Burning Bright

Round One vs Port @ The G (7 April, 2017)

 

 

Indian Summer: a warm afternoon and night, just the time to have a shot at the Olde Enemy.

Your correspondent was feeling as fragile as the Sparkes stand, now touted as a crumbling ruin and monument to feelings of dilapidation at the Club. What would Henry Yorke Sparkes have made of the decision to craft a mound out of the historic grandstand?

Evidently the Council, in an excess of zeal, has now also banned members from the back stairs of the Rix Stand, on health and safety grounds (we can’t recall any fatalities, or even sprains, caused by these dangerous stairs, which have shockingly been posing risk to life and limb, apparently, for the last 50 years or so). It all added up to a pervasive feeling of gloom, summed-up by this doggerel (with apologies to William Blake):

Tigers! Tigers! Burning bright

In the ball parks of the night;

You’re fighting fit; your skills amaze

So why no pennant for the Bays?

You get the picture. However, tonight, the Tigers, having failed to win any of their trial games, excelled in their first real trial. Richmond recruit Liam McBean was sensational up forward with 6 goals, to be easily the dominant forward on the ground. Another newbie, Dom Barry, was handy with 2 goals and 20 disposals. Captain Andrew Bradley was in everything; the Milera boys bobbed-up everywhere; all played well. This includes Port Adelaide, which responded to our pressure and a six goal to two first quarter by plugging away and irritatingly remaining in touch. By three-quarter time, the game was up for grabs but despite the magpies posting four goals in the last, the Tigers held on to win by 17 points.

 

 

Glenelg 15.12 (102) d. Port 13.7 (85)