Aspley vs. Redland
Saturday May 4, 1:30pm, Graham Rd
The Bombers won both the teams’ match-ups last year, but they’ll go into this game as underdogs against a vastly-improved Hornets side. After shrewd off-season recruiting, which included the signature of former Morningside mentor John Blair, the brown-and-gold’s are sitting fifth at 3-2 after six rounds – though they could easily be undefeated were it not for a brace of close losses to Southport and Queanbeyan.
Aspley won the battle of the league’s big improvers against Morningside last weekend, while Redland was gallant in a close loss to NT Thunder, in a performance coach Greg Seton-Lonsdale labelled his team’s ‘best of the season so far.’
Seton-Lonsdale has already conceded his side may be out of finals contention, with just one win in 2013, but the Bombers aren’t out of the running in this match if they can quell a few of Aspley’s key strengths. The Bombers must limit the output of prolific onballer Ryan Matthews, stunt the run of defensive quarterback Cheynee Stiller, and keep damaging goalsneak Nathan Clarke quiet. To win, they’ll also need big games from the likes of Phil Carse, Daniel Dzufer, and Tom Salter, while spearhead Steve Gaertner will need to kick a bag of goals. If all of this goes to plan, the away side is a good chance of a boil over, but otherwise, this is a match Aspley should win.
Last Modified on 03/05/2013 14:32