The saints failed to win against Donald but do show some
good signs for the 2010 season as they went down to Donald by 43 points. The
saints showed off their new recruits and they didn’t fail to impress. Adam and
Lee Pollock along with Luke Soderman, Torin Petrie, Jesse Douglas and 15 year
old Brad Organ helped the seniors put up a hard fought contest against the
royal blues at Donald in hot and windy conditions.
From the beginning of the game, the presence of Petrie,
Soderman and the Pollock brothers was known to the opposition. The saints were
in control early however they remained unrewarded and goalless for a while.
This gave Donald many chances to capitalise and did so through Lachie Jones to
get off the mark. Dylan Pascoe started the game well, presenting and dominating
along the wing. He was able to start an attack for the saints and they
converted through Petrie. Still the saints continued to play well with immense
pressure looking to stun the Donald players. Unfortunately for the supporters,
they were unable to score to cap off some brilliant tackling and running. Again
Donald capitalised on the saints misfortunes through Baird. Then the forward
combination of Adam Pollock and Daniel Needs assisted the saints to maintain
the margin close to Donald. As the end of the quarter came to a close Donald
were able to put on one more goal to produce a small margin from the charging
saints.
Quarter Time
Donald 3 2 20
St.Arnaud 2 1 13
At quarter
time, Coach Alistair Egan praised the efforts of his players, pointing out the
good pressure on the opposition. He also stressed the importance of maintaining
the pressure and not the drop off.
Likewise to
the first term, the saints attacked well, controlling the game, but with no
rewards for the efforts, and Donald rebounded the attacks quick for a second
goal for Jones. From the next bounced Donald wasted no time to attack and score
again through Baird. The control of the game turn on its head with the royal
blues taking its turn to attack, but unlike the saints, was rewarded with
another Baird goal. They started to run well creating space for easy kicks and
leaving the saints chasing. But a quick string of passes brought the saints
back into the game through Needs, who was working well deep into the forward
line. But this was all the saints could do in the quarter as Jones kicked his
third goal, before Jennings put through his second.
Half Time
Donald 8 6 54
St.Arnaud 3 4 22
Donald
continued well after the half time break, starting with an early goal. The
saints stayed with the royal blues early, with backman Mark Ciurleo converting
to start the scoring for the saints. Baird quickly replied for Donald with his
fourth. The saints scrapped it out well, picking up with the good pressure from
the first quarter, but this time was rewarded through Ben Batters. But they
were unable to maintain the pressure as they started to drop off and being lead
to the ball. The work of players such as Batters, Soderman and Lee Pollock
sparked the saints and converted through full forward Bruce Hando. Donald, as
they have done all day, quickly replied this time through Jones. Goal for goal
continued as Needs added another and Jennings another for Donald. Both defences
had hard work to accomplish toward the finish of the quarter, with the saints
being well lead by full back Matthew Goode. Jones broke through the saints
defence for his last goal for the game. Hando again made his presence felt with
a quick reply, before Donald converted to finish the quarter 45 points ahead.
Three
Quarter Time
Donald 15 9 99
St.Arnaud 8 6 54
The game
seemed to some to be in Donald’s back pocket and the four points theirs. But
the saints thought differently and started strongly. They picked up their
pressure, forcing Donald to run circles while going nowhere. The saints got
through to Adam Pollock who started the scoring. Young recruit Brad Organ
managed to score in his debut senior game to get the saints up and running.
Donald however fought enough to score through Adam Flood. But the saints kept
on coming to get within four goals with two more from Jesse Douglas and Organ
for his second. Donald were able to take over towards the end of the game and
ran over the saints and kicked the next three before Hando put on one last goal
to finish the game 43 points behind.
Final Score
Donald 19 13 127
St.Arnaud 13 6 84
Donald
Goal Kickers: L. Jones 6, B. Jennings 4,
T. Baird 4, T. Ruyg , A. Flood , B. Grant , S. Robinson , D. Harrison
Best Players: L. Jones, T. Ruyg, T. Baird, J. Morley, B. Jennings,
G. Wyatt
St Arnaud
Goal Kickers: D. Needs 3, B. Hando 3, B.
Organ 2, B. Batters , J. Douglas , M. Ciurleo , A. Pollock , T. Petrie
Best Players: L. Soderman, D. Pascoe, M. Ciurleo, M. Goode, A.
Pollock, T. Petrie
Black Arms Bands were worn by players in all grades in
memory of Ken May who passed away during the past week. May had been around the
football club for a number of years as a player, coach and supporter and will
be sadly missed by all.
Last Modified on 29/04/2010 16:14