The Inverell Saints have snapped their worst losing streak in existance with a gritty 17 point vicotry over the top of the table Nomads at Varley Oval on Saturday. The Saints trailled early but fought back and produced their finest 15 minutes of the year to seal the win in the fourth quarter.
The first quarter saw the Saints start positively but as had been the trend in recent weeks, found scoring difficult as the rejigged forward line tried to get on top of the Nomads defence. But after falling behind by 3 goals, the Saints rallied, and lead by Peter Heath, started to dominant out of the middle and fought back to only trail by 2 points at the first change.
The Saints started the second in blistering fashion and put some space between themselves and the Nomads. Lead by Gary Hadland, who snapped a couple of beauties in the forward line, the Saints looked to take control of the match. But just as it looked as if the Saints could take control of the match, the Nomads fought back to level the scores, only to see the Saints kick the last couple of the half to take a 2 goal lead into the half.
Coach Darren Bailey implored his troops to push hard and continue the good work set in the first half, but the third was a quarter that was dominated by the Nomads, who kept the Saints goalless and piled on the pressure at the other end. In truth, the Nomads could have put the game away during this period, but failed to fully capitalise on their advantage. The Saints held a slender lead at the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter was probably the best the Saints have produced all year. They started in a blaze of fire and kept the foot on the throat for the first 10 minutes of the quarter. During the period the Saints piled on 4 goals and all but put the game away, before a goal from the Noamds put a slight scare through the Saints camp. But the Saints held firm and came away with win number one for the season.
Alex Dasey was best a field for the Saints and deservedly took home the players mug, but he was ably supported by Heath, Joe Kimmince and Jono Elphick out of the middle. Ben Lee was outstanding in the defensive half, and after being moved into the middle, Dan Corcoran was fantastic at getting the ball moving forward.
The Saints will now look forward to a visit from the Bulldogs who suffered their first loss of the year last start to the Swans. They will be fired up and ready to avenge that loss so the Saints will need to continue to play good football to keep the momentum going.
Last Modified on 18/05/2009 20:46