North Beach president David Cassidy will celebrate a special
achievement when he plays his 200th game against Maddington at
Charles Riley Reserve tomorrow.
The hard working president is equally determined on the
field and has four A-Grade premierships to show for it. Injuries have slowed
him down this season, but will hit the double ton when he plays in the A
Reserves match.
Cassidy has been a valuable contributor to the Beach over
the last decade and will obviously take great pride in the achievement.
It has been a big week at the Beach with three of the seven
representatives in the State Under-23 team earning all-Australian honours. Joe
Boys, Josh Stott and Cale Potts excelled in the State arena and have special
memories from the carnival which saw WA finish runners-up to Victoria in last
Sunday’s final.
After a week’s break from regular fixtures because of the
carnival in Adelaide, it is back to club footy this week and North Beach will
be looking to consolidate its position in the top three of the A-Grade ladder
against Maddington.
Again changes have been made, with another colts product,
Matt Irvine earning his first opportunity in A-Grade ranks. While Maddington
are sitting on the bottom of the ladder, North Beach can ill afford to be
complacent, particularly with positions in the team for the second half of the
year going on the line.
Pressure has been coming from beneath through the
outstanding form of many young players in the A-Reserves – evidenced by the
fact that a number of colts graduates, including Jeff Waldock, Jacob Griffiths,
Stott, Ben Clark and now Irvine have been granted senior opportunities.
The A-Reserves (12.30pm start) will also be aiming to cement
a place in the top portion of the ladder at the half-way point while the Phil
Scott Colts need victory to keep alive hopes of pushing into top five in the
second half of the season.
The colts have won their last two games to stay within reach
of their competitors and should be strengthened by the return of Keegan Knott
(Claremont) and Christian Bottechia (Subiaco). They have played some quality football
in recent weeks, but will be looking for early scoreboard pressure against the
visitors.
The D1, D-Reserves and Brett Jones colts all face
challenging matches against Whitford at nearby MacDonald Reserve. All of those
teams are also in finals contention and will be desperate to have four points
in the pocket for the short drive home.
The fifth grade will be similarly optimistic after some
heartening displays in recent weeks, with their contest against Kingsley at
Percy Doyle.
