It was goals a plenty at the Eagles nest between them and the Kangaroos. This was a danger game for the Kangaroos as the Eagles were looking to regain some momentum leading into the finals. It was a tight first quarter with both teams having 10 shots on goal. It was the Eagles who were in front at the first break though after kicking 5 goals to the Kangaroos 4 goals by 5 points. The second quarter was again all out attack by both teams and the Kangaroos had one more scoring shot then the Eagles. It was the Eagles who were the more accurate though kicking 6 goals 1 behind to lead by 9 points at the long break. The Kangaroos made their move in the third quarter peppering the goals but as I have said before this year it could have been so much better for them had they kicked straight. They kicked 6 goals and 7 behinds while holding the Eagles to 4 goals 1 behind to rest back the lead and turn a 9 point deficit into a 9 point lead. The last quarter saw the Kangaroos finally straighten up doubling the Eagles score for the quarter. They kicked a very impressive 8 goals to the Eagles 4 goals. The Kangaroos just keep going to new levels this year and this game will have given them no end of confidence. The Eagles can take heart in that their score would have won them a lot of games this year if it had not been against the Kangaroos. The Kangaroos best player and leading goal kicker with 6 goals was Matt Hodge. For the Eagles their best player was Mark Barrow and their main goal kicker was Tim Cooper with 10 goals.
The upset of the round was at No.1 Oval in Tamworth when the Cats beat the Swans. This was a great game for the Cats and it started in the first quarter when they jumped the Swans kicking 4 goals to 1 goal to lead by 22 points at the first break. The second was when the Swans turned up and started playing. They kicked a healthy 6 goals to the Cats 2 goals and went into half time with a 2 point led. It was a good turn around for the swans and one that needed. In the third quarter it was again the Cats turn to take on the game and kick away with 7 goals to the Swans 3 goals. This gave them the lead by 26 points at the last break. It was a very entertaining last quarter with the Swans fighting back hard trying to prevent their second loss to the Cats for the year. They did manage to outscore the Cats in the last quarter but it wasn't enough to stop the Cats from winning. It has been a huge year for the Cats they have found a very good player in young Beau Dixon. Dixon is still in their junior side that plays in the Newcastle League and was their best player and leading goal kicker with 5 goals. Mark Verrall was the Swans best player and Gavin Knee was back to his best with 6 goals.
In the last game at Varley Oval in Inverell the Saints were expecting nothing less than a full effort from the second placed Nomads. Neither the Saints nor the Nomads were at full strength but that did not affect the game in the first quarter with both teams kicking 3 goals and only the Saints 5 behinds to the Nomads 4 behinds being the difference at quarter time. The second quarter saw the Saints put their foot on the pedal. They completely dominated the quarter playing some of their best footy for the year. They were very accurate kicking 6 goals 1 behind for the quarter. It is easy to be straight shooters when you are kicking your goals little more than 30 metres out. At the end of the second quarter though, the Nomads booted their only 2 goals for the quarter in a matter of 90 seconds showing that they were not giving up anytime soon. The Saints lead at the main break was 22 points. Saints Coach, Nick Baird, reminded his team at half time that the reason the Nomads kicked the 2 goals late in the second quarter was they took their foot off the pedal and if they were not careful the Nomads could do it again. With those words ringing in their ears the Saints started the third quarter very quickly indeed. Baird leading from the front kicked 2 goals in the first 3 minutes. The Saints again played some very dominate football in this quarter forcing Nomad Coach, Brendan Meehan, to use Johnathon Frost as a loose man in their backline. But such was the Saints dominance that they found their way around Frost. The Saints kicked another 6 goals in this quarter to the Nomads 2 goals to go into the last change with a healthy 46 point lead. The Nomads fought out the game in the last quarter but just had no answers to the Saints power as they could only kick 3 goals while the Saints kicked another 6 goals to win the game by 63 points. The Saints best player was the returning Stewart Walker and Captain Chris Whitton was their leading goal kicker with 4 goals. For the Nomads Hamish Ross was their best player and leading goal kicker with 4 goals.
Last Modified on 31/07/2011 00:14