Bellevue Oval in Armidale was where the match of the round between the New England Nomads and the Tamworth Kangaroos was held. The first quarter was a tight tussle with both teams having 5 shots at goal each. It was the Kangaroos who were slightly more accurate though and they were able to take a 5 point lead into the first break. Whatever Nomads Coach, Brendan Meehan, said to his men at the first break worked. The Nomads took it right up to the Kangaroos in the second quarter and outscored them 5 goals to 3 goals, giving them the lead at the half time break by 8 points. The all important third quarter saw the Nomads again outscore the Kangaroos 4 goals to 2 goals giving them a modest 20 point lead. Meehan knew this may not be enough as the ladder leaders would come at his team hard in the last quarter. Kangaroos Coach, Tim Cotter, fired his men up at the last break but it was their inaccuracy that cost them in the end. Both teams kicked 3 goals for the quarter but the Kangaroos 6 behinds is what hurt them as they suffered their first defeat of the year by 18 points. For the Nomads their best player was Hamish Pearce and their main was Dave Richards with 5 goals, this was pleasing for Meehan as it shows that the Nomads don't only rely on Weston Whitby up front. The Kangaroos best player was Luke Robinson and their main goal kicker was the old backman Tony Bishop with 4 goals.
At Varley Oval in Inverell the Saints hosted the Gunnedah Bulldogs and there was nearly the upset of the century. The Bulldogs arrived in the Sapphire City with only 15 players after the late withdrawal of 2 players. With the Saints having a full team available to them it was expected that they would put on a percentage booster. The first quarter started as expected for the Saints as they kicked the first 3 goals of the game. The Bulldogs then hit back with a couple of goals. The Saints scored a 4th and 5th goal before the Bulldogs finished the quarter with another 2 goals. At the first break the Saints held a 1 goal break even though they were playing with 16 players on field to the Bulldogs 15 players. In addition the Saints were able to have 6 players on their interchange bench. The second quarter was much like the first with the Saints kicking 5 goals to the Bulldogs 4 goals and increasing their led at the main break to 16 points. The third quarter is where the Saints finally took advantage of their superior numbers and kicked 5 goals to the Bulldogs 2 goals. The last quarter was not a good spectacle for the crowd as it was a scrappy game with the Saints Justin Pay being red carded and sent from the ground for the rest of the game at the 10 minute mark. This meant that for the first time the game was being played with the equal amount of player on both sides. With about 13 minutes to go the Bulldogs Andrew Pratt was yellow carded for 15 minutes meaning he would miss the rest of the game. The Bulldogs took advantage of some lacklustre Saints play in the last quarter and kicked an impressive 6 goals to the Saints 2 goals. The Saints young Mick Corcoran was outstanding in the last quarter and saved the Saints with repetitive rebounding attacks from the Saints half backline. Without Corcoran's influence the Saints may well have lost the game. In the end it was a unimpressive win to the Saints by 3 goals with their Captain Chris Whitton leading the goal kickers with 5 goals and Joe Kimmince named their best player. For the Bulldogs their best player was Pat Lebreux and their major goal kickers were Chris Gee and Brent Hartley with 3 goals each.
Down at the Cattery the Muswellbrook Cats were hoping to munch on the Narrabri Eagles. But that was not the case as the Eagles swooped in to take the win out of the Cats claws. I don't have much in the way of detail for this game, but I can tell you that the Eagles win by 34 points has got their season back on track and has them sitting equal second on the Ladder with the Nomads. The Eagles are only 12.5% behind the Nomads and both clubs are only 1 game behind the Kangaroos.
Last Modified on 26/06/2011 10:45