We took to the field for our first home game of the season. It was a solemn start to the day as everyone was wearing black arm bands in memory of Robbie  Carpenter who tragically passed away while playing for Blackstone Senior Mens Div 4 the previous weekend. We weren’t sure what  to expect from the Saints but we were keen to back up last week’s win with another victory. We also had the luxury of a few of the U14’s filling in for us. Big thank-you to Daniel, Lachie and Ryan. We didn’t have to wait long for our first goal as the Saints kick off and Tim pressed, intercepted a pass and beat the keeper. I hadn’t even sat down on the bench yet and the Saints were kicking off again.  Pretty much from the next play, a similar result. This time Blair was straight onto the score sheet. Off to a cracking start and leading 2 nil after 5 minutes. Blackstone smelt blood in the water and a move down our left wing enabled Jeremiah to take a shot on goal that was saved by the   Saints keeper. At the 14’mark Jeremiah again worked his way towards goal and brought up our third goal of the match.  By this stage, Saints had started to work their way into the match. Blackstone still had much of the field position and were rewarded with another goal at the 24’mark. This was a brace for Jeremiah after great positional play.  Straight off the kick off the ball was pushed deep into our end but JB played the ball out into the midfield to Tim who had two shots on goal in quick succession with the Saints keeper pulling off a couple of miracle saves. The boys headed into the sheds at half-time up 4 -0.

Message to the team was simple. Let the ball do the work and play our passing game. The goals will come if we stick to our plan.  Ryan went into goal which allowed Buster to take to the field in the CDM role. Well, when the boys took the field in the second half, the plan went out the window. We thought we could score from anywhere and from every incursion. We brought up a total of 13  shots (not on goal) and at least 5 shots on goal in the second half. With five minutes to go, Tim finally picked up our fifth goal and his brace for the game. It was a good reward for a talented footballer. But, the coach wasn’t happy with the wasted opportunities. Big thank-you to Daniel, Lachie and Ryan who all played extremely well given they had already played a game and backed up in our game.

Full time result Blackstone 5 defeated Sunnybank Saints 0.