Ben Rowles
The Gol
Gol Hawks sent out a massive reminder to the Millewa Football League
competition that they are still a forced to be reckoned with, after
handing out a football lesson to Meringur at Lake Cullulleraine on Saturday.
After being billed as game of the round,
many were expecting Meringur to give Gol Gol a real scare. The Hawks
were under the pump after two losses from their first two games, however
from the first bounce; Gol Gol seemed hell bent on gaining their first
win for season 2009.
The Kangaroos were left shell shocked
after Gol Gol came out and slammed on 7 goals to 1 in the opening quarter.
The key to this match was the midfield battle, and Gol Gol were certainly
on top in this area early, and kept much of the ascendancy all day.
The Hawks were totally dominant all over
the field and Meringur failed to contain many of the Hawks major ball
winners, which resulted in Gol Gol taking a 61-point lead into half
time.
The pain continued for the Roos after
the break, as the Hawks slammed on 9 goals and 7 behinds in the third
quarter. Aaron Finch was trying hard for Meringur up forward, but he
alone could not stop the total chaos that the Hawk midfielders were
causing, as Meringur limped into the final change with the game all
but over.
The Roos managed to stem the flow of
scoring a tad in the final quarter, but in the end, the Hawks ran out
118-point winners, as they got their season well and truly back on track.
At Mildura Senior College, Bambill hosted
Nangiloc, who were coming off a solid win last start. Many tipsters
were expecting the Bambill machine to roll all over the Demons, but
in fact, it was a much different story.
From an outsider looking in to this game,
the scoreboard would suggest the Saints blew Nangiloc out of the water
in the first quarter, as they led by 34-points at quarter time. However
in this case, the scoreboard was proving to be misleading, as the Nangiloc
players were putting on some terrific defensive pressure all over the
ground, but were just lacking a key target up forward early on.
Demons coach, Luke Stone, stressed to
his young charges at quarter time to be more composed with the footy,
and in the second term Nangiloc looked very threatening heading forward.
Last week'Âs goal kicking hero, Jake
Reed, was starting to get his hands on the ball up forward, but although
Nangiloc were dominating the inside 50 count, they couldn'Ât convert
on the scoreboard. However, the Demons still managed to outscore the
Saints in the second term, and were well and truly in touch at half
time.
Nangiloc'Âs terrific pressure continued
in the third term, but they just couldn'Ât kick the vital goals needed
to give them a chance. Bambill on the other hand grabbed every opportunity
presented to them; in particular Brett Haase, who was on his way to
kicking 6 goals for the day.
Eventually, Bambill'Âs tall timber in
David Hall and Denny Fox were just too big and strong for the Demons
running brigade, and the Saints started to pull away.
The Saints opened up a 38-point buffer
at the final change, and looked to have all the legs running into the
last quarter. This assumption proved to be correct, as Bambill mauled
Nangiloc in the final quarter with seven goals to no score to run out
85-point winners.
David Pickett was outstanding all day
for the Saints, eventually ending with 4 goals, and he was well supported
by Bambill'Âs extremely tall forward line in Haase, Hall and Fox. The
Saints midfielders also showed plenty of class, and Bambill certainly
look the real deal for season 2009.
Graeme Glare and David Mike were very
good all day for the Dees, as were many of their team mates up to three
quarter time. Although Nangiloc ended up getting well beaten, they can
take some real positives out of this clash, and will keep in the back
of their minds that if they can keep their defensive pressure and swift
ball movement up for the whole season, the top 4 is a definite possibility.
Last Modified on 05/05/2009 19:27