For many of the Kyneton under 12 D footballers playing against North Bendigo on the long vast expanses of the Bulldogs’’ home ground at Atkins St, it was their first experience of competitive football.
They had all taken part in the Auskick program in their earlier years, but that’s all about learning the skills and starting to understand the game.
The match on Sunday was played in warm conditions and the long ground with the wide wings and boundaries would test a seasoned senior team, let alone a side full of ten and 11 year old boys.
When parents saw the ground, there was that well used comment of they will sleep well tonight!
I was one of the two umpires and the boys actually handled the conditions and the venue well. Both teams worked out pretty early that the easiest way to goal was straight down the middle.
North Bendigo proved too good for Kyneton, but as the tigers’ positive coach, Shane said ‘’Boys this is the first match you have all played together and you got better the longer the game went.” They certainly did as they produced their entire score of 2.2 14 in the final quarter