Round 1, 2009 saw the return of the Latrobe football club to the main oval for the first time in what seems like forever, but was actually about 15 months.

The game started with great intensity, with all the boys throwing themselves into every contest, not letting Kew get too many easy kicks. Unfortunately Danger got an on-field manicure (dislocated finger) which led to him being out for the rest of game. The on-ballers led by the player formerly known as No. 5 (Quatta), Poncho and Van Ooi worked hard around the stoppages to help the Trobers push forward. Inaccurate kicking from both sides saw Latrobe head into the first break with a 5pt advantage.

The second quater saw Latrobe continue their intensity with plenty of tackling and big hits being dished out. Disco and Rossy continued to present and provide the Latrobe boys with avenues to goal. Good run provided by Paddy, Steely and the old stager Adamthwaite helped Latrobe increase their lead. However, a couple of quick goals by Kew nearing half time saw the margin fall to about 3 goals.

The boys took a little while to get themselves going after half time, allowing Kew to kick 7 goals to 2 for the quarter, the back six led by Hendo and Skelts battled hard but unfortunately were unable to compete with the extra numbers pushing forward. Kew up by about 15 points going into the last.

Latrobe came out from the three quater time huddle needing to turn around the 15pt deficit, and the message delivered from Disco and Ludes must have done the job because the intensity from earlier in the match returned, with Matty Gardner, Joey Conheady and the rest of the on-ballers winning the ball in the tight situations and giving our forwards every chance to take a grab. The quater time switch of Boomer and Poncho proved to be a stroke of genius with Boomer slotting a couple and Poncho providing plenty of run out of defence.

The reserves fielded what was possibly the most talented side we have been able to put on the park in recent memory. With Theo travelling the globe, Blacky and Cable took over the reigns, and moved the magnets with great precision.

The game started a little rusty as expected in round 1 with the good guys from Latrobe kicking 4.6 in the first quarter to start proceedings. The Trobers ruled the centre square thanks to the great work from Guinness getting the boys first use of the football. Xav, Belly and the rest of the on-ball brigade took advantage of this to allow the two pronged attack of Johnny McGuniess and Gilly to slay the competition (pun intended).

In the second quarter the Trobers put their foot on the gas and steamed ahead, keeping Kew scoreless in the process, the highlight being Johnny McGuiness kicking four in the quarter to help put the game out of Kews reach. On a sad note, we lost our big hairy ruckmen Guinness as his knee gave way during a rucking contest. It seems dislocation is what all the kids are doing these days, as Guinness did a Darren Creswell and popped out his knee-cap. Apparently the last time the big fella dislocate a knee, he was dancing up a storm on a booze cruise.

The third quarter saw more of the same with boys from Latrobe running the ball out of defence through Ming, Vaggy and Cheese with great effect and turning these runs into scoring opportunities. KT also stood up in the ruck in Guin's absence and kept giving the boys first use of the pill. Jeffers and Josh Lee continued their influence on the game and helped Latrobe continue to kick away.

Half Time Huddle

We were the new kids on the block, not knowing what we were in for or what to expect from the competition. Running out onto the ground, our nerves quickly overtook any excitement we may have felt when we saw that we were up against, some rather well built women. After the initial shock of seeing these, so called women we were playing against, we soon realised that they could not move as quickly as us but could defiantly stop us in our tracks. As the game unfolded we grew in confidence and started to work together as a team. All the hard training we had been doing had paid off, as we were by far the fitter side.

As major possession winners on the field no one could tell that we had never played before. The only thing that let us down was our conversion rate; we had the ball 80% of the time but only scored 2% of the time. In the end, not even Bones’ three quarter time spiel could get us over the line of a first match win. Skye took out the best on and proved to be a valuable addition to our team. Han, Caitie, Loz and Sammi were our goal kickers for the day and kept us in the game. A huge thank you from all the girls to Quatta, who spent his Sunday afternoon running the boundary for us, we couldn’t have done it without you! All in all, a very impressive first game, no injuries, a proud coach and plenty of improvement to come. Watch out next time Melton.

We hope to see all you LTUFC supporters at our first home game this Sunday at 12 pm.