In absolutely miserable weather, the Crookwell Griffins managed to take away the win in a key clash against Marulan Green on Saturday.
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The 3-2 win takes the Griffins up to third on the ladder, while it simultaneously pushed Marulan Green from sixth to eighth.
Griffins player Josh Stapleton said that the key for Crookwell during the match was their ability to adapt to the wet, cold weather which made footing treacherous and ball handling difficult.
“It was a very wet, sloppy sort of game,” he said.
“It was a pretty poor standard to be honest … pretty scrappy and the defence ended up winning it for us in the finish.”
It was a strong effort from Crookwell, despite a stern challenge from Marulan who, despite their results this season, carry a lot of talent in their ranks.
“I thought they were a really good side,” Stapleton said.
“They’re the second-teir team for Marulan … but they definitely put up a really good fight against us. They were a great side, to be honest.”
The win puts Crookwell in a strong position for the rest of the season.
At the conclusion of round 10, the Griffins only sit behind Marulan White and Stags F.C., respectively.
Not bad, for a team that was only haphazardly thrown together at the beginning of the season, Stapleton said.
The challenge now will be to maintain their spot in the top three and perhaps improve it before the end of the season, which will put them in a prime position for finals.
The challenge, according to Stapleton, will be to ensure the team’s defence can hold up against offensively strong sides like Stags 97 or Marulan White.
“There was some talk of some changes of some combinations going in to the away games,” he said.
“I think our defence is a big one that we could definitely tighten up on. Our attack’s been really good I think this year, so if we can tighten up our defence in a few areas I think we’ll be heading in a good direction.”
This Saturday, the Crookwell Griffins will play against Stags 97 in Crookwell from 1:00pm. Meanwhile, Crookwell Red will take on Wollondilly Soldiers Gold in Crookwell from 3:00pm.