On Saturday 12th April the Northern Knights travelled to Box Hill City Oval to meet last year’s premiers the Eastern Ranges. In beautiful conditions following a week of heavy rain the ground was in fantastic condition and both sides came out physical early. After a couple of early misses by Eastern, Reece McKenzie goaled for the Knights after strong contested mark. Kieran Malone roved a McKenzie contest just inside fifty and kicked the Knights second shortly after. Liam Hunt then snapped truly from a forward fifty stoppage and the Knights held a slender two point lead at the first change. The Knights really got going in the second quarter dominating around the stoppages and the contested situations with Jordan Perry leading the way. Kyle Langford returning from injury last week kicked two quick goals and they were followed by goals from Perry and then a long bomb from outside fifty by Garrett McDonagh. Jacob Smith roved cleverly to score another goal and then Langford snapped accurately to give Knights a seven goal half time lead. The Ranges were stung by their poor second quarter and turned things around in the third booting eight to drag the margin back to level at three quarter time. Eastern continued on in the final quarter kicking the first three goals of the term before the Knights steadied through McDonagh. Langford continued to be a presence up forward for the Knights and two more goals from him brought the margin back to within a goal late in game. However the Knights missed some opportunities and ended up going down by four points. Jordan Perry was consistent all day for the Knights racking clearances and contested possessions, while Kyle Langford looked dangerous up forward finishing with five goals. Josh Iacobaccio and Jade Gresham both provided good run off half back and Zac Ballard was competed hard laying 13 tackles for the day. The TAC Cup has a Development weekend over Easter but several Knights players will be competing for spots in the Vic Metro U/18 team as they play their first trial match on Sunday. We wish Zac Ballard, Jason Castagna, Liam Hunt, Kyle Langford, Reece McKenzie, Garrett McDonagh, Jordan Perry, Sam Switkowski & Ryan Tester all the best.
Last Modified on 17/04/2014 15:40