by Jim Gordon
BEULAH V JEPARIT RAINBOW
Beulah maintained their good form with a sound 52 point win against Jeparit Rainbow at Beulah to make it four wins in a row for the Blues and second spot on the ladder. Things are going from bad to worse for the Lakers who last won in Round 3 and have a very poor percentage.
On Saturday it was poor kicking and poor decision making that let the Lakers down. Heath Clugston still missing hurts their midfield and limits their forward line and on ball options. The Lakers desperately miss his skills and intelligent play. Both sides were guilty of turning the ball over, but in the end, Jeparit Rainbow’s unforced errors were more prevalent and a lot more costly.
The Lakers somehow kept with Beulah for the first half of this match, but a dismal third quarter cost them dearly.
Jeparit Rainbow struggled to contain Beulah forwards David King with six goals and Riley Lehmann with five. Andrew Watson tried very hard in the backline for the Lakers, he gave away height, but attacked the ball hard all game.
Thomas Hallam is having a great season so far for the Blues. Rob Carlile had a very good game as did Tim Hill in the centre and Jarred Combe.
The Lakers seemed able to get the ball to half forward, but they would then break down. One good sign was the form of tall, promising youngster Zac Webb who marked strongly and kicked two goals from limited opportunities.
For Jeparit Rainbow Sean Bayzand again showed his class playing halfback and on the ball, Ash Clugston, whilst perhaps not as dominant as usual, still played well. Edelsten brothers Lucas and Tyler attacked the ball with great determination. Justin Chilver battled hard in the ruck against Steve Saunders and probably broke even in actual ruck contests, but he was not as prominent around the ground as he has been in recent weeks.
Jeparit Rainbow have a difficult task in front of them. After the Interleague break they come up against the undefeated Walpeup Underbool. Beulah on the other hand are going from strength to strength and must now be eyeing off one of the top two positions by the end of the season.
WALPEUP UNDERBOOL V HOPETOUN
The top-of-the-table battle between Walpeup Underbool and Hopetoun was in the balance with five minutes to go in the third term. Hopetoun even had the lead before the Roos piled on five rapid fire goals to turn what was a deficit, into a four goal lead going into the final term. After that, the result was never in doubt with Walpeup Underbool blitzing the Devils and running away to a 57 point victory.
In the end it was the experience, class and relentless pressure by the Roos that got them the win. Their onballers were quicker and more accurate with their disposal, they were able to hold match winner Kain Robbins through the tight, hard work of Matt Palmer and they had dangerous forwards in Kane Munro with five goals and best-on-ground David Piasente with seven.
Hopetoun started the better of the two teams, running and linking up well and making use of Walpeup Underbool skill errors. Bryce Wellington was a strong target up forward and they were benefiting from the gob-smacking strength and power of Anthony Baker around the packs.
Walpeup Underbool did well and worked hard to claw their way back into the contest after Hopetoun had opened up a handy break. They started to get on top in the midfield where Josh Charles in the ruck started to give his on ballers first use of the ball. Anthony Kelly was trying hard, but his lack of experience was starting to show and he just could not nullify Charles. The Irishman is capable of taking big marks around the ground and is reasonably efficient with his disposal, but Charles was able to use his body to get into a better position and ended up controlling the ruck.
Walpeup Underbool began to take control in the second quarter. They were playing better, their backline was combining well and midfielders started to run and make better use of the ball. This had been lacking early in the game. Nevertheless, it was still a good contest all over the ground, right up until the time Piasente broke loose in the end of the third term by kicking four goals in the space of five minutes to bust the game apart. Suddenly the Roos were winning the ball out of the centre with Kyle Munro regularly delivering the ball to the Walpeup Underbool forwards. Matt Palmer was playing a great game on the league’s top goal scorer with Robins having little effect and no goals for the day.
Pressure from both sides was causing mistakes. The Devils had the firepower up forward through Bryce Wellington and Deek Roberts with a seven and five goal haul each, but in the end, the ball was not getting down there anywhere near often enough.
Try as they might, Hopetoun could not match it with Walpeup Underbool even when Dave Piasente came off the ground early in the final term. By then the damage had been done. Deek Roberts was trying to lift the Devils and they moved Kain Robins into the centre to try and give the Devils some drive, but the Roos maintained their ferocious attack at the ball to run out to what was a comfortable win in the end.
Walpeup Underbool are a class unit. They have a lot of self-belief and can rise to an occasion. The Devils’ good play is really good and their poor play is sometimes really poor - consistency is the key and on Saturday the Devils were not quite consistent enough to stop the rampaging Roos!
WOOMELANG LASCELLES V OUYEN UNITED
On a calm, overcast day, Ouyen United easily defeated Woomelang Lascelles by 69 points at Woomelang on Saturday. For the first time this year, the Demons managed to put four quarters of quality football together to run out winners against a Woomelang Lascelles side that tried hard all day, but did not have the strength, skills or talent to match it with the Demons despite having the ball in their scoring zone for long periods of play in the first half.
Ouyen United seemed to relish a more open game this week against a smaller bodied opponent who was never able to put enough pressure on Demon playmakers to halt their progress. This meant that the likes of Glenn Joyce, Ryan O’Callaghan and John Jackson were able to run around as they liked picking up kicks.
Nowhere was this more apparent than in the play of Jarred Erlandson. Often at the end of good work by team mates up the ground, Erlandson was nevertheless able to somehow find space across the centre or at half forward and his strength meant that if he was in a contest, he inevitably won the ball either in the air or on the ground. His three goals were all skill and class.
Jarred’s brother Alex Erlandson dominated the centreline battles. His ability to leap high and palm the ball, made it easy for the Demons midfield to have first go at the ball. The fact that Ouyen United were not always able to get the ball away from the centre was not his fault.
Peter Caldow dominated play for most of the first half for Ouyen United. He was the spark in the first term, he made position well, marked the ball cleanly and was an accurate shot for goal finishing with five for the day. Three of Caldow’s goals were scored in the first term with his third after the siren giving the Demons a six goal quarter time lead.
It was good for Demon supporters to see some of their younger players play well. Kale Barker dominated his wing, leading wide and taking some very good grabs. His team oriented play drew others into the game and led to penetrating forays forward for his side. Bradley Summerhayes is having a good season and Dom Leach capped off a great game with five goals.
Dean Jardine and Adam O’Callaghan played well in defence. In the first term, they were responsible for some attacking drive out of defence to set up scoring opportunities. Jardine even went forward him self in that quarter and goaled.
For Woomelang Lascelles, Joel Donnan kept Ben Mole to two goals when, with the amount of play Ouyen United were winning across the centre, the damage could have been much greater. Jayden Lonergan did well to kick five goals and Kane Bannam played a good game and ended with three goals.
In the end, Ouyen United played well. They were too talented and too quick for the Cats who remain winless for the season and on the bottom of the ladder.
Last Modified on 20/05/2012 12:53
