CKS Swifts have celebrated one hundred years of football as convincing winners over a struggling Rupanyup in the Horsham District Football League.
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It was not as smooth sailing as they would have hoped, but the Baggies ran out 79 point winners over the Panthers at North Park.
For the vast majority of Swifts players on the ground, the atmosphere and crowd they played in front of was something of the unknown.
The unknown aspect of the game and the difficult wet conditions resulted in a steady, but slow start.
"We didn't adapt to the wet conditions well enough and we overused the football," coach Paul Hanns said.
"We were putting pressure on ourselves and rushed our disposal causing turnovers and keeping them in it early. This could have been for a number of reasons, but I think the finals like atmosphere definitely played its part."
On the back of two first quarter goals from Julian Carr and several crumbing goals Swifts kicked six goals to lead by 19 points at the first change.
After kicking two early goals Carr was moved into the ruck to take on former Stawell Warriors footballer James Delahunty.
Delahunty is a well established footballer and moves well around the ground and proved a difficult task for youngster Matt Healy.
The decision to move Carr into the ruck paid dividends with Swifts midfielders getting more opportunities to win the ball.
"It was nothing away from young Heals. He is still developing every week and will only get better with more senior football under his belt," Hanns said.
Carr continued to dominate around the ground while Nick Pickering also relished his opportunity to play in the forward line.
The long serving Swifts defender had the chance to kick two goals within a couple of minutes from virtually the same spot, but unfortunately came up just short.
Swifts maintained possession for most of the second term heading into the main break leading by 29 points.
Swifts lifted their game to play their best quarter of the match and put the final result to rest.
Four hundred gamer Jamie Britten made each of his teammates flock to their forward fifty to celebrate his goal in his milestone game, highlighting the quarter.
During the third quarter Hanns and fellow coach Ben Martin were pleased with the drive of Sean Mantell in particular, but from a team aspect their tackling intensity had also increased.
Julian Carr was awarded the best on ground while Owen Phillips was second best for his rebounding out of defence.
For Rupanyup, Cameron Taylor was a good contributor kicking five majors ,while being limited by a broken forearm sustained in the early stages of the match.
Swifts celebrated their centenary winners 18.17.125 to Rupanyup's 7.4.46.
"To learn some of the history and to see so many old faces back at the club was something really special. I'm very proud to have been coaching on such a memorable day," Hanns said.