Phoenix were the first to have a chance on goal when they came close in the 13th min but it was the Bears who forced the first save of the match in the 16th minute when Matt Toohey played a fantastic ball into the box from the left. Tyson Fletcher came flying in with an angled run and looked to be about to head home the cross only to leave the ball for Mick Ryan who timed his header perfectly, but his header lacked direction and the Phoenix keeper pulled off a great reflex save to keep the score at 0-0.
Bears hopes were dealt a blow in the 25th min when Phoenix out played them in the middle of the park and then continued on to put the ball past Bears keeper Tim Pratt to take the lead 0-1.
Phoenix were awarded a free kick in a dangerous area for a hand ball that could have gone either way against Bears captain Chris Cousins in the 30th min. What happened next was a cruel blow for the Bears when the free kick struck Corey Fletcher as he was running and deflected past Pratt to put the Bears further behind 0-2.
The match officials were struggling to control the game and although players abusing a match official can never be condoned it also must be understood why players at times get extremely frustrated and their frustrations boil over. This is exactly what happened when the referee made some decisions that were bordering on ridiculous and producing yellow cards for the Bears players like they were going out of fashion, while turning a blind eye to violent play from the Phoenix. Coach Mick Boogaard was also frustrated at the lack of consistency by the 3 officials and as a result was given his marching orders and made watch the remainder of the match from the stand.
The Bears looked to have put the refereeing saga behind them when they almost scored in the 38th min through a Jamie Subat shot that forced a good save that rebounded to Robbie Turnbull who pushed his shot back to the keeper.
It was hoped that Coach Boogaard would rev the Bears up at half time to come out firing and that's exactly what they did through a Robbie Turnbull goal 90 seconds after the restart. The goal came from a great ball on the right into the box from Corey Fletcher that found Matt Toohey who hit his shot towards goal that could only be parried to Turnbull who made no mistake and pulled the score back to 1-2.
The Bears were unlucky not to score when they again attacked the right of the Phoenix defence in the 51st min. Mick Ryan was the provider this time with a well weighted cross that almost found a flying Jamie Subat.
Bears hopes of securing Premiership honours early were dampened when Phoenix again beat Pratt to again put a 2 goal buffer between them and the Bears 1-3 in the 55th minute. The Phoenix should have put the game to bed with another 2 chances being wasted with the shots going over the bar in the 57th and 59th minutes.
Rob Macbeth came off the bench for an injured Matt Toohey and had an immediate effect when he showed plenty of vision and played a wonderful bullet like switch of play from the left to Robbie Turnbull who beat his defender and fired his shot inside the near post of the Phoenix goal in the 78th min.
All season the Bears defence have not conceded any more than 2 goals in a game but today they would concede the dreaded 4 when Phoenix rounded out the scoring with 4 minutes remaining 2-4.
The lower grades continued their spiral down the tables with U/23's going down 2-3, Luke Johnson and Hayden Nichol the scorers while U/18's went down 0-2.
The Bears loss means that the final day game against Edgeworth at the home of the Bears, Thomas and Coffey Park will determine the Premiership. The 2 clubs have a long rivalry that has seen them compete against each other in many Semi Finals and Grand Finals throughout the 1970's and 80's. In recent years the games have almost always been close physical ones and with a premiership at stake this game should also be one to remember.
The game against Edgeworth is also the day that the club will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the 1995 squad that did what no other club has ever done and won the Grand Final in all 3 grades with an "Old Boys Day". All previous players and officials are encouraged to come along to cheer on the current crop as they look to do what many other Bears sides have done before them and add their squad to the honour board.
C'MON YOU BEARS!!!!!
