Round 11 Football Wrap
Avoca v Trentham
Trentham were comfortable winners over a depleted Bulldogs unit on Saturday at Avoca Public Park when they won by one hundred and twenty-six points. 23.23.(131) to 5.5.(35)
The Saints came to play shown by the seventeen shots on goal in the opening term while kicking with the breeze to just one solitary goal for the Bulldogs.
Trentham dominated the ball out of the centre and had the bulldog’s defence under constant pressure as they bombarded the forward line.
To the Bulldogs credit they fought back in a more even second term to kick four goals while the Saints kicked five goals to lead at half time by seventy points.
But this was where the Bulldogs challenge ended as the Saints kicked the next nine goals of the game to run out very comfortable winners with Jake Keogh again dominating up forward with another eight goals to his tally of seventy-eight goals for the season.
Joel Cowan dominated for the Saints setting up many forward moves and others to play well were Jack Mighell, Dylan Holden, Keogh, Ryan Bourke, and Zac Gervasoni.
Players who tried hard all day for Avoca were, Brett Monk, Scott Cawthan, Bryce Howell, Joel Antonio, Jason Hunt, and Brad Martland, with Cawthan kicking two of the Bulldogs five goals.
Maryborough Rovers v Royal Park
Maryborough Rovers and Royal Park played a very competitive and entertaining Maryborough Derby on Saturday in which the Tigers won by just 16 points. 13.10.(88) to 10.12.(72)
Royal Park won the opening term on the score board, with four goals to one, but Rovers Andy Seikai was providing a target and goaled early for the home team, and Jordan Morse provided a speccy mark when he flew high above the pack in the scoreboard pocket very early in the game.
The second term was the best for the game as nine goals were scored in some free flowing footy.
Rover fought back to lead at the thirteen-minute mark when Siekai goaled from a snapshot, but Karson Guareschi was quick with the reply with a goal on the run a minute later to take the lead back for Bushy.
A goal after the siren to Tigers coach Mark Ashmore had the Tigers crowd excited as the visors led by ten points at half time.
17-Year-old first game player Jack Broad showed he will be a player of the future for Royal Park and had a snapshot at goal to open the second half, but unfortunately his shot was wide for the Tigers.
Rovers had plenty of possession early, but Nathan Leist was the only player to kick truly from three shots on goal. This allowed Jacob Rollason to step up for the Tigers with three of the next four goals including a 60-metre bomb that excited the Tigers faithful as the visitors led by 38 points at the final change.
The final quarter was all Rovers as they ran rampant trying to reduce the deficit. They held the Tigers to a solitary point while having eight shots on goal including two goals to Coach Liam Radlof who led the way in the final quarter with his run through the middle.
Unfortunately, time ran out, as Rovers got to within sixteen points, but their supporters would be happy with the fightback in the final quarter after such a tough season to date.
Royal Park best players were Brad reeves, Lauchlan Woodward, Sam Flynn, Jacob Rollason and Rhys Egan with Rollason kicking four goals.
Rovers Best were Alex Mahony, Andrew Seikai, Reece Perry, Joel Radlof and Kaylab Eggers, with Siekai and Radlof both scoring three goals apiece.
Dunolly v Campbells Creek
Dunolly had their biggest win of the season on Saturday at Deledio Reserve when they defeated Campbells Creek by 122 points. 24.17.(161) to 6.3.(39).
The Eagles opening term of 12.4.(76) to 2.2.(14) put the game well and truly out of reach of the Creekers.
Dunolly only scored another twelve goals for the next three quarters, whether it be that they took the foot off the gas, or Creek played a stronger defensive game than they did in the opening term.
The Eagles still controlled the game and shared the goalkicking duties amongst ten different players, But Xavier Ryan kicked six, while Joel Fisher finished with five goals to lead the Eagles goal scoring for the season with thirty-two goals.
Dunolly took the opportunity of Creek’s low position on the ladder to spell some key players for the game with Mitch Goodwin and Toby Johnston not on the Eagles team sheet, but they will no doubt be back for next week’s danger game with Newstead as the Eagles look to play finals for the first time for some years.
Better players were Xavier Ryan, Adal Zuk, Bailey Goodwin, Lachlan Tranter, and Luke Crowley.
Creek’s major contributors were Mitch Stevens, Ryley Mills, Jordan Picken, Chris Cassidy, and Joel Wootton with Mitch Stevens kicking five goals.
NATTE BEALIBA v CARISBROOK
Natte Bealiba found the old saying “points win games” to be true on Saturday, defeating rival Carisbrook by four behinds in an absolute shoot out at the pond.
Natte and Carisbrook were the most recent grand finalists to play for the trophy, with the Swans winning a close affair to be crowned 2019 premier.
While neither side had that level of repeat success post-COVID, they’re very much back amongst it this year and Saturday’s game was one of the MCDFNLs better games this season.
Natte burst out of the gates in round 11, kicking 3.1 (19) to 1.1 (7) to lead Brook by 12 points at quarter time, but this only inflamed the Redbacks who returned for quarter two with tenacity.
Carisbrook kicked a massive 5.2 (32) while keeping the Swans to 2.2 (14) to change the narrative and lead 6.3 (39) to 5.3 (33) by the half time break.
The tension was high in the must-win third quarter, and it showed, with Natte kicking two goals and three behinds for the period and Brook getting just one major score, with four missed opportunities, seeing the Redbacks one behind in front (49-48) at the final change.
Natte had much more of the footy in the closer, having seven shots at goal and nailing just two of those.
Thankfully for the home crowd, Brook kicked just two goals straight for the entire quarter, meaning Natte’s behinds were what gave the side the eventual four-point victory.
Zac Mortlock had another cracking game for the Swans, named best on ground with Callum Harte, Josh Grant, Jordan Fraser, Jacob Long and Brodie Johnston also claiming votes.
Danny Brewster and Will Holt kicked three goals each as leading scorers, with Brewster now sitting on an impressive 85 goals after 11 games.
Andrew Tobin was best on for Brook, followed by Liam Hurse, Nic Wright, Michael Zelencich, Zak Rinaldi and Adam Hurse. Ash Munari kicked four goals for the day.
Natte has moved up into second place thanks to the win, swapping with Brook now relegated to third ahead of round 12 this weekend where Natte will play ladder leader Trenthan and Brook will host Maldon.
LEXTON v TALBOT
Talbot claimed a very important win at the weekend, toppling Lexton by a very confident 41 points.
Heading in, Lexton was slightly favoured however the Hawks weren’t discouraged by this, breaking away in the third term for a healthy victory at the Tigers’ ground.
Lexton almost kicked themselves out of the game with 10 shots on goal in the first term and just two being successful.
This was enough to lead at the first break however with Talbot trailing 2.2 (14) to 2.8 (20), however the Hawks were able to put up 3.2 (20) in the second to 1.3 (9) to lead by five points at the main break.
This is where most would expect the Tigers to turn it around, however the Hawks came out swinging in the third, adding 21 points to their side of the board while keeping the home side to a single behind to lead by 25 points at the final change.
Talbot doubled this score exactly in the closing quarter with 4.1 (25) and with Lexton only able to put up 1.3 (9) at the same time, the game very clearly belonged to the visitors.
The 4.15 (39) to 12.8 (80) loss was one of Lexton’s low lights of the year, but despite this, Sam Dunn, Justin Hobson, Cohan Poulton, Lachlan Pryor, Lochlan Pett and Josh Sargent were praised for their fight.
Talbot was grateful for the service of Jayson Atkins, Alex Marshall, Jude McGuire, Nathan Bond and Sam Gibson, with Tom Addison, Ryan Aquilina, Atkins and Matt Bond scoring truly with two goals apiece.
In round 12 the Hawks will host Avoca in what should be a good clash, while Lexton heads out to Navarre.
HARCOURT v NAVARRE
Navarre has secured a place in the current top four after besting Harcourt at their own ground.
The Grasshoppers were not favoured heading into the game by any means, making the 13-point win at the den even sweeter for the green and gold army who made the trip over.
The game was close from the get-go, with a high-scoring opening term see the Lions put up 5.4 (34) to lead the Hoppers’ 3.2 (20).
Harcourt added another three goals to the board by half time, as did Navarre, with the Lions leading by 15 points after half a game of footy.
Navarre played a great game of catch up in the third, kicking 4.3 (26) while keeping Harcourt to just 1.2 (8) to lead 66-62 at three-quarter time.
With less than a goal separating the teams, the Hoppers had more of the ball in the fourth and got the job done with another four-goal quarter, winning 14.10 (94) to 12.9 (81).
Jesse Hannett, Billy Parry, Josh Fowkes, Angus Barham, Riley Bibby and Cody Driscoll were crucial in the victory for Navarre, with Driscoll kicking a massive six snags under great pressure.
Kayne Davidson was as reliable as ever for the Lions, with he, Sam Gale, who kicked four goals, Brayden Frost, Jordan Gartside, Paul Chaplin and Klai Jermyn all claiming votes in their third loss of the season.
The Lions have now slipped out of the top four, down into fifth, while Navarre holds fourth place ahead of round 12.
Navarre will play Lexton this weekend in a must win, while Harcourt should re-join the winners’ list against Royal Park.
