bishop, Kyle Johnson
SJH: Michael Stone, Davide de Vellis, Chris O'Meara, John Annany