Fall SF Footy Grand Final: Ninjas take the top prize
Game day! It was time to play the grand final for the fall season of SF Footy. Wet grass, a glimmer of sunshine, and tension in the air as the Orange Rangas were about to take on the Black Ninjas for the top prize. That tension was soon eased when Julian took control (or, at least, tried to!) Robin’s hoola hoop and made everyone laugh at his giddiness.
With the game underway, it was clear this was going to be a tough match and a great match-up of teams. With only two points separating the team at half time, we weren’t wrong.
Ace ran amuck throughout the game for the Ninjas, constantly running onto the ball and away from his opponents, earning himself a Ridiculous Award. I think all that running built up the mud in his cleats, which meant Justin for the Rangas finally outsmarted him and a quick change of direction saw Ace slip and eat grass.
Another person who took a good divot out of the ground was Tish who made an awesome diving mark against Julian. Turns out she didn’t need to since they were both on the same team! But entertaining all the same.
Speaking of great marks, Nilika’s face took a brilliant one! She’s perfected the “face mark” and after only a couple of outings, she nabbed an Awesome Award with a great defensive performance.
There were some great sound effects this game, but none better than from Milli. She took hold of the ball but had Paloma in fast pursuit. Realising she was on her left side she let out a huuuuge shriek, but still managed to circle around back onto her right and kick a brilliant goal. Or maybe she was just scared of Alex, who was sporting some new temporary tatts all over his arms.
Ace showed how not to kick a goal when he did an awesome swivel to get free right in front of goal but managed to kick it right into the post. Up the same end was Jess wrapped up in tape with an ankle injury who also demonstrated something new – how to take a mark on the hop.
We had Ben come watch a game, with plans to write up the sport in the USF Foghorn newsletter. We told him the only way to understand the game is to jump right in and play! So when we were one-down at half-time, he pulled on some cleats and showed up all previous debutantes with an awesome game that included plenty of marks and a perfect handball over to Jess for a goal assist.
The Rangas probably shouldn’t have encouraged him because the Ninjas took control in the second half and ended up winning the game 71-53.
Awesome Award winners – Kat, Ben, Dave P
Ridiculous Award winners – Ace, Nilika
Being the end of the season, it was also time to celebrate with beers and pizza! And announcements for the fall season award winners. Congratulations to:
Best and Fairest (Male) – Justin
Best and Fairest (Female) – Tara
Most Improved – Nicole
Rookie of the Year – Tanya and Rossi
And congratulations to everyone who participated throughout the season – thanks for making it so much fun!
We may not have an official winter season planned, but stay tuned for the occasional pick-up game and other SF Footy events here on this site or on our Facebook page.
