Palmyra v Associates

Palmyra came home with a narrow win over Associates off the boot of James Stannard yesterday, putting a dampner on Soaks' aspirations of making the four, and on the spirits of their supporters.

While the score was close, both sides had opportunities, despite the weather, to go further forward. Palmyra's opportunities were snuffed out by wrong options and fumbled ball. Soaks' opportunities were stopped in their tracks by a stone wall of defence called Gerry Viriki.

Gerry was every where, sometimes being involved in 2, 3 and even 4 phases of sequential tackles, reducing Soak's attackers to dispair.

Palmyra' backs had a new look, with Jason Burke at half, James Blumberg at inside centre and Mark O'Toole at fullback.This combination worked superbly,and O'Toole at fullback in particular was a revelation; even Associates diehards were waxing lyrical at his anticipation of field position and his ability to run or kick Palmyra out of defence time after time. His Soaks counterpart, former Palmyra colt Matt Dreyer had a quiet day by comparison, and while his field play was astute, his kicking let his team down.

It is hard to nominate best Players for Pally as the day's performance was an exceptional team effort. Second rower Scott Turnbull made a good return to first grade and he, Chris Rankin and Mark Westcott dominated the lineouts, not only securing our ball, but taking much of Soaks. Tommy Ratahai was an excellent foil to Viriki and our front row more than matched Soaks in the tight.

Final score Palmyra 15 ( 4 penalties ,field goal James Stannard) - Associates 10 (try Adam New, conversion, penalty Matt Dreyer)

It was great to see Andrew Turner take the field again after injury, albeit as a short term replacement, and he made his presence felt.

Palmyra will take great heart from this game, against a strong and determined opposition, and can move on against Kalamunda next week at home with some confidence.

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Yes,I know my write up is biased, I don't pretend otherwise. I'm a Pally, boy, not a journalist.

For those who want to balance thing up, feel free to post your own version. That is welcomed, and I wont get upset if you call me an ignorant tosser, I've been called worse. :)

the backs are looking good. with now 3 of the backs from the same colts side. it does show thatm imports arent always the solution!

it was good to see the other grades giving the first grade some good support, which i think helped them win in the end.It was a good game to watch, and even better watching the soaks supporters faces at the final whistle.I do think Frank could've been a bit more vocal.!!!

Decorum, my dear Almac, decorum.