by Jim Gordon
Jeparit Rainbow v Hopetoun
Jeparit Rainbow broke through for a hard earned 17 point win against Hopetoun at Jeparit on Saturday. This was a great result for the battling Lakers who have been playing passages of good football without winning games. For Hopetoun it was a terribly disappointing outcome and symptomatic of their season so far.
Heath Clugston stood up for the Lakers. Clugston drove himself hard all day, he had a stand out third term and seemed to be almost willing himself to get to the contest and win the ball. Clugston was a deserved winner of the Work Safe medal as best on ground in the Worksafe nominated Game of the Month.
Chris Meyer has been a good acquisition for the Lakers. He came to life in the final term, just when it mattered, by regularly driving the Lakers forward from the midfield.
Three of the younger Jeparit Rainbow players also played a big role as the Lakers kicked five of the last six goals of the game to run out winners. Simon Clugston got on top in the ruck and around the ground. Nathan Cocks kicked a brilliant 40 metre goal from the boundary line to give the Lakers the lead. This was shortly followed by an inspired piece of play from Tom Clugston who put his body over the ball to win a free kick, a 50m penalty followed and the resultant goal sealed victory for the Lakers.
Lucas Edelsten ran with Deek Roberts and despite Roberts kicking four goals, Edelsten limited his influence for much of the game.
The match started slowly with both teams making lots of disposal mistakes and Jeparit Rainbow did well to hold Hopetoun who had first use of the wind. In the second quarter the Lakers slowly started to get on top and their movement of the ball through the centre corridor was getting results.
New recruit Elliot Bath joined former Coolangatta team mates Ryan Bulluss, Josh McLeary and Greg McLeish at Jeparit Rainbow. He stood out in the second quarter with his pace and skills playing as a small forward midfielder and ended the game with two goals.
In the third term Ben Zanker kicked an early goal to give Jeparit Rainbow a 28 point lead and a sniff of victory, but Hopetoun were not done with yet. The brilliant Luke Carr lifted and with Deek Roberts kicking a couple of goals, scores were level at 3/4 time.
Hopetoun then kicked the first two goals of the last quarter to go to a 10 point lead and things were looking dismal for Laker supporters resigned to thinking that this could be another one that got away.
However, just as Carr in the third quarter lifted the Devils, Heath Clugston lead a Laker revival and a much needed win followed.
Beulah v Ouyen United
In a nail biting final term, Beulah just hung on to defeat Ouyen United by three points at Beulah on Saturday. United coach Peter Caldow had the chance to make a hero of himself with a kick after the siren, but it was not to be, Caldow’s long shot from 50m out was touched through for a behind. The Blues got the four points and the Demons’ dreadful day finally came to an end.
No-one would have blamed the Demons if they had been thumped with the club devastated by the news of the sudden death of their President, the iconic Tony Cua. Tony’s legacy will last a long time; the almost irreplaceable dedicated Demon would have been terribly proud of his charges as they battled it out all day with the undefeated Blues. Tony’s death follows on from the passing of Rohan Gregg, former umpire and long time supporter.
It was a sad and sombre atmosphere to begin the game with Beulah and Ouyen United seniors and reserves lining up to pay their respects to both men with a minute’s silence. Once the game got underway, Beulah kicked with the advantage of a three to four goal breeze and quickly got into stride kicking goal after gaol while the not surprisingly lacklustre Dees struggled to get the ball forward.
At the end of the first term, the Demons got a valuable goal into the wind after Dean Jardine got the ball to Todd Barker who goaled. They continued to improve in the second term with Damian Cupido goaling off the ground and when he goaled again from the boundary line on the 50m arc, suddenly United were within four goals of Beulah and closing.
On the rare occasions the Blues went forward in the first half of the second term, they wasted opportunities allowing the United defenders the time and space to get the ball out to their runners in Jerry Wilson, Peter Caldow and Alexander Morrish. Taylor Mitchell was combining well with his midfield and Kale Barker was lively around the goals. His snap from the boundary line on his wrong foot 25m out was a gem.
Beulah were still very much back in the contest when Dennis Redden goaled after a free kick against Joshua Langdon who was just starting to get on top of the Beulah centre half forward who tore United apart in the first term. Billy Keenan kicked another and when Dale Shannon snapped truly, the Blues had a bit of breathing space.
Play was fast, tense and tight. Tackling was fierce and the umpires were kept busy as once again Ouyen United struck when Cupido bounced one through on his wrong side. Ouyen United had clawed their way back to within a goal of Beulah at the main break. Cupido had seven on the board by half time.
The wind helped, but the Demons had improved markedly and looked like they could go on with it. Their backline was standing up. Aron Morrish was doing well on Tyler Lehmann, Langdon got on top of the dangerous Redden and Dom Leach was defending closely. Towards the end of the second quarter Aron Morrish outmarked Lehmann in the goal square, got the ball to Wilson and after a bit of Relton Roberts brilliance, Cupido marked and goaled - all the result of Morrish’s mark at full back when the Blues looked dangerous.
Wade Brady worked hard in the ruck for United. His leap and punching was admirable, but the Dees were nevertheless missing the firepower of Laurence Angwin who went off in the first quarter with a hamstring injury.
Ouyen United continued their good from in the third term and although the wind was still favouring the southern end, it was definitely fading. Twice early in the term Ouyen United switched play across the ground to utilise the speed of Alexander Morrish. After one of his forays forward, classy Kale Barker marked, played on by running around the man on the mark and ran into an open goal. Once again the Demons looked like they were getting on top.
However, Beulah are a class outfit. They seemed to be taking the long way around the ground by playing through Callum Buchanan on his flank, but he was combining with others including Micah Buchanan and Dale Shannon. Goals had seemed to dry up with the Blues missing chances before Kim Hallam intercepted a kick out from full back, Steph Saunders gathered the ball from Hallam and handballed to Andrew Hughes who goaled.
Redden marked well at centre half forward, Tom Hallam in turn marked Redden’s kick and Beulah were back out to a 15 point lead and looked like they were going to build on it before the end of the term. United had other ideas when they got the ball forward for Roberts to mark in the goal square and goal after a beautiful long kick from Simon Jardine.
The final quarter saw Ouyen United outscore Beulah by three goals to one in a tight and torrid affair. In the end Beulah was able to hang on thanks to a great opening quarter in which they kicked nine goals. The Demons looked spent at the end, they had given their all in what was an emotion charged day for them.
Walpeup Underbool v Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers
In the 2012 Grand Final replay it was the Tigers who took the points in a game that lived up to expectations. It was a meritorious win for Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers reinforcing their credentials as a major player once again in this year’s MFL competition. The win keeps the Tigers in second place as last year’s premiers slipped to their third loss for the season.
Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers started the game well. They were running hard and attacking each contest with a ferocity that was soon matched by the Roos who had to fight hard to get back into the contest. At half time the difference was only six points with Walpeup Underbool fighting to stick with the Tigers.
Cliff Ryan kicked five goals after playing some of the game in defence. The Sea Lake Nandaly midfield of Tom Summerhayes, Darcy Ryan (three goals) and Wes Sewell took the points against the experienced Roos with their ability to run for long periods of the game being a feature. Lance Brown, Liam Barry and Matt Elliott were excellent inside players and ruckmen Dan McEwan had a great duel with his opponent. Defenders James Summerhayes, John Guthrie and Stephen Lyons worked hard against their highly credentialed match ups.
Wade Champion and Stephen Lyons had a great battle in the Roo forward line. Champion finished with seven goals for the day, six in the first half.
With some key Tigers missing, three players played their first game for the Seniors this year including debutant Luke Kerr. Jason Collins was taken from the ground adding to the Tigers injury woes. The sickening collision between two players was at the start of the second quarter and saw a lengthy break while the Tiger was helped off by the medical staff.
The courage shown by Collins seemed to inspire his team mates and the game opened up for the running Tigers in the third quarter when, with the aid of the breeze, they kicked five goals to one to take a 30 point advantage into the last quarter.
There was nothing in it in the first half. Both teams were fighting hard. Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers used the ball well when they were in possession, but the Walpeup Underbool backline was defending valiantly against a talented Tiger attack. Chris Chubb played well across half back for the Roos and he went on to be Walpeup Underbool’s best on the day.
The match winning third term saw Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers kick clear after the tight first half. Cliff Ryan was starting to get on top in the Tiger forward line and for once the usually polished Roo skills were letting them down as they turned the ball over on too many occasions. The Tigers were finding a lot of space through the centre and were able to accurately deliver to their forwards with the lead stretching to five goals by three quarter time.
In the final term Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers continued to pressure the Roos into mistakes. The Roos needed to lift and through the hard work of Matt Palmer and Chris Chubb, they started to run and carry the ball forward. They managed to get to within three goals late in the final term, but the Tigers steadied, slowed the game down and went on to a good win and a rare victory at Underbool.
Last Modified on 12/05/2013 22:15
