Ben
Rowles
A
7- goal haul from Jake Reed has kept Nangiloc’s slim finals hopes alive, as the
Demons recorded a 54-point win against traditional rivals Cardross on Saturday.
It was a massive win for the Demons, as a loss
here would have destroyed their finals aspirations. But after a few lean weeks,
Nangiloc arrived switched on and looked determined to not give up on September
just yet.
After a tight first half which saw the Demons
hold a 23-point lead at half time, Nangiloc broke away from the Lions in the
second half, as their running game plan through the midfield tore the game
open.
After extending their lead to 29-points at the
final change, Nangiloc’s superior fitness saw them kick 5 goals to 1 in the
final quarter, to run out convincing 9-goal winners.
Reed proved to be the star up forward for the
Demons in a fine 7- goal display, while Damien Sitters and Jason Finch also
enjoyed good days for the red and blue.
As for the Lions, Darren McCarthy put in
another lion-hearted performance for his side, kicking 3 goals from limited
opportunities. Tom Wallace and Cody Dalla Santa also proved to be solid
contributors for Cardross. But in the end, it was the Demons who prevailed, and
now sit just one win outside the top 4.
In other games, Bambill overcame a sluggish
start to knock off Meringur in a grinding encounter at Mildura Senior College.
With the return of some key players to the line
up, the Saints were expected to have yet another easy win. However, it was the
Roos who took a small lead into the first change, on the back of some fantastic
tackling pressure which had Bambill making sloppy and uncharacteristic
mistakes.
The second quarter saw Meringur continue to
apply a high intensity to every contest, but they could not make the most of
their opportunities in front of goal, which is a cardinal sin against the
Saints. However, the rebounding play from coach Garry Hammence out of defence
was giving Meringur some real drive heading forward, while Andrew Ross was
continuing his fine form from recent weeks, as the Saints managed to find
themselves in front at half time by 20-points.
The third term saw Bambill break the shackles,
with Luke Kearney setting the Saints alight with 3 goals for the quarter, while
Meringur’s tackling pressure from the first half dropped away. The Saints
slammed on 7 goals to 2 in the premiership quarter to have the game wrapped up
by three quarter time.
Bambill continued to run away with it in the
final term, and despite two late goals from Greg Johnson, Meringur could not
keep the final margin under ten goals, as the Saints took a 64-point win, and
stretched their winning run to 12 games.
Both Kearney and Denny Fox finished with 4
goals apiece for Bambill, while Ross capped off his best on ground performance
with 2 goals. The only negative for the Saints was the ankle injury to Brett
Haase, which could see him ruled out of next week’s top of the table clash
against Gol Gol.
As for Meringur, Colin Keatch had a fantastic
duel with fellow utility Craig Herberte, which saw the two high-flyers have
solid games for their respective clubs. But ultimately in the end, it would be
the drop off in intensity after half time that would displease the Meringur
coaching staff the most, as the Roos set themselves for a massive encounter
against Euston next week.
In the final game of the round, Gol Gol
trounced the struggling Werrimull to the tune of 195-points at Lake
Cullulleraine.
In a match the proved to be a horror show for
Werrimull, the Pies managed only one goal for the entire game, courtesy from
Jamie Keenan in the second quarter. That aside, it was all Gol Gol, as the
Hawks came out firing with 9 goals to none in the first term.
From there, things continued to get ugly for
Werrimull, with the Hawks kicking a further 5 goals in the second term, 8 in
the third and finally 9 goals in the last quarter to run out 30-goal winners.
Gol Gol’s star trio up forward again kicked big
hauls, with Dean Umback, Kaleb Sherwell and Jason Bruhn kicking 19 goals
between them. Reigning McDonald Medallist, Tim Robinson, controlled the centre
bounces for the Hawks, as they dominated the Magpies in every facet of the
game.
One positive for the Pies was the performance
of Colby Loxton, who continued to run all day in trying circumstances. But in
the wash-up, Gol Gol’s big win sets up next week’s mouth-watering encounter
with Bambill perfectly, while Werrimull will have a chance to regroup after a
few big beltings in recent weeks against Cardross.
Last Modified on 27/07/2009 10:36