At Tamworth's No.1 Oval the Swans took on the Inverell Saints. After the Saints huge win last week and the Swans 60 point thumping at the hands of the Bulldogs, the Saints were expected to win. But someone forgot to tell the Swans that as they triumphed by a massive 50 points over the reigning premiers. Swans coach, Gary Harriott, has done a huge during the week to get his charges up for this game and they set up their win in the first quarter. Both teams were inaccurate in the first quarter, but the Swans had a massive 13 shots on goal but could only get 4 of them through the big sticks though. The Saints had 7 shots on goal as well kicking straight just twice. The second quarter saw the Saints straighten up kicking 3 goals 1 behind, unfortunately for them the Swans kicked 5 goals. Fortunately though the Swans were again inaccurate again and kicked 6 behinds. So at the long break the Swans led by 33 points. Saints coach Nick Baird fired his men up during the long break and they outscored the Swans in the third quarter by a goal to reduce the margin to 27 points at 3 quarter time. But that was the only quarter the Saints could smile as the Swans regained their composure in the last quarter to restrict the Saints to just 1 goal, while piling on six majors themselves. The Swans major goal kickers were Jordan Sharpe and Gavin Knee with 3 each and their best player was Janson Doughty. For the Saints their major goal kickers were Nick Baird and Dick Gleeson with 3 each and their best player was Sam Kimmence.
Game 2 was held down at the Cattery between the Cats and the Tamworth Kangaroos. This was the Kangaroos first game after having the bye in round 1. The Cats were looking to give the Kangaroos a tough opponent and the first quarter certainly showed this. At quarter time the Kangaroos held a slender 1 point lead and there was a sniff of an upset on the cards. Both teams were kicking straight and this held in the second quarter. The Kangaroos outscored the Cats in this quarter by 3 goals and went into the half time break 20 points up. Both the Cat's Coach, Bryce O'Connor, and the Kangaroo's Coach, Tim Cotter, would have been telling their charges at the break they could win and that it was up to them. The third quarter again saw the Kangaroos out score the Cats by 3 goals and with a 40 point lead at 3 quarter time the game was lost for the Cats. The last quarter was a repeat of the previous 2 with the Kangaroos again outscoring the Cats by 3 goals giving them a 58 point win. The Cats certainly weren't disgraced in this game and they are improving all the time. The Kangaroos will be better for their first run and will take some beating this year. The major goal kicker for the Kangaroos was Dan Overeem with 7 and probably their best player. For the Cats their major goal kicker was returning veteran Adam White with 5 goals and their best player was Scott Bailey.
The final game of the round was at the Kennel were the Gunnedah Bulldogs took on their local rivals the Narrabri Eagles. The Bulldogs were all fired up in the first quarter and could have had the Eagles under huge pressure if they kicked straight. Going into the quarter time break a 9 point lead their coach Peter Chapman would have been mildly happy while still knowing they had let the Eagles off the hook a bit. And that's just what happened in the second quarter. The Eagles swooped in to kick 4 goals to 1 for the quarter. At the long break the Eagles had turned their 9 point deficit into a 11 point lead and coach Phil Dennis was telling his men they needed to put their foot down and go harder in the third quarter. And that is just what they did, kicking 8 goals 2 behinds. The Bulldogs kicked straighter in this quarter kicking 3 goals 1 behind but the damage was done and the Eagles went into the last break with a 42 point lead and all the momentum. The Bulldogs did fight back in the last quarter to win the quarter and give their coach something to work with during the week. Phil Dennis will be happy with the win but knows his team will need to learn not to let their foot up when they have a team on the ropes. The Eagles major goal kicker, with 6, and best player was new recruit Tim Cooper and for the Bulldogs their major goal kicker was Brent Hartley with 3 and their best player was Andrew Wynhoven. The Eagles are now 1 game clear on top of the ladder and in this shortened season they are going to be hard knock off.
Last Modified on 08/05/2011 12:07