An under-manned Bombers side travelled to Murieta on Saturday to take on the Riverside Raiders in round 5 of the SCAFL season, and while they came away with a comfortable win the game was memorable for other reasons. Most notable was the continued freakish form of newcomer Mark "Cherry Picker" Harrison (formerly known as Spider). In his first year for the Bombers, and his first real season of Aussie Rules, Cherry has posted returns of 9, 8, 6 and 11 goals in his first 4 games. He has earned his nickname by being an opportunistic player who likes to drop into the goalsquare and take advantage of other players hard work to score easy goals, but his soccer skills combined with an uncanny ability to read the play mean that this years leading goalkicker award is all but sewn up.
But enough about Cherry, his head is big enough already. Other players stood out for their performances as well.
After a solid first quarter that put the Bombers up by some 8 goals, it was decided to move people around into less familiar positions. Kelly Nelson went to full forward and was a real focul point, marking strongly, kicking goals, and providing numerous assists - mostly to the benefit of Cherry.
Andy Treanor was dominant at full back, and changed with Kieron in the ruck to provide a relentless combination that the lone Raider's ruckman Maddog Morgan couldn't overcome, although he tried his heart out. Larso was reading the taps well in the middle for many center clearances, and Hersh played all over the ground to great effect. In defense, Ryno continued his good form and hard nosed approach, and showed the way for his mate and newcomer Fat Dan who defended well and is starting to understand the game.
This win looks to have guaranteed a place for the Bombers in the SCAFL Grand Final, but they still need to get over LA in round 6 to be certain. With combined trainings and games coming up over the next few weeks, it will be a while yet before the Bombers get a chance to redeem last years Grand Final loss.