North, comprising players from the Narrabri Eagles, Inverell Saints and New England Nomads, looked the strongest of the two on paper, with a less experienced South team made up of players from the Muswellbrook Cats, Tamworth Kangaroos and Tamworth Swans hoping to match their opponents with run and the exuberance of youth.
The opening bounce saw a keen contest across the midfield, with two evenly matched centre combinations giving little away. The North team had the best of the early running, feeding a star studded forward line to see them kick the first two goals of the match. South responded, with strong run from half back pushing them into attack and producing their opening goal through rookie Jordan Sharpe. From there, though, the southerners struggled for clean possession forward of midfield, which saw them on the back foot and trying hard to defend the strong North attack. Kicking a further nine unanswered goals in the opening quarter, it was all North at quarter time with a commanding nine goal lead.
South coach Tony Bishop demanded more from his charges in the second period, calling on them to attack the football and make every possession a contest. They responded, slowing down the North midfield and reducing the clean attacking ball they had enjoyed in the first period. South still struggled to produce meaningful penetration of their attacking fifty, with Jono Elphick and Mike Gould on the North half back line working well to rebound their side into attack. Keeping their northern opponents to five goals, South were able to produce two of their own, but were still facing a long road back with when going into the long break thirteen goals adrift.
The opening of the third quarter saw South lift again, with strong efforts in the midfield from Tyson Morgan driving the ball forward. Using their run to good effect for the first time in the match, South found two major scores from youngsters Alex Hudson and Nathan Bradburn. The North midfield could not be kept down, though, and once they found the ball with the likes of Duane Shawcross and Weston Whitby the quality of their forward line saw them kick four goals to close the quarter. The contest was gone, but South were much happier with their efforts in that period to be trailing by fifteen goals into the last quarter.
A reasonably even final period followed, with the midfield contest continuing to rage and both sides winning their share of clearances from the middle. The South half forward line were forced deep in search of the Sherrin, though, which saw them struggle for meaningful targets beyond that. With every entry into the attacking zone met with defensive pressure from the North, South managed just five wayward shots for the rest of the match. North, by contrast, enjoyed a gluttony of forward targets in Hamish Ross, Chris Whitton and Dave Richards, which saw Nick Baird's North side kick a further six goals and run out clear and convincing winners by 137 points.
For the North team, Dave Richards was unstoppable up front, kicking eight goals. Daune Shawcross was his usual busy and classy self across the middle of the park, and his run was rewarded with two goals of his own. Mike Gould, Hamish Ross, Jono Elphick and Mark Barrow rounded out their best. For the South, some good efforts from less noted players impressed, with Tyson Morgan named as their best and Lachlan Maloney and Alex Hudson also impressing. Damien Wendt worked hard in the centre with Andrew Donohue, and Nathan May was good in a very long day for a defender.
RESULTS:
NORTH: 11.3 16.6 20.16 26.22 (178)
SOUTH: 1.1 3.3 5.6 5.11 (41)
GOALS:
NORTH: Dave Richards (8); Chris Whitton (5); Gary Hadland, Daniel Hughes, Hamish Ross (3); Duane Shawcross, Weston Whitby (2).
SOUTH: Nathan Bradburn, Alex Hudson, Lachlan Maloney, Joshua McKenzie, Jordan Sharpe (1).
BEST:
NORTH: Dave Richards, Duane Shawcross, Mike Gould, Hamish Ross, Jono Elphick, Mark Barrow.
SOUTH: Tyson Morgan, Damien Wendt, Lachlan Maloney, Andrew Donohue, Nathan May, Alex Hudson.
Match report provided by Josh McKenzie Essential Energy TAFL Secretary
Last Modified on 30/07/2011 19:10