GRIFFITH NOTES: "Riverina Football Record" July 10, 1988 - No. 13 

Today fortnight we say, ‘Thank God for the Salvos’ - last Sunday against Turvey Park it was a case of ‘Thank God for the U18s’! Without them we would have been in a heap of trouble. With several of the more regular First Graders unavailable through work commitments, sickness, and holidays, we had to call on the younger members of the club to fill in, and they did that admirably. Although on the scoreboard we were beaten very convincingly it was another case of the score not being indicative of the game.

Again, we fell down at the Centre Half Forward line, but elsewhere on the field the young ‘cygnets’ put it in with the best of them and at times some of the Turvey ‘champions’ were found wanting. Ian Geddes was our best at fullback and again our best players came from Pancho, Fifty, Ducky, Burdy, and first gamer, Brian ‘Belly’ Bellincanta.

The 2nds didn’t fare too well either, but all players tried hard which is all that Bat asks. They too had to reply on a few of the U18s to play a second game in order to field a side and this is extremely disappointing considering that we were playing at home. Roy (Agresta), the Best Brothers, Jamie Horne and Gary Waters were the better players.

The U18s were behind the 8 ball from the start because had lost a lot of their best players to the 1sts. It was good to see ‘Lonno’ out their again and his experience will assist the younger ones in the next few weeks. Matt Cox and Jamie Horne were again dominate and although they were soundly beaten, they displayed a great deal of courage and didn’t give up all day – young Butch put in a gutsy performance and despite his size was in everything – what a good little footballer he’s going to be.

The Netballers were in it until a controversial umpiring decision saw one of their numbers sent off the court. With one player short for the remainder of the game Turvey was able to capitalise and finally won 24-17.

This week it’s off to Ariah Park – now’s the chance for us to get a couple of wins – hopefully three counting the netballers. The U18s get the rest this week – although the way things are panning out it would appear that if they are available, they’ll be needed for the 2nds and the 1sts again. Let’s get in there and make a really good trip home. Up The Swans!

Notes No. 14 >>>