By Geoff Newling
April 13, 2015, 4 a.m.
TAMWORTH Kangaroos stunned reigning premiers New England Nomads when they handed the Tamworth AFL premiers a 60-point beating at Armidale’s Bellevue Oval on Saturday.
Swans star Adam Splithof climbs high to win this contest against Gunnedah’s Jacob Bee-Gill as Swan James Dunston waits to pick up the crumbs. Photo: Barry Smith 110415BSC24
The Roos kicked 17.13 115 to the home side’s 8.12 60 in a massive lift to the Roos’ premiership chances.
Tamworth Roos Dean Hoy (4), Ben Mitchell (4) and Chris Pollock (3) kicked multiple goals for the visitors as they excelled “across the park”.
“ I was confident the boys would win because I knew they weren’t cocky but had done the work,” coach Tony Bishop said.
“To win like that there wasn’t a player who didn’t do his job. That’s why I can’t single anyone out.
“It was a big win for us and a fairly important one to win. Beating Armidale or Inverell away is always hard to do.”
Mitch Penberty, Matt Hodge, and new WA recruits Ben Mitchell and Ben Evenis were outstanding for the Roos.
In Moree, the Suns were welcomed back to the TAFL when flogged by 33 goals by the Inverell Saints.
The Saints kicked 35.19 229 to the Suns’ 2.5 17.
In Tamworth, the Gunnedah Bulldogs kicked on with a second-half success for a 48-point win over the Tamworth Swans, booting 14.14 98 to the home side’s 6.14 50.
“We were found a little bit wanting,” said club president Josh McKenzie of his side’s opening game of the season.
“Our disposals efficiency let us down. We didn’t take advantage of many of our attempts.”
There were some highlights though, with Chris Oxford’s first touch in AFL football ending in a goal.
Trumaine Rankmore also made a good debut for the Swans while Adam Splithof was his side’s man of the match.
The Bulldogs, being coached by John Woolaston, Adam George and Ryan Cooper, kicked on in the second half with Mitch Swain, man of the match for Old Boys in their recent Tamworth first grade cricket grand final, booting six goals.
“It was a good win for us,” Woolaston said.
“We played a lot better than I thought we would.
“We’ve struggled for numbers and thought our fitness would be a problem.
“We’ve only really trained the last month, with a good two final weeks as a lot of the players had other commitments like cricket.”
Last Modified on 17/04/2015 21:02