The Knights 2008 season kicked off with a 35 point loss to the Western Jets. With a host of new faces, including ten debutants it was a fairly tight contest, despite the Jets leading at every change. The lead changed a handful of times throughout the day, but never exceeded more than 20 points until the Jets started running away with it in the final term.
It was the Knights who got the ball rolling when Dean Smith-Whiting kicked the first goal of the game. It took the Jets a while to get going, with the Knights doing a great job keeping them outside of their attacking 50. With a few wasted opportunities on entry to the forward line the Knights still found themselves on only one goal when the Jets moved up a gear to kick three goals.
The Knights who jumped out of the blocks with the first two goals of the second, including a superb effort from Tindarra Hood hemmed in on the boundary line. The Jets reasserted themselves with a couple more goals, but not before the Knights, led by David Zaharakis, Luke Stanton and Smith-Whiting, came back once again. A pair of courageous efforts running headlong into a contest by Steve Kelly embodied the hardness and tenacity of the Knights.
As had happened through most of the game, the Knights started the third very well and found themselves with the lead for the first time since the first when Smith-Whiting nailed his third. Michael Still stretched that lead when he goaled soon after. Still was creating opportunities for himself, particularly after half time, however he was off target four times in an otherwise promising debut for the young forward. The Jets responded well and kicked three in a row before the sides finished the quarter by trading a couple more goals.
The fourth quarter was when the momentum swings stopped and the Jets started to take control of the game. They scored the first four goals before Zaharakis capped off his great game with a consolation goal - the Knights only major of the term.
Western Jets 15.10.100 def. Northern Knights 9.11.65
Goals: Zaharakis 3, Smith-Whiting 3, Stanton, Hood, Still
Best: Zaharakis, Brunelli, Smith-Whiting, Power, Stanton, Paynter
Last Modified on 19/05/2008 13:41
