On Sunday 13th July the Northern Knights hosted ladder leaders the Oakleigh Chargers at Preston City Oval in Round 14 of the TAC Cup. The match got underway in bright sunny conditions although the centre was slippery under foot due to the recent rain. Oakleigh got the jump on the Knights early causing turnovers and punishing Northern in transition by booting the first five goals of the game. Zac Ballard opened the Knights account courtesy of a 50 metre penalty and then Kieran Malone added a lovely snap goal shortly after as the game began to tighten up. Malone got his second just before quarter time to reduce the margin to 19 points. Liam Hunt’s mark and goal to begin the second term got the Knights back to within 13 points before the Chargers again kicked away. Each time Northern scored the Chargers would quickly answer and had extended their lead to 28 points by the long break. Oakleigh then proceed to dominate the third quarter but were unable to capitalise on the scoreboard wasting a number of opportunities in front of goal. Malone’s fourth goal midway through the quarter kept the Knights chances alive but two late goals to Oakleigh put the game beyond doubt as the took a 45 point lead into the final change. Northern however continued to fight the game out and scored the only two goals of the final quarter through Reece McKenzie and Jade Gresham eventually going by 33 points. Zac Ballard 7 Jade Gresham were again strong through the midfield for the Knights. Bailey Jordan continued his recent good form and claimed the scalp of Darcy Moore at Centre Half Back. While Liam Hunt, Kieran Malone & Sam Switkowski were other Knights who performed well on the day.
The weekend is a TAC Cup Development so the Northern Knights have a bye; our next game is on Saturday 26th July when we travel to Morwell to take on Gippsland Power in a key match as we strive to keep our finals chances alive.
Last Modified on 14/07/2014 19:20