by Jim Gordon
Mallee played a terrific brand of football to run out comfortable winners against Horsham Districts at Hopetoun on Saturday to earn themselves the right to play against the North Central League in 2011.
Scores were level at the main break, but after scoring nine goals to three after half time, Mallee were able to reverse last year‘s result and have earned to right to move up the VCFL ladder next year.
Playing coach Col Durie felt that the win was due to a great team performance all over the ground all day, but particularly in the second half. He was pleased with the run his side was able to get from the half back line against a side that played tough, contested football. Horsham made it difficult for Mallee to open up play and to utilise their pace, limiting their ability to play on as much as they would have liked.
Mallee jumped Horsham at the start of the match and quickly raced to a three goal to nothing lead. Their high pressure game with solid tackling, hard running and good use of the ball seemed to surprise the visitors. Two of the three opening goals were from free kicks, but Mallee were playing in front and getting first use of the ball. Col Durie and Glenn Joyce were driving the ball forward with the breeze to give Mallee every opportunity to score. Rory Shannon was everywhere, and Mallee had numbers at the ball with players such as Tom Hallam, prepared to back each other up. Tyler Lehmann was getting a lot of the ball and Brenton Jardine was mopping up and running out of the backline on the rare occasions that Horsham went forward.
Once Horsham settled, they began to push forward into the breeze and through Schultz and Robert Miller, they were starting to get the ball out of the centre deep into their forward line. Mallee seemed to go back into their shell a little and were going back to take their kicks rather than playing on at all costs as they did at the beginning of the quarter.
Horsham played a much better second quarter. They were cleaner and more precise out of the centre and had a strong marking target in Grant Schultz at centre half forward. Horsham had most of the play this quarter and should have been able to go into the half time break with a clear lead, but they missed shots that they should have taken. On the few occasions Mallee went forward, Horsham often out marked them, or repelled attacks when Mallee could not hold their marks. Mallee scored one good goal this quarter against the breeze when Darren Latta did well to retain possession in the centre and fed off to Robbie Miller who passed to Nathan Wight for a major. Apart from that, it was Horsham’s quarter and they should have gone ahead but for some unforgivable misses. Grant Schultz managed to finish off the quarter with a goal for Horsham and make it a tight match.
Horsham had a great player in big bodied onballer Steve Schultz, who was reading the play well and he was a strong presence in of the centre and at boundary throw ins. In the second quarter when Horsham were threatening to take over the match, it was Schultz who was combining well with Horsham ruckman Tim Wade who was largely responsible for getting Horsham back into the game.
Stand out player for the Mallee was Marcus Burdett who did well on one wing in the first half, but really dominated in the third quarter when the game was still up for grabs. Burdett onto the ball, Tom Hallam to his wing and switching Travis Latta to centre half forward were all winning moves for Mallee and with Darren Latta on the other wing it meant that Mallee were able to have most of the third quarter played in their forward line.
The match winning third quarter was the turning point in the game and it looked like Mallee was going to come out on top. They goaled in the first minute through Ashley Clusgston and things were looking good with Peter Weir prominent and Marcus Burdett dominating. Mallee were playing strong, tough football and with Tim Hill running well out of the backline and players such as Travis Latta and Glenn Joyce combining out of the centre, most of the game was in their half.
Horsham were playing well in patches, but when Thomas Cairns passed off to Josh Murphy, a goal was needed when all they got was a point. Glenn Joyce was prominent for Mallee and on more than one occasion he combined well with both Col Durie and Travis Latta who was getting better as the game progressed. A great snap from Ryan Dowdy and a brilliant individual effort that resulted in another goal to Marcus Burdett saw Mallee start to look the dominant team. To cap the quarter off, Glenn Joyce combined well with Peter Weir for the final goal of the quarter and a four goal lead for Mallee to take into the last quarter.
Although the final margin of 40 points in favour of the Mallee turned out to be a comfortable win, this was a tightly contested game in the first half and it took the best the Mallee could muster to break away from the dogged Horsham team.
The Mallee Football League can justifiably be proud of their team and will look forward to taking on the powerful North Central League next year. The Mallee League Officials have left no stone unturned in an effort to get a great team on the turf at Hopetoun and they achieved as much, if not more than even they would have been expected.
Last Modified on 06/06/2010 11:49
