Looking at the list of finals games on offer in my opinion I thought this would be the game to see.  Would PHOS Camden have another finals melt down and crash out like previous years or would Eastern Park continue their relentless drive towards Division 1.

Arriving at the ground and first indications looked like I was about to be disappointed.  Rain had turned the oval into a slushy water logged mess.  The ball soon became water logged.  Kicks would not travel their full distance and drop short of players and packs.  The ball would hit the deck and just stop.  There would be no free running play today.

The first quarter was tight with no team getting the ascendancy.  The second quarter saw PHOS kick away to have a few goals lead going into the main break.  In the third Easter Park hit back and looked like they were going to run over the top of PHOS going into the fourth quarter.  The first half of the final quarter was a non event with a lot of stoppages and no team was able to effectively penetrate the opposing teams defence.  The suddenly PHOS managed to get a goal, then another.  Eastern Park seemed to become rattled and an off the ball dumping of PHOS's Matthew Rowe by an Eastern Park player resulted in another goal to PHOS.

The final score is not an indication of the tight tussle that was played out.  Eastern Park had the better of PHOS Camden with more consistant play for the majority of the match.  PHOS Camden only really had two periods of the match where they got the upper hand - the second quarter and the the last half of the last quarter.  Eastern Park played a hard but fair physical game.  However when it mattered deep in the final quarter, Eastern Park became rattled and their physicality pushed the limits whereby they no longer played the ball but the player - free kicks were the result.  On the topic of free kicks, well the standard of umpiring was hmmmm????

Eastern Park still have the ability to make the grand final as long as they keep a cool head when under pressure and continue to be tough and physical but still play the ball.

PHOS Camden well who knows how far they will go.  Recent past history would suggest it is Division 2 again next year.  This coming weekend will determine if history continues to repeat itself.