On Saturday 22nd August the Northern Knights made trip along the Calder Freeway to take on the Bendigo Pioneers at Golden Square Football Ground in Round 17 of the TAC Cup. The Knights started strongly in the first quarter with Jade Gresham scoring the opening goal in the first 30 seconds of the game. From that point the two traded goals while the Knights missed a number of scoring chances as they dominated general play. Goals late in the quarter from Michael Ercolano and Michael Tilmouth-Turner gave Northern some reward for their dominance and a 17 point quarter time lead. The second quarter was a real scrappy affair as the Knights held Bendigo goalless but were only able to add three of their own despite again dominating possession and inside 50’s. After half time the Knights came out and began to capitalise up forward with three quick goals to start the quarter, one of which a lovely snap from Sam Peet after he took the ball out of the ruck from a throw-in and bent the ball back through the big sticks. Late third quarter goals to Jade Gresham and first gamer Patrick Lipinski put the result beyond doubt by three quarter time as the Knights held a commanding 58 point lead with one quarter to play. The floodgates opened up in the final term as the Knights were able to pile on seven goals and with Tilmouth-Turner looking strong on the lead and Michael Ercolano crumbing well they found plenty of avenues to goal. Northern eventually went on to win by a whopping 83 points and got some reward for their vast improvement over the second half of the season.
Jade Gresham was back to his brilliant best in the midfield racking up 42 possessions including 23 contested, along Brayden Fiorini (42 possessions) they controlled the midfield all day. Michael Mattingly continued his recent run of good form in the midfield with 25 possessions and two goals and Darcy Macpherson returning from the Footscray VFL team slotted back in seamlessly. Michael Ercolano finished with five goals up forward while Tyrone Leonardis provided constant drive from half back throughout the match.
This Saturday the Northern Knights play their final home and away game of the 2015 TAC Cup season when the host Gippsland Power at Ikon Park. The match will begin at 1:00pm and the boys look forward carrying on the form they showed against Bendigo and finishing the season on high.
Last Modified on 25/08/2015 18:04