Undermanned 'Cats Fight Like Lions Despite Roos Hopping To Victory

This past weekend in Hamilton, the (3-5) Wildcats who were coming off a "bye" week played host the (7-1) Etobicoke Kangaroos in a rematch of their heated Round #1 match-up. The hometown side were looking to send a message to the league and their opponents with a solid performance against the top team on the OAFL ladder, and make hopefully amends for their loss to open the ’06 season. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the Roos weren’t going to make it easy, as they showed up injury-free and with 24 players in tow. As for Hamilton, if there was anything that could have gone wrong for Hamilton on the day, it did go wrong. After having 17 players confirm for game day, only 14 decided to show up to support their teammates in a game that was important for Hamilton to have a full bench. Fortunately, Aussie spectator Trent Kelly was willing to throw on a jumper and have a kick with the ‘Cats, but Hamilton was still able to only field 15 players versus the starting 16 of the visitors. As anyone who has played this sport knows, having an extra player is a huge advantage for any club, especially on a large field like Mohawk Sports Park. Despite the 1 player disadvantage, the ‘Cats jumped out to an early lead with a great goal from 40 meters out off the boot of Joel “Don’t Call Me Vince” Carter, while the Wildcats backline held the powerhouse Roos to only 2 behinds in the first quarter. The hometown boys held onto a slim 8 point lead at the end of the first frame, but the injury bug began to infest the ‘Cats bench, as talented rover Joel Carter went down early with a serious looking wrist injury that would keep him on the sidelines for the remainder of the game. Now down 2 men versus the 1st place Kangaroos, the Wildcats hoped their defensive studs could keep them in the game and hold the high powered Etobicoke offense at bay for the remaining 3 quarters. Hamilton fullback Rich “Gumby” Burgess, centre half back Eben Schaeffer, as well as flankers Justin “Johnsy” Johns and Damian “Captain Kirk” Lowry did an excellent job to start the second quarter, punching from behind and taking several incredible marks away from the much taller Kangaroo forwards. Even though the depleted Wildcat forward-line was greatly outnumbered the entire game, Hamilton still managed to post another goal in the second from speedy midfielder Ken Tumak, and add several single points to their tally as half time approached. At the half, the limping ‘Cats only trailed the well-rested Roos by 2 points, and hoped to keep the score as close as possible as they headed into the “Premiership” quarter. As the Wildcats tried to motivate each other and keep morals high despite the increasing injuries, losing Aussie Tim “Bulldog” Wilson to a knee injury in the second quarter, Etobicokes’ head coach tore a strip off his own players for their sloppy play against a club that was now 3 players down under the hot summer sun. With a huge 3 player advantage and 8 reserves on the bench, pretty much any club in this league should be 10 goals ahead of their competition at this point, but the Wildcats were holding strong, playing with heart and not willing to give up versus a team that really hadn’t played well enough to even deserve the lead. As if things weren’t going bad enough for the hometown boys already; a severe 4 player collision in front of the ‘Cats bench claimed the left ankle of veteran half back Eben “Do You Think They Have PS2 in South Korea” Schaeffer, now putting Hamilton down to 12 men versus the 16 strong of the Roos. As the Wildcats infirmary increased in size with each passing quarter, so did their tenacity for loose balls and aerial contests in hopes of regaining the lead. As Hamilton’s courageous efforts began to rise the more men they lost to injury, so did the tempers and poor sportsmanship of the visitors. Several fights broke out in front of the team benches and faithful on-lookers, mostly due to the built up frustration of the league’s top team as their offense sputtered against the hometown ‘Cats despite their 4 player advantage for the final 40 minutes of the game. As the final minutes of the game wound down and Etobicoke slowly added to their lead, Hamilton unfortunately lost Captain Nick DiRago for the remainder of the game and the ‘06 season to a broken/dislocated thumb. Despite outplaying their opposition the entire game, the piling injuries, lack of players and little rest eventually turned out to be too much for the ‘Cats to overcome, as the Roos ran out winners 12.17.89 to 3.8.26.