by Jim Gordon
JEPARIT RAINBOW V WOOMELANG LASCELLES
Although winless and sitting on the bottom of the ladder, it was the Cats who came out fighting, determined not to let Jeparit Rainbow have it all their own way. The reward for the pressure they put on the Lakers was a four point lead at quarter time. It was the pressure of players such as Harrison Wooding, who had a tagging role on the Laker onballers and Clayton Lee in and under every pack, that enabled the Cats to stick with the Lakers early, and then come back late in the third quarter to be only three goals down at three quarter time.
The second quarter was a different matter; the Lakers regrouped and with a midfield getting on top, they were able to deliver the ball cleanly and accurately to the fast leading Peter Weir. Weir kicked all five of Jeparit Rainbow’s second quarter goals enabling the Lakers to go in at half time with a three goal lead.
Jeparit Rainbow continued their good play in the first part the third quarter and at one stage they were out to a seven goal lead, but the Cats stuck to their task and with Trent Donnan getting a lot of the ball, Jacob Torpey running well out of defence and through the individual brilliance of Brayden Ottrey, Woomelang Lascelles fought back to kick four unanswered goals.
Once again the Lakers settled down after the Cat onslaught, and in the final quarter they were able to draw away to a solid win. Onballers Ash Clugston, Corey Waldron and Heath Clugston all won a lot of the ball, Jayden Werner played a top notch game in the backline, Justin Chilver played his usual strong game in the ruck and Peter Weir finished with eight goals.
This was a much better performance from the Cats and their desire to maintain pressure all day and showing a keenness to win the hard ball, indicated that perhaps a win won’t be too far away. Joel Donnan is one who exemplifies this spirit, he was used first in attack, then in defence and it didn’t matter where he played, he had a great desire to win the ball.
In two passages of play reminiscent of Buddy Franklin at his best, Brayden Ottrey kicked two great goals. On both occasions he ran and bounced the ball four times before slamming it through from 50 metres. It was great for the Cat fans to see this cameo role in a season that has had few highlights for them.
HOPETOUN V SEA LAKE NANDALY TIGERS
In a disappointing day for the Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers, last year’s premiers didn’t come out of the game against Hopetoun with many positives. The Devils dominated proceedings all day and with a worrying Tiger injury list that seems to be growing by the week, the Tigers will need a significant lift to get back onto a winning path.
Their problems were compounded on Saturday with John Foskett pulling out before the game and full back Corey Stadon going down with a shoulder injury in the third quarter.
Hopetoun set up their win with a dominant first quarter kicking seven goals to one. They ran hard, tackled, kicked accurately and completely outclassed the Tigers all over the ground. Bryce Wellington was a very strong presence up forward kicking ten goals, Marcus Burdett was once again in great form and Quentin Willmott is leading the defence well.
One positive that did come out of the game for Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers was the promotion from the Reserves of Mark Allan who played a solid game across half back. Another Tiger to do well was Darcy Ryan who was a dominate midfielder and battled hard against the flow of play, and once again Luke Martin was excellent whether in defence or in the ruck. Nathan Wight continues to kick goals, this time he finished with four for the day.
This was another great team effort by Hopetoun and by winning, they made their way into the four. Whether they can stay there or not is up to them, because this week they tackle another top four side in Ouyen United. A win at Ouyen would really consolidate the Devils as a worthy finalist.
The Tigers meanwhile face Jeparit Rainbow and then Beulah and will be hoping that they get some players back in time to turn their season around.
BEULAH V WALPEUP UNDERBOOL
It was always going to be tough for Walpeup Underbool to win down at Beulah. The Blues are sitting undefeated on top of the ladder whilst the Roos have only had one win for the season and have had a disruptive year, changing coaches midstream.
This was an even and consistent win by Beulah who were never troubled all day and although they only kicked one goal in the final term, Walpeup Underbool only managed two and anyway by this time the match was well and truly over.
The even Beulah performance can be seen in their list of goal kickers, Jacob Percy kicked six, Jarred Combe five, Adam Carter four and Scott Smith two, whereas the Roos only had one multiple goalscorer in Warrick Brady who kicked three goals and was the Roos’ best player.
Jim Wakefield put in another good effort for Walpeup Underbool, as did Chris Lynch in defence, but there were too many Blues to contain. Just when they thought they had one forward covered, another would pop up for a shot on goal.
Tyler Lehmann was best for the Blues, Thomas Hallam played well and Tim Hill is having a great season.
AJ Wisneske, Matthew Palmer and Scott Munro were other Roos who could hold their head up, but good players were hard to find for the vanquished. The Roos have a break next week and then come up against bottom placed Woomelang Lascelles. This should give them a chance to regroup and work on a much better second half to the season.
The Beulah Blues just keep on winning and will be looking forward to coming up against the Tigers next week.
Last Modified on 27/06/2010 13:12
