The football world rallied behind Weston Bears coach Steve Piggott following the death of his wife Jodi.
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A minute’s silence was held before Saturday’s match between the Bears and Lambton Jaffas, and all of the Lambton staff and players expressed their condolences to Piggott on Jodi’s passing after a short battle with cancer.
Piggott said he was thankful for all the support he had received from the football community.
“There were 260 people at my wife’s funeral and a lot of those were football people,” Piggott said.
“It’s humbling, very humbling.
“Today, a minute’s silence, respect from the crowd and the Jaffas players. Every man to a tee came and shook my hand and spoke kind words. Again, it was humbling. My heart goes out to them.”
Jaffas coach James Pascoe said it was a tough afternoon for all involved.
“I’ve known Steve for a long time and I didn’t even feel like playing today after knowing what he has been through.”
While his side claimed all three points it was the last thing on Pascoe’s mind.
“It was a nice result, but I just wished it had come on a different day, to be honest with you.”
The contest was a cagey affair to begin, but when Lambton finished their first they rolled on clinically.
Ben Hay opened the scoring for the Jaffas in the 19th minute, when Michael Kantarovski found him and Hay curled home from just outside the 18-yard box.
The second came six minutes later when Ryan Griffiths curled in a cross from the left edge and Bears defender Greg Anderson fired home a powerful header, unfortunately into his own net.
The Jaffas had their third before half-time after a pinball in the box. Michael Sessions smashed it into the back of the net after the ball fell to him and Lambton led 3-0 at the break.
When they returned, Lambton scored almost immediately. Jaffas recruit Kristian Brymora was brought down in the box and Ryan Griffiths stepped up to convert the penalty to push the lead out to four.
Former Jets Youth striker Brymora then put the icing on the cake of a clinical Lambton showing when he slotted home after Bears keeper Kane Runge charged off his line.
The win ensures the Jaffas remain on top of the table after 14 rounds.
Piggott said it was “a tough week and a tough afternoon.”
“We were horrible. We just gave the ball away for fun. It’s not our worst performance of the year, but it’s close to it. Everything we did was wrong.
“We couldn’t keep the ball. Not for lack of trying, but we were ordinary today, we were ordinary.”