Emerald reign supreme on ANZAC weekend

Despite a short 10-day notice period of hosting ANZAC Round, Emerald Football Netball Club put on a well-run series of games against Gembrook Cockatoo over the weekend which saw them host a combined total of nine games of football and netball.

With the Bombers represented in all but one game, where the Brookers hosted Narre Warren in a veteran’s game following the senior football match, Emerald enjoyed a great day out with wins in all football games as well as in A and B Grade netball.

The A Grade netball match saw the Bombers dominate the Brookers, with the final score resulting in 56 to 28 as Kaylah and Suria Loulanting starred to feature prominently in the forward line.

The senior football match was a terrific game between the local rivals, as the Brookers worked their way back into the contest late in the game to put themselves in with a genuine chance of stealing the honours away from the home side.

Inaccurate kicking in front of goal by Gembrook Cockatoo ultimately saw the Bombers claim victory on one of the most prestigious days of the sporting calendar, as Patrick Chin starred to be awarded the ANZAC Medal with his six-goal effort.

Club president Mark Pedder was pleased with how the day turned out for his club given the tight timeline and was particularly pleased with the turnout of spectators and members of the Emerald RSL.

“We had a fair idea a couple of weeks out that there was a fair chance we would be hosting the ANZAC Round for a second year in a row, so we had a couple of things in place in case we had to pull the trigger on it,” he said.

“While the ANZAC ceremony was not as big as what we had last year, it was still good and we made sure we honoured the ANZAC’s appropriately as always.”

Another component of the ANZAC Round commemorations was to include the Emerald v Gembrook Cockatoo under 17 junior football match, as well as reschedule the under 19’s match against Mount Evelyn to be at Chandler Reserve where Pedder hopes the younger brigade of players got a lot out of being included in the ANZAC Round.

“The ability for those younger guys to play in front of a big crowd that turned out early would have been an absolute buzz for them,” he mentioned.

The close relationship held with Emerald RSL means Bombers can always maintain a great representation with them which is always returned by the club, as members of the playing group assisted the RSL on ANZAC Day itself with running their event on the day.

Pedder is appreciative to members of his club for their assistance in putting on a great event for the second year in a row, as well as to those from Gembrook Cockatoo who worked well with Emerald to put on a great show.

“I am so lucky to have a fantastic committee who puts in the effort, but it doesn’t stop there, as I have so many other volunteers who are willing to put their hand up and help out on the day which makes life so easy,” he explained.

“The Brookers have got their own troubles at the moment but led by Ross Hubbard who was really good to deal with, they put that aside on the day to help make this an outstanding day.

“It was a great display of local football and netball, it was really good fun.”