It was a relatively cool and overcast day for Domestic Five. The Jackals hoped to build on their recent good form to record another win but they would have to do it without key players Hooey, Big Mike and Nam. The Panthers had troubles of their own, however, with Coyote unavailable, and early in the match Tinky pinged a hammy and was unable to continue. Playing with the wind the Panthers had the better of the first quarter. Two goals to Pez and another from J-Mac gave them the lead. The Panthers managed just one, a trademark forty meter bomb from Hasto.
It was a similar story in the second quarter. Pez got on the board again and Jazza chipped in with another goal. Hasto was keeping the Jackals in it though as he kicked his second. Mark “Big Boy” Saunders was doing a tough shift on Saturday. As always he was there early to help set up the ground, but with Leighton unavailable to umpire, Mark took on this role too, umpiring both the men’s and the women’s games himself, without any boundary or goal umpires to support him. So it comes as no surprise that he wasn’t in the mood for backchat. Big Mark delivered probably the best spray seen from an umpire in Tiger’s domestic history, laying down the law in no uncertain terms. The chastened players were nice to each other in the third quarter, at least for a while, and this was when the Jackals made their push for victory. Sammo, in borrowed boots, was playing his guts out. His kicking wasn’t the flashest but he was everywhere, intercepting marks, applying pressure and even getting low enough to pick the ball up off the deck. Big Nate laid a tackle on Mani and Hasto continued his great game with two more goals. Welby was proving too much for the less experienced defenders and the Panther’s lead was shrinking fast. To make matters worse, veteran Jazza pinged his hammy while surging forward for a contested mark against Sammo. Going into the final turn there was only one goal in it.
The last quarter was a thriller. The wind was with the Panther’s and they scored first with what might be the goal of the season. Mani ran the ball into the circle but was pressured wide. He looked sure to go out of bounds but he threw it on the boot just in time. It sailed high and true, piercing through the uprights on the tightest of angles. The Jackals could do nothing but stand back and applaud. That goal sparked something in Mani because he was unstoppable in that final quarter, kicking three more, but the Jackals would not lay down. Welby kept kicking goals and then Gunny delivered a low pass into the square for Skinny to dive onto. The Panther’s were sloppy on the mark and Skinny hand-passed it back then laid on a shepard to allow Gunny to bang it through the middle in his comeback match.
The players had lost track of the score by then but they all knew it was tight, and in the final play Pez took a mark dead in front and 30 meters out. He banged it through of course, but in the end it wasn’t needed. The Panthers won it by twelve.
The women’s match was also a great contest. Paeng had a blinder, using her brute strength to bust through tackles on her way to a bag of five goals. Auskicker Sammy had his best game yet, kicking a goal and being busy around the ground and new player Jasmine kicked a goal in her first game. The Jackals won by 21 points.
Back at the Clubhouse later that afternoon the players gathered for the monthly raffle, organized so brilliantly by Jules and Sez. They had another surprise too, with balloons and birthday cake for the birthday boys, J-Mac and Welby. Well, mostly for J-Mac, but Welby got a slice. Adelaide won the showdown, which was all Welby really wanted, and with cake in their bellies, beers in their hands and footy on the telly the heavens opened at about half-past five. But nobody minded, because everyone was where they wanted to be anyway, post-match footy at the Clubhouse with their mates.
| Men’s Black Panthers 12.5.77 defeated Golden Jackals 10.5.65 | Women’s Black Panthers 7.8.50 defeated Golden Jackals 4.5.29 |
| Panthers Pez- 5 Mani- 4 J-Mac Jay Jazza – 1 Jackals Welby – 6 Hasto – 3 Gunny – 1 | Panthers Paeng – 5 Pook – 1 Sammy – 1 Jackals Tud – 1 Sophie – 1 Jasmine – 1 Nan – 1 |