Senior Football
The much anticipated clash between the unbeaten Rochester Tigers and the Tatura Bulldogs was played before a big crowd in perfect football conditions at Tatura Park.
With both sides feeling the strain with injuries, Tatura missing Rob Montgomery and Tim Little, the scene was set for a titanic clash. Many pundits had the Tigers as solid favourites and felt the Bulldogs needed to claim a big scalp before they could be classed as a realistic premiership hope.
The Tatura team had Tom Durward and Andrew Browning for their first games for 2012. The build up to the clash had the Bulldogs primed and they certainly did not let their supporters down. It was a high quality, four-quarter performance, which completely outplayed their more fancied opponent. Tatura applied relentless pressure through fierce tackling, incredibly fast leg speed and movement of the football.
Throughout the game, the Bulldogs completely dominated the Tigers.
Kicking with the assistance of a slight breeze in the opening term, Steve Shaw kicked the opening goal.
The ruck work of Paul Kirby was brilliant and he stuck at his task all game, producing a dominant best on ground display. The arm chair ride he gave the midfield set up a constant supply to the forward line. Inaccurate kicking in front of goal was the only concern as the Dogs slammed on four goals and seven behinds for the opening term, which set up a four goal lead.
The second quarter opened with a great snap and goal by Billy Hicks, who is establishing himself as a goal kicking mid-fielder. He finished with another three goals for the day.
Rochester took until the 16-minute mark of the second quarter before it registered its second goal.
The pressure applied by the likes of Lee Owen, Shannon Broadbent, Linc Wellington and Ryan Crawford had the Tigers making a lot of mistakes and caused plenty of turnovers. The back six worked extremely well as a team within a team and constantly linked up to run the ball from defence and through the middle where Tim Lanyon, Tom Sullivan and Jye Warren used explosive leg speed to burn off their more fancied opposition.
Tatura put scoreboard pressure on, finishing with six goals to two, extending the lead at the long break to 49 points. Cam Trewin finished off the work upfield, ending the day with another bag of five goals.
The long break had many supporters espousing that the second quarter display was as good as they had witnessed for quite a few years.
Steve Daniel reinforced that “the job was only half done” and implored everyone to stick to team disciplines and they would be rewarded.
The second half produced another quality performance, with the half-time lead cut by a total of two points. However, Tatura ran out comfortable 47-point winners.
At one point, the lead was out to 56 points. The roving work of James Sullivan resulted in two great goals from him, in one of his best performances for the year.
Rhodes Cousland is getting better each week after having missed the previous two seasons. His attack on the football was brilliant and team lifting; he is certainly one of the best tacklers in the side. The spread of nine goal kickers also showed that Tatura has many scoring options. The defence was miserly and the mid field would be equal of any, if not the strongest in the GVFL.
The win pushed Tatura to the top of the ladder and gained the respect of the football community. The big task now is to back up again next week against Kyabram and set up the season, going into the bye weekend.
SCORES: Tatura 18-13-121 V Rochester 11-8-74.
GOALS: C Trewin 5, B Hicks 3, P Kirby 2, L Owen 2, J Sullivan 2, T Sullivan 1, S Shaw 1, T Lanyon 1, S Broadbent 1.
BEST: P Kirby, R Crawford, J Warren, T Lanyon, J Sullivan, R Cousland.
RESERVES FOOTBALL
The Reserves felt the effects of the injuries with Jayce O’Neill and Paul Neville missing plus replacements going into the seniors. Scott Thorn returned and he tried hard to inspire his team. Up against the ladder leader in Rochester the job was going to be a big ask. The first half produced entertaining and high pressure football and saw Tatura trailing by only nine points at the long break.
Anthony Poppa continued his great form and was a rock in defence showing strong marking and clean ball skills. Joe Conheady collected a lot of the ball and finished with two goals in another solid display. A skirmish resulted in Scott Thorn being yellow carded for 15 minutes and this was at the start of the third quarter, with only 17 men on the ground the task grew considerably and the stronger bodies of the Tigers took over completely slamming through 8 goals to nil for the term.
The contest was over and the Rochester team added another 5 majors in the final term to run out 88 point winners.
Up against overwhelming odds Jon Coe and Adam Brassil battled manfully in defence as did Brad Stagg across the centre. The veteran Brendon Vanderdonk provided a highlight with his baulk and goal showcasing all his talents in the one moment.
The next clash against Kyabram is a winnable game and with a committed effort the reserves could still be well placed at the bye break.
SCORES: Tatura 3-6-24 V Rochester 18-4-112.
GOALS: J Conheady 2, B Vanderdonk 1.
BEST: J Conheady, J Coe, A Poppa, A Brassil, B Stagg, B Vanderdonk.
U/18s FOOTBALL
The young Bulldogs presented their coaching staff with their first victory for the year, a stirring 23 point win.
After a slow start the Tatura team found themselves down by 10 points at quarter time, a long goal on the siren by Tugga Daniel sent the young side to the break on a high.
This was enhanced with the sides best quarter of football for the season being the second, where they slammed on 5 goals whilst holding the opposition scoreless. Ben Harris (3 goals) led from the front ably assisted by skipper Mitch Elliott who continues to gather plenty of football and always uses it to hit up a target. The midfield players attack on the ball was brilliant and the confidence the side gained was infectious with all the players working well as a team. The skill levels rose with James Nihill and Zac Brian winning plenty of possessions. Matt Basile played his best game for the season as the whole squad lifted.
With a 21 point lead at the long break the only concern was if the team could maintain the momentum, this was quickly answered as they outscored the Tigers to increase the lead to 25 points at the final break.
A serious challenge came early in the final quarter with the Tigers getting to within 3 points before the young Bulldogs found another gear with Sean Martin dominating the centre clearances and Liam Borreli showing poise across half back combined with Matt Cornwall’s relentless running allowing the team to run out winners. The spread of ten goalkickers is testament to the great teamwork on display for the match. A jubilant celebration followed and hopefully the winning feeling can be replicated with more wins to follow.
SCORES: Tatura 12-7-79 V Rochester 8-8-56.
GOALS: B Harris 3, D Argus 1, M Daniel 1, M Cornwall 1, M Serra 1, J Ballantyne 1, G Kilmartin 1, S Martin 1, M Basile 1, J Nihill 1.
BEST: B Harris, M Elliott, J Nihill, Z Brian, M Basile, J Ballantyne.
Last Modified on 03/07/2012 13:49