Perhaps the most critical incident happened only two minutes into the game last weekend. The Riders were awarded a corner that saw a cluster of players ‘making friends’ with each other on the near post. Jaxen ‘the mailman’ Heward fired in a flat corner met by the phalanx of players. As luck would have it, Harry Gale was able to turn and shoot from only metres off the line. Bobcats keeper and full blown Rastafarian Graham Greenkeeper made an instinctive save in front or behind the goal line? It happened in a flash with the linesman in perfect position signaling no goal.

It might have been so much more for the home side, early leads are like free beer at the pub. Anyhow with 88 minutes of football left both sides were soon plotting and probing. The Bobcats defence in these early stages was under some pressure, The Raider’s Ben Dooley and Jai Waddick in full attack mode trying to link or put Grant Homes in the clear. The Bobcats defence led by Lance Nibbs and Brad Corbet though had Homes marked tightly and usually with more than one defender.

It was fast, physical and at times looked to be moving outside the laws of the game. The Bobcats though showed little if any hangover from their midweek clash and it was Aaron Bylos who heaved a clearance upfeild that saw Fraser Robinson slip in between Raiders central defender Luke Pomroy and Raffe Brennan to score the first for the afternoon. It was a poachers goal, Robinson had been sniffing around the Raiders defensive line waiting for indecision or mistake luckily he got both and scored from close range.

The Bobcats scored their second in the shadows of half time after a free kick fell to Jarrod Doyle on the far post. Doyle still had some work to do as defenders closed in but was able to neatly volley in past Raffe Brennan to send the sides to the break with the Bobcats 2-0 leaders.