Woods mauled by Lions!
Blackwood Oval was the venue for the Round 5 battle between 2nd placed Blackwood and the 3rd placed Torrens Valley Lions. Both sides named strong line ups for the clash which started under dark and gloomy conditions. Torrens Valley won the toss and elected to kick up the hill towards the club room end of the ground, and with the aid of a strong breeze which had been blowing all day at the ground.
Torrens Valley jumped out of the blocked with the first goal of the match thanks for a snap from Brad Hunter at the 4 minute mark. The Valley Lions big bodies around the ball were absolutely mauling the Woods in the early part of the match. They were winning the ball out the middle with ease and putting the Blackwood defence under siege. The Lions got their second goal of the match from a nice front and centre from big man Renshaw to have the few visiting supporters in attendance cheering loudly. What happened for the remaining part of the quarter shocked the home crowd as the Valley Lions proceeded to pile on another 6 goals, 4 which were kicked off the boot of big man John Boras. The quarter time siren blew and the home crowd was in shock as the scoreboard read, 8.1.49 to 1.2.8.
Watched on by Hahndorf coach Craig Smith who was in attendance to check out the game, Blackwood coach Damian Salievic gave his players a stern talking to and questioned if they were willing to put their body on the line for their team mates. Whilst the Valley Lions were up and about, questioning if the wind even played a part, and suggesting they were just on top through playing exceptional football. The words of advice seemed to have some influence on the Blackwood players as they came to life in the first part of the quarter booting goals through Minuzzo, Troy Edwards and Hopton in the first 12 minutes. Blackwood were able to get back into the game through the likes of Dijksman and Tuck around the ball, whilst Blackwood skipper Kurt Thompson chopped off numerous forwards plays made by the Valley Lions. The next goal of the game came at the 19 minute mark of the quarter with a kick that had to be seen to be believed. Blackwood skipper Thompson turned over the ball inside the centre square and with the aid of the breeze was able to put the ball through the middle of the big sticks at half goal post height from 65 metres out. As the half time siren blew, the home side were back in the game, albeit still 20 points in arrears as the scoreboard read 6.4.40 to 9.6.60.
The 3rd quarter was going to be a key one in deciding the winner of the match. Blackwood came out of the blocks quickly with a goal to speedy forward Ryan Anderson inside the first 2 minutes to draw the margin to 14 points. Courteous of another free kick, the Valley Lions were able to instantly reply through John Boras who booted his 5th major for the match to extend the lead out once again. The Valley Lions controlled most of the play for the quarter as their midfield through the likes of Dane Thompson and Ben Hanna ran riot. Brad Walkley was able to crash a pack and snap truly in the 9th minute to further extend the margin and leave the home crowd quiet. Some bad kicking from the Lions kept Blackwood within striking distance as they slowly ground back into the game with goals to Lucas Herbert who had been monstered all game by Matt Press much in the same way John Boras but not getting any sympathy from the umpiring department, David Xian at 16 minutes, and two to Dijksman at the 24 and 29 minute marks left the Woods 18 points behind as the three quarter time siren blew.
Dale Eichner unleashed a rather large spray onto his players at the final change as he was not happy with the late goals the visitors conceded to keep the Woods in the game. With big man John Boras limping off the ground in the last part of the third quarter thanks of a crushing tackle from Jesse Watchman, the Valley Lions supporters and players would’ve been worried if they had enough of a lead. As he had done at the start of the third quarter, Blackwood’s Ryan Anderson got an early goal with a nice crumb at the 1 minute mark. The home side began to get on top in the middle with Atkinson now winning the ruck taps and Troy Edwards and Scott Bricknell gaining valuable touches, the Woods pressed forward with multiple forward 50 entries. The Lions defence held strong with John Pratt playing loose behind the ball for most of the day they were able to stop any effort Blackwood made at scoring. The Lions managed to turn the ball over and move it down the hill with speed and covert truly through Anthony Burgoyne at the 8 minute mark to extend the margin back out to three goals.
Another goal to Blackwood through centre half forward Phil Hopton closed the margin again and the Woods were coming home with a wet sail. However some errant kicking cost the home side dearly as they were unable to score a goal until a long range bomb from Jesse Watchman drew the margin to within 4 points with about 30 seconds left on the clock. The Valley Lions won the next centre clearance which was intercepted by Scott Bricknell at half back. He played on immediately and bombed in the ball as long as he could. A big pack occurred 45 metres out from goal as Lucas Herbert was dragged to the ground by full back Matt Press. No whistle came from the controlling umpire and the ball was spoiled over the boundary line. As Herbert picked himself up off the ground the siren blew with the Valley Lions holding on for a 4 point win. The visiting supporters were jubilant as it was their first win for the day, with Blackwood taking out all other grades by significant margins.
The best players for the Woods were Phil Hopton who was named best after booting 4 majors, Matt Tuck who showed by dash and skill around the ball, tagger Harry Wake who shutdown Brad Hunter after half time and defenders Kurt Thompson and Jesse Watchman.
The Woods inability to win the ball out the middle in the first quarter hurt deeply, as the Valley Lions took full control with the breeze virtually killing off the match. The Woods were able to scrap their way back into the game and showed that at their best they could be a very dangerous side within the competition however they need to play 4 quarters and use the ball by foot much more efficiently if they are to be there come finals time.
In other results for the club, the B Grade got back to winning form taking out a 20 goal victory with Fotheringham, Kenny, Brown, McCarthy and Benson being named in the best players, the C Grade won by 6 goals against Uraidla in a tough match with Patrick MacKay booting 3 goals, whilst the Senior, Junior and Mini Colts had huge wins winning by 33, 18 and 17 goals retrospectively.
Round 6 sees the Woods travel to Balhannah to play Onkaparinga Valley they will be looking for the fourth win of the season, whilst the C Grade make the long journey to Milang on Sunday to take on the Bridgewater-Callington Raiders at 12.30pm.
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Last Modified on 11/05/2016 20:29