Navarre v Natte Bealiba
Natte Bealiba has been left to rue its inaccurate kicking after the Swans squandered their chances in a 19-point loss to Navarre in round three of the MCDFNL.
Natte continually wasted chances in front of goal, as Navarre clawed its way past the Swans to a third win for the 2015 season, 8.10 (58) to 4.15 (39).
The Grasshoppers' defensive pressure was on full display throughout Saturday's clash on Navarre's home turf, with the Hoppers continually harassing the Swans' ball carriers and pressuring them into mistakes, and then making Natte pay on the rebound.
In a dour contest, the first term yielded two majors for Navarre, who had six scoring shots in the first term, while Natte managed just one goal and three behinds, which was to be its only goal of the entire first half, as the Grasshoppers carried a seven point advantage into the second term.
A fiercely contested second term saw just one goal scored for the entire quarter, with Navarre slotting 1.3, while Natte battled to get its kicking on target against a swirling breeze. The reigning premiers had built up a 13-point buffer by half time, with only four goals kicked in the entire first half, 3.7 (25) to 1.6 (12). The Grasshoppers managed to extend their lead in the third term, piling on three goals to build a 25-point lead, while the Swans booted just one of their own as Navarre's defence exerted its power over the game.
The final term yielded two goals for each team, as Navarre ran out the winner in a scrappy, dour affair between two sides usually noted for their attacking games.
Despite being well-held by Swans veteran Chris Jardine for most of the day, Ash Driscoll kicked three goals for the victors, while Josh Rathgeber bobbed up to kick two. Navarre's best were co-coach Brent Flood, whose continual run and long kicking out of the back half proved a major factor for Navarre, Sam Kaye, Bryce Tickner, Josh Fowkes and Daniel Reading.
Natte had four individual goalkickers, with Adrian Pilgrim, Bret Mortlock, Stephen Ross and Tom Douglas sharing the spoils in a dirty day in front of goal, while Kurt Mortlock, who blanketed Navarre's Kris Brennan for much of the game, was named the Swans' best player, along with Douglas, Lachlan Cameron, Jardine and recruit Emmet Smith.
Newstead v Carisbrook
Carisbrook has demolished Newstead in a landslide win for the Redbacks, who racked up their second win in Saturday's clash with the Kangaroos.
The Brookers piled on the pain against the struggling Steaders, winning 19.8 (122) to 6.8 (44).
In a surprising opening term, which would have had new Brook coach Tim McKay seeing red, the Roos got the jump on their more fancied opponents, booting 2.5 (17) to 2.0 (12) to lead at the first break. The Redbacks regathered themselves in the second quarter to pile on three goals to Newstead's one, as the Brook's attacking power came to the fore.
A five-goal third term brought more pain for the Steaders, with Carisbrook gradually building a head of steam and gelling across the ground, resulting in an eight-goal final quarter for the Redbacks to record a 78-point victory.
Nathan Wright continues to impress up forward with five goals for Carisbrook, while Matt Bilton looks to have recaptured his best form, booting four from the midfield, alongside Cole Roscholler (three), Brady Neill (two) and Mitchell Whelan (two). Hard-headed midfielder Jon Gray was named the best player for the victors, along with Neill, Roscholler, Bilton and Hayden Barby.
Brad Richardson continued to battle hard for Newstead against adversity, booting three majors, with Darcy Ahern in support, kicking two. Veteran Courtney Brown was the Steaders' best player, followed by Richardson, Michael Dalrymple and captain Pat Cummins.
Maldon v Dunolly
Maldon continued to prove it is a team on the rebound, with the Dons scoring a massive 74-point victory over a hapless Dunolly on Saturday.
There were no less than 10 individual goal kickers for the victors, as the Bombers recorded their second win of the season, 18.10 (118) to 6.8 (44).
The Bombers exploded out of the blocks in the first half of Saturday's clash on their home turf, booting nine goals in the first two quarters, while restricting the Eagles to just two goals, to be ahead be 43 points at the main break. The Dons repeated that effort in the second half, slotting another eight goals across the final two terms, with the winless Dunolly adding just four goals to its cause.
Maldon had multiple goalkickers in Hayden Kelly (three), Kyle Winstanley (three), Harley Brereton (two), Shaun Burchell (two), Marc Carroll (two) and Jake Elliott (two), while Winstanley, Michael Mulholland, Elliot and Josh Roberts were the best for the Dons.
Dunolly shared its goal kicking across six individual players, while Andy Raven, Jordan Fraser, Jordi Philbrick and Mick Campbell impressed for the young Dunolly.
Talbot v Lexton
Lexton continue on their winning way in the Bendigo Bank MCDFNL as they handed Talbot a football lesson at Talbot on Saturday.
Whilst the Hawks were competitive at times, they were no match for the strong Tigers throughout the day, with Lexton winning by 52 points.
The opening term saw the Hawks fly out of the blocks as James Collings goaled in the opening minute, but the remainder of the term belonged to the Tigers as they kicked the next six goals in succession, with Matt Brown and Lachlan Murray both kicking successive goals. The Tigers good showing was due to the excellent ruck work of Nigel Reid who failed to lose a centre bounce ruck duel in the first half of the game, allowing quick transference of the ball into the Tigers forward line giving them a 28 point quarter time lead.
This set the tone for the game, as Talbot managed to kick the first two goals of the second quarter only to have Lexton hit back hard, with both Brown and Murray booting their fourth goals for the game throughout the quarter before a Dylan Barr goal on the half-time siren gave the Tigers a 34 point lead at the main break.
Talbot had the upper hand in a low scoring third quarter, but couldn’t penetrate the Tigers defense led by Nick Spolding, who was outstanding throughout the entire game as he linked up with Jordan Phelan and the other defenders to keep the Hawks to just two goals for the term and to lead at three quarter time by 26 points.
The final term favoured Lexton as they put the foot down with seven goals to three including four goals to Matt Brown who finished the game with eight goals as the Tigers ran out eventual winners by 52 points.
Nick Spolding, Matt Brown and Scott Clark were amongst the Tigers better players as were Damon Aspland and Jimmy Templeton, while Lachlan Murray also chipped in with four goals.
The Hawks were well served by Tom Sutherland, Tim Carroll and Liam Belcher while Lachlan Griffiths and Matt Whiteman also contributed well, with Whiteman kicking three goals for the home team.
Harcourt v Avoca
The Harcourt Lions remain undefeated as they ran all over the Avoca Bulldogs with a nine goal final quarter to win by a big margin of 107 points and are now at the top of the Bendigo Bank MCDFNL Ladder.
The Lions had 46 scoring shots to just 14 as the Bulldogs were soundly beaten in all areas of the ground.
Giant Harcourt ruckman Adam Pollock may have had minimal effect in the game, but it did not stop the Lions from still winning the ball out of the centre through Paul Chaplin who also went forward to kick four goals. The speedy Jeff McMurtrie troubled the Bulldogs defense as he ran rings around them to score eight goals for the game, while veteran Chris Stone was able to provide a focal point around the goal mouth and also slotted six goals.
The three players to trouble the Bulldogs finished with eighteen goals between them in an outstanding display, however the Bulldogs were very disappointing in all areas and will need to regroup if they are to have any chance against Newstead at Avoca next round.
McMurtrie , Chaplin and Adam Ward were amongst the better players for Harcourt, as were Daniel Smith and Chris Ling. The Bulldogs were well served by Joel Carter, Jake Nickolson and Brady Williams in his first game back from injury, while Hugh Bucknall and Daniel Howell were also players who tried hard all day.
Trentham v Campbells Creek
Trentham hosted Campbells Creek under lights on Saturday night, with the Saints winning their second consecutive night game by 11 points in a close tussle.
The Saints took a slender four point margin into the half time break, but it was the third quarter in which they gained ascendency with a four goal to two term that gave them a 17 point break going into the final quarter.
An exciting final quarter saw Creek outscore the Saints with ten scoring shots to four, but inaccurate kicking in front of goals proved to be costly as the Saints held on to win by eleven points.
James Wicker continued his good form from the previous round for Trentham, as did the Saints Captain Chris Whelan who led by example, Mark Strickland and James Gray were also solid contributors, as was Ross Moloney who finished with three goals.
Creek’s better contributors were Jayden Molloy, Davin Nicholls and Shannon Berriman, as was Luke Ashmore who was the key goal scorer finishing with four goals for the night.
Royal Park v Maryborough Rovers
The Royal Park Tigers defeated Maryborough Rovers by 30 points in a very exciting Maryborough Derby at Hedges Oval on Sunday thanks to an eight goal to one final quarter.
Royal Park’s Murray Bond kicked the opening goal of the game inside a minute from a free kick d it was back and forth football for the next 20 minutes with neither team troubling the goal umpires until Bushy’s Jacob Cahill received a late tackle free kick from Scott Sellers, who until this blemish had been outstanding in the defensive half for Rovers.
Rovers quickly answered from the next centre bounce when Dion Hedger took a great pack mark and a minute later Dylan Gibson drew a free kick and kicked truly to level the scores at quarter time.
In a physical second quarter, the Rovers booted two late goals to give them a seven-point buffer at the main break.
Brendon Hedger goaled to extend Rovers’ lead three minutes into the third term, but Royal Park answered with two goals in succession through Ash Noonan and Josh Brown to level the scores at the sixteen minute mark, before Rovers again fought back with goals to Ryan Guareschi and Adam McLean to lead at three quarter time by 11 points.
It was one way traffic in the final term as Bushy came out firing with six goals in succession before Rovers troubled the goal umpire. The Tigers were running in numbers and sharing the ball with precision, while the Rovers players looked to run out of steam. It was a strong finish from Royal Park which showed the type of football that is capable of making them a top four team in 2015.
Royal Park’s better players were Ben Clay, Ash Noonan, Jay Anderson and James Sutherland with Murray Bond and Mick Noonan kicking three goals apiece, while Rovers better players were Brad Fraser, Dylan Gibson, Dion and Brendon Hedger and Bryce Fletcher, with Adam McLean scoring three goals for the visitors.
Last Modified on 04/05/2015 10:17