by Jim Gordon
-JEPARIT RAINBOW V OUYEN UNITED
Jeparit Rainbow defeated Ouyen United for the second time this season. The Demons must not like the trip south as both victories have been on the Jeparit ground and both times the margin has been comfortably in favour of the Lakers.
‘I am very pleased with this win,’ said Jeparit Rainbow coach Luke Werner. ‘and particularly with our work rate after quarter time. We put great pressure on Ouyen United all over the ground and our younger players played with a great maturity and we used the ball much better this week. Our third quarter was a stand out.’
The Lakers were able to field their strongest team for quite a while. Simon Clugston and Lucas Edelsten returned after missing several games through injury and Joel Schulze also returned after missing last week.
United opened the game well and kicking with the breeze, they jumped the home side and were soon four goals up. Late in the quarter the Lakers fought back to go into the first break only twenty points down when it could have been a lot more.
The second quarter saw Jeparit Rainbow get right on top as they made use of the gusty wind. Only inaccurate kicking for goals kept Ouyen United in the game as the Lakers looked to be in complete control.
Both sides kick five goals two in what was a great third quarter of football. Unfortunately for the Demons, it meant that they were not able to make inroads into the Jeparit Rainbow lead that was back to 12 points, the same as at half time. It proved to be too much for the Dees as the Lakers were coming home with the wind.
If the third term was as good a quarter of football as the Lakers have played all year, they followed it up with another very good final term that saw them run out comfortable winners by thirty points.
Ash Clugston was the dominant player on the ground. Playing more in the forward half this week, only his kicking for goal let him down. Clugston kicked four goals six behinds for the day when it could have been six or seven gaols given his dominance.
Sean Bayzand again won lots of quality possessions around the ground. Beyzand kicked two goals for the game and benefited from Justin Chilver’s ruck work as did Ben Marra and Aaron Beer. Early in the season Chilver took United apart at Jeparit and he did well again in this good win. Chilver worked hard all over the ground to be the dominant big man in the game.
Andrew Watson was another dangerous Jeparit Rainbow forward all day and he ended up with three goals from full forward. Luke Werner moved forward to also kick three goals. In the back line Brett Fisher played his best game of the year while Heath Clugston read the play well to intercept many Ouyen United attacks.
John Jackson has had a great season for Ouyen United and it was pleasing to see young Jackson Morrish get a lot of the ball, Alex Erlandson played well, Dominic Leach kicked four gaols and Kyle Monaghan snagged two in what was a disappointing result for the Demons.
BEULAH V SEA LAKE NANDALY TIGERS
In somewhat of an upset win to all but the most diehard Tiger fan, Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers lasted just long enough to record a one point win at Beulah on Saturday. Ahead almost all day, the Tigers would have been unlucky to lose, but in the end, fell over the line by the narrowest of margins. The win sees the Tigers leap into second spot on the ladder.
It was a great battle all day. The intensity was high and there was immense pressure anywhere the ball went! It is in games such as this that the likes of Sea Lake Nandaly’s Col Durie comes into his own. With Jarrod Arentz out injured, it was left up to Durie to set the example and he didn’t let his side down with a great display of experience and football know how.
The Tigers had nine individual goal kickers with Nathan Wight three and Darcy Ryan three the only multiple goal kickers. Col Durie was best on ground, with Stephen Lyons and John Guthrie getting the job down in defence. Joey Summerhayes played a beauty and willed his chargers on. While midfielders Lance Brown, Andy Roberts and Matt Elliott were also good players.
The Tigers got off to a handy lead starting with the slight breeze and they kept this lead for most of the day. At one stage in the second quarter, it looked like the Tigers were going to run away from the Blues as they had opened up a handy three and a half goal lead before the Blues rallied and three late goals to them slashed the Tigers’ margin to four points at the big break.
The third quarter was a real battle with the Blues flooding the Tigers’ forward line making scoring almost impossible. The Tigers took a lead of nine points into the last quarter, but it did not seem to be enough, especially when Beulah kicked two very early goals to take back the lead.
The Tigers refused to go away and even though they wasted opportunities, two late goals to leaders Darcy Ryan and Col Durie were enough to leave the Tigers in front by one point when the siren sounded.
The Blues had surged late in the last quarter with Rob Carlile twice clearing the ball from the centre and they even managed to hit the front by six points near the end of that heart stopping final term, but the Tigers rallied once again and with a strong mark and long kick forward by Luke Martin was marked in spectacular fashion by Dan McEwan and his goal saw the game back on level terms.
The Tigers got the next clearance and when Darcy Ryan had a shot from the pocket to kick a behind, the Tigers had that one point lead. As it turned out that was the scoring finished for the day as both teams went man on man at the stoppages for the remaining few minutes of play.
David King kicked five goals for Beulah and Dale Shannon had a good day kicking three. Big Stephen Saunders was probably the best of the Blues on the day although Thomas Hallam and Scott Smith both played well.
It was a great game of contested footy and it was unfortunate that one side had to lose.
WALPEUP UNDERBOOL V WOOMELANG LASCELLES
Walpeup Underbool had a very good forty point win over a Woomelang Lascelles side that tried hard all day and whilst never really in the hunt at Underbool, never gave up. Ryan Anderson was the Roos’ best player. Running off half back, Anderson not only repelled many Cat attacks, he was able to create forays forward for his side with his hard running and accurate use of the ball.
Kicking with the slight breeze, Walpeup Underbool started well with an early goal to Kane Munro followed up by a great crumbing goal to Joab Mead. Right from the start the Roos were on top with their backline defending well and running the ball well into their attacking zone where their forwards were applying pressure and causing the Cat backs to make mistakes.
David Piasente was gathering possessions all over the ground, Wade Champion was looking dangerous up forward for the Roos and Jim Wakefield was almost impassable in defence. For the Cats, Jayden Lonergan was able to make use of limited chances up forward and his five goals for the day was a good return for the number of times the ball entered the Cat forward half.
When it was Woomelang Lascelles turn to kick with the breeze in the second term, they attacked hard. Trent Donnan and Brody Adcock were the prime movers for the Cats and they were the main reasons that Woomelang Lascelles was able to score four unanswered goals to drag the Cats within striking distance of the Roos.
David Piasente continued to play well for Walpeup Underbool with Jeremy Brown defending well so that the Roos were able to steady and go into the half time break with a match winning 42 point lead.
It was in the third term that Walpeup Underbool played some of the football that has taken them to the top of the MFL ladder for most of the season. It was not only the fact that they were able to score six goals to Woomelang Lascelles three, it was the way that they were able to move the ball out of defence and into their forward line with precision movement that was a delight to see.
In this term it was Sam MacDonald’s turn to show what he could do. MacDonald never stopped running, he was hard at the ball and got it out to team mates on a regular basis. Darren Latta gathered plenty of possessions on the wing for the Roos and was often used to link up with Walpeup Underbool forwards. The whole side was applying plenty of pressure on the Cats all over the ground.
For Woomelang Lascelles Brody Adcock continued to impress Trent Donnan was probably their best for the day and Christopher Foott worked hard.
Last Modified on 12/08/2012 12:24
