The Belconnen Magpies have finally got their first win of the inaugural NEAFL season with a hard fought and well deserved victory against Queanbeyan at Manuka oval over the weekend.
The young Magpies had suffered six straight losses before a much needed bye last round, and the break seemed to do them good. A rejuvenated and energetic team took to the field this week, and in stark contrast to previous weeks, came out firing from the opening siren.
“The last few weeks have been frustrating for us,” Assistant coach Brock Weston said after the game. “But to come out and win like this is a real weight off the shoulders.”
The Queanbeyan Tigers had every reason to be confident coming in to this game. Twice this season already they had notched up wins against Belconnen, but they were made to work hard from the outset with the home side setting the pace and leading by four points at quarter time.
From then on it was a hard battle, with both sides coming up with big hits and strong tackles. Early in the third quarter it looked as though the very vocal Queanbeyan side would run away with the game, kicking three consecutive goals in five minutes. But the Magpies showed excellent composure under pressure with Simon Curtis solid in defence. At three quarter time Queanbeyan were ahead 9.11 (65) to Belconnen’s 9.6 (60).
The third minute of the final term saw the scores even, and a few minutes later Justin Hodder put the Magpies in front with a superb mark in the square and a comfortable kick at goal. From then on the Magpies didn’t seem like they could lose. The end result was 13.9 (87) to 10.13 (73) and an extremely happy Belconnen side.
“The most important thing is that we’ve been improving,” Weston said. “I think you’ll see another standout performance against Eastlake next week.”
Last Modified on 06/06/2011 10:04