by-Jim-Gordon
JEPARIT RAINBOW V WOOMELANG LASCELLES
Bouncing back after a disappointing loss to the Roos last week, Jeparit Rainbow played four good quarters of football to defeat the Cats and record their second win for the season. At times during the game the Lakers played their best football for the season.
‘This was a great team effort and one in which everyone contributed,‘ said coach Luke Werner. ’I am very pleased with the win and I am looking forward to next week because I know that there is more improvement to come as the players gel together.’
‘Ben Zanker’s 200th senior game gave the team an added incentive.’
‘I was particularly pleased with our rebounding from defence and our ability to run the ball. It showed that we are working well together,’ he added.
The consistent Ben Zanker kicked another five goals this week, taking advantage of better disposal into the Laker forward line. This was problem for Jeparit Rainbow last week when they lost at Underbool.
Another to come under notice was eighteen year old Zachary Webb who played his first senior game. Recruited from Nhill and with two good reserves games under his belt, his was an impressive senior debut.
The Clugston brothers played well again, but this week it was the younger brother Simon who was prominent early and when he was moved from defence to the forward line in second half, he kicked three goals in third quarter playing as mobile tall forward. Ashley and Heath Clugston once again played outstanding games as onballers for the Lakers.
Jeparit Rainbow’s Daniel Greig playing forward kicked two goals and it was he who swapped with Simon. Greig did well in defence with his strong marking and spoiling from behind when needed.
Andrew Jackson had a brilliant game on his wing. Jackson’s pace and ball skills caused Woomelang Lascelles lots of problems all day. He ran the ball into the Laker forward line, he defended well and kept going all day.
Jeparit Rainbow got better as the day progressed. They had a good first quarter against the wind, a big second quarter with the wind, a great third quarter against the wind and they cruised home to win in the end by 39 points. In that vital third term when the Lakers knew Woomelang Lascelles would throw everything at them, they defended well. Most notable this quarter were Andrew Jackson and Luke Werner who continually ran the ball out of their backline.
A solid last quarter by the Lakers made sure of a good win. For the Cats, their season has been up and down. They will have to be on the ball next week as they take on reining premiers Beulah. In a good omen for the Cats, Beulah has not won away from home so far this season.
HOPETOUN V SEA LAKE NANDALY TIGERS
In a match vitally important to both sides, Hopetoun reinforced the theory that the third quarter is the match winning quarter.
For three quarters of this match, Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers outscored the Hopetoun Devils in total. Unfortunately for them, in the third quarter the Devils slammed on six majors whilst keeping the Tigers to a paltry two behinds.
The first half was a tight low scoring affair with neither side gaining a real strangle hold taken on the match. Nevertheless the Devils did well to outscore the Tigers in the second quarter kicking into the wind.
The Tigers didn’t give up and they clawed back some credibility with a four goal to one final term, but it was all to no avail, Hopetoun ran out winners by 22 points. Col Durie put in another fine effort for Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers, Andrew Roberts kicked two goals, Daniel Carmichael carried on his good form from last week and Luke Martin tried hard all day.
Bryce Wellington was one of Hopetoun’s best over the match as a whole, yet it was his third quarter that was the real game breaker. In his super third term, Wellington kicked all of his four goals for the day. His solo effort went a long way to setting up the win for the Devils.
In a great overall team effort in which there were many contributors throughout the match for Hopetoun, Kain Robbins was the star for the Devils. He is having a stellar season and once again he was prolific across the half forward line. He worked well with Luke Milroy who also won plenty of the footy in the midfield so that between the two of them, they were able to create many opportunities for their forwards.
The Hopetoun defence was tight all day, guided by the likes of Leigh Hutchinson and Steve Hallam. In a game that was a ‘must win’ for both sides, these two took their roles seriously, ruthlessly set about restricting the Tiger attack to as few opportunities as possible.
The result was that forwards Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers rely on such as Nathan Wight and Mark Duscher were limited one goal each for the day.
This was good win for the Devils. They will approach next week’s match against Ouyen United with an air of confidence. They have lost a few to injury in recent weeks, but were able to welcome back Zac Taggert and introduce new players Mark Adamson and Steve Carman.
The Tigers meanwhile will face Jeparit Rainbow who are playing their best football for the season.
BEULAH V WALPEUP UNDERBOOL
The Beulah Blues accounted for a disappointing Walpeup Underbool with a commanding 65 point victory at Beulah on Saturday. Relishing playing at home, the Blues were ahead all day and ran away from the Roos in a dazzling seven goal final quarter whilst holding Walpeup Underbool to one behind.
Beulah’s third win for the season was also their third home win, losing away to the Tigers and the Lakers. Once again their best players were Dale Shannon and Garry Hallam with Gareth Hose also having a great start to the season. Stephen Saunders gave them drive around the packs and David King kicked five up forward.
For the Roos, they would have come to the game expecting big things as they have shown a lot of improvement this season and they boast a star studded line up. They were within striking distance of the Blues at three quarter time, but faded into the breeze offering very little resistance in the final quarter. Travis Latta and Scott Munro tried hard all day, Jeremy Rowe is having a good season across half back and Jim Wakefield worked hard in defence.
Walpeup Underbool’s Wade Champion wasn‘t as prominent as he has been, although he got the Roos off to a good start after half time with two quick goals. He seems restricted in his running and looks to be carrying an ankle injury. Walpeup Underbool have the bye this week, this should give Champion the chance to get over any injury he may have.
At several times during the match, the Roos were able to match it with the Blues. A long Kane Munro goal at the beginning of the first quarter, some hard work at the beginning of the second when they were able to score through Ben Fenna and Darren Latta’s running goal at the end of the third quarter kept the Roos in with a chance at various times during the match.
Yet each time Walpeup Underbool looked like getting back into the game, Beulah responded. It was usually through the good work out of the centre where Stephen Saunders was rucking well, and up forward they had a spread of contributors. When King quickly answered Kane Munro’s early goal, it was a pattern that was to continue and it was usually King, but not always, on the receiving end of Beulah’s midfield dominance.
Jarred Coombe was another who bobbed up, kicking three goals running in from a wing. Tyler Lehmann kicked two, as did Gareth Hose. After a long arm wrestle in the third term, Beulah were able to get a goal through yet another contributor, this time it was Peter Lehman.
For the first three quarters both teams were fierce at the ball. Walpeup Underbool’s Jay Gniel’s tackle in the first quarter resulted in a Roo goal and a second quarter strong Luke Nathan tackle plus a 50m penalty resulted in another. Both teams were working hard in an effort to score, but whereas Beulah went into attack with long passages of clean football, the Roos often wasted the ball going forward.
Beulah were on top at three quarter time, but there was still a chance for Walpeup Underbool if they could have a good final term. This was not to be. Beulah had the wind in the last term and with the run of play, they were able to kick clear. They were simply too good all over the ground and ran away with the game.
Last Modified on 15/05/2011 13:24
