by Daniel Huttig
Players were greeted with fine weather, and spectators treated to some gripping matches of football as round 1 of the Mallee Football League 2014 season commenced on Saturday.
Woomelang-Lascelles unfurled their premiership flag in front of a large crowd, when they hosted Ouyen United in the first match of the round. Woomelang-Lascelles were quick out of the blocks, as they looked to start the season where they finished off. Kicking 5 goals to Ouyen's 1 in the first term, the match looked to be well on its way to an early conclusion. A strong fight back from the slickly skilled Ouyen outfit saw them reduce the deficit to merely 3 points at halftime, and then take a 10 point lead into the final quarter. A huge 10 goal final quarter by bigger bodied Woomelang-Lascelles eventually saw them run out comfortable winners. Corey Kelly and Jayden Lonergan kicked 8 and 5 goals respectively for the Cats and were joined in the best by coach Anthony Foott, Jake Hogan, and Kane Donnan. For the Demons, 2 goals were kicked each Bradley Vallance, Robert Lindsey, and Laurence Angwin. Ben Mole and Ben Gregg were amongst the best for the Demons.
Walpeup-Underbool was at home to last year’s grand final runner up, Sea Lake-Nandaly Tigers, in what was hotly tipped to be a close game. The Tigers were able to jump out of the blocks early with quick ball movement, and kick 5 goals to 1 in the first quarter. Walpeup-Underbool was able to settle in the second term and wrestle back some momentum to be trailing by only 11 points at the long break. The tigers were able to flex their muscles in the third quarter and put on another 5 goals to keep Walpeup-Underbool out of the game. Sea Lake-Nandaly won the hard fought contest by 30 points. Cliff Ryan slotted 5 goals, while Jarrod Arentz and Simon Weekley kicked 4 each. Wesley Harrison was named best on for the Tigers. For the Walpeup-Underbool side, Luke Nathan kicked 3 goals, and Jeremy Brown kicked 2. Kane Munro, Simon Brown, David Piasente, Ryan Stacey, and Josh Stone played well for the Roos and were amongst the best.
The final match of the round pitted traditional rivals Hopetoun and Beulah against each other at the Hopetoun Football Ground. The first quarter of the match was closely contested as the two teams vied for ascendancy in the match. Skill errors and turnovers kept the ball moving from end to end, however Beulah were able to settle first and kick away to a commanding 66 point half time lead. The third term saw the Blues put the game beyond reach for the young Hopetoun side, and wound up victors by 129 points. Dennis Redden and Dale Shannon each kicked 5 goals, and were backed up by the hard running Callum Buchanan and Shaun Monohan who kicked 4 and 3 goals, and also featured in the best, along with Jason Turnbull and Andrew Hughes. For Hopetoun, Lucas Cook battled hard over the whole ground, and was supported by Liam Price, Leighton Hateley, Zac Robins, Jackson Fisher, and Corey Daniels.
Next week sees Ouyen United take on Walpeup-Underbool, Beulah host Woomelang-Lascelles, and Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers play Jeparit-Rainbow who are coming off the bye.
Last Modified on 06/04/2014 16:19
