Bloods blossom with turbo charged finish

Elmore produced a barnstorming final term on Saturday against Heathcote turning a narrow 8 point lead into a powerful 79 point triumph come the final siren.

 In a game played in fine conditions at Barrack Reserves both sides failed to produced fluent passages of play and regular avenues to goal throughout the day.

Heathcote gave plenty of cheek early in the game with midfielders Wayne Sanders, Michael Ring and Tom Tobin active and Pat Ring making the most of his opportunities up forward with two fine conversions. David Fevaleki and Bill Longford were giving the Bloods some drive around the ground although when Joel Condon steadied to goal on the run from 30 m at the 10 minute mark of the 2nd term the Saints appeared to have some strong momentum.

There was plenty of feeling in the contest that led to a show on strength between a number of players before Ryan Hayes marked and goaled to keep the Bloods within range. This sparked the likes of Rick Smith, Joe Cavallaro and Andy Grant as the Bloods trimmed to deficit to just 3 points at the main break.

The third quarter was again an arm wrestle as Elmore struggle to use the ball efficiently and Heathcote were becoming predictable with their patterns of play and players such as Bill Longford, Justin Schubert and Brian Westley were able to negate a number of forward thrusts. With only 3 majors added for the quarters it was the Bloods who had edged to an 8 point victory at three quarter time.

Tony Southcombe harped the importance of converting the game into a victory with the great start to the season already achieved having them in a strong position. This fact was not lost on his players as Andy Grant 33 possessions, David Fevalecki 31 possessions and Rick Smith 28 possessions led a barrage of forward thrusts that led to the Bloods kicking a remarkable 11 goals for the term. Ryan Hayes was rewarded for presenting strongly to kick 3 goals for the term to finish with 6 for the day while Danny Childs 2 goals and Adam Williams 1 goal were also prominent in the onslaught.

Bloods Coach Tony Southcombe thought his side played displayed some patchy form throughout the day

” As far as I’m concerned I thought the first half was pretty disappointing football from both sides I said to our guys at half time that we weren’t making good decisions and using the football”.

” Our intensity lifted in the third quarter and after a while we started to use to ball better which flowed through the rest of the day and was evident in the score line”.

For Heathcote it was their darkest day in recent years and if they are to qualify for the September actions they need to improve their delivery to key forward Matt Waters and keep the ball moving as they were too often caught out playing stop start football.

Broadford rocketed back into fifth place with an impressive 135 point victory over Huntly at Diesel Trickey Oval.

The Roos showed their intent early peppering the goals for a return of 8.8 for the first term while the Hawks were rarely able to break past their half forward scoring just 1 behind for the term.

While the Hawks were able to display a more spirited front for the remainder of the game with Chris Long, Matt Rule and Alan Friswell competing well against the odds it was destined to be the Roos day.

John Taylor produced his biggest return in his short time with the Roos with a bag of 13 majors to move to 51 goals for the season while veteran Aaron Bray strong attack on the football led to a 5 goal haul.

Experienced trio Daniel Fletcher, Adrian Wilson and Chris Dunne were all brilliant bringing their younger team mates into play which would led to a staggering 28 goals for the afternoon.

For Huntly was it was another long day at the office and they must be determined in their efforts to compete for the durations of the game if they are to secure a victory before seasons end.

Mt.Pleasant again flexed it’s muscles this time delivering LBU a 94 point thumping at Toolleen.

The Cats were made to feel helpless as Mounts found winners all over the ground and despite for a competitive first term were they would be within 1 point at the first break they were comprehensively outplayed.

Star midfielders Ben McLeary and Cam Carter along with youngster Taig Griffin led the onslaught as Mounts were able to cash in with 10 majors for the 2nd terms while the Cats were held goal less.

Brad King 4 goals along with Peter Kruger and Brad Shepperd with 3 majors each were all on top in attack as Mounts produced an incredible 13 goal kickers for the game. The Cats were best served by the determined Adam Sims along with running players Nathan O’Brien and Sam Newth.

Mounts are well placed at this stage to secure a double chance while LBU have fallen to desperate depth failing to be competitive in recent matches. In a further blow key midfielder Brad Mundie has lodged a clearance to join rival club Elmore. 

Fans at Atkins St Oval Saturday were treated to the ”Sam Hill Show” as the 21 year old star forward was in dynamic touch booting 10 goals as the Grasshoppers thumped the home side by 139 points.

Colbinabbin dominated general play through Brent Millar, Guy Rathjen, Linton Jacobs as they created 49 scoring shots to the Bulldogs 15 which only 3 were goals. Travis Kelly led the Colbinabbin defence brilliantly negating dangerous North Bendigo forward Dean Watson.

The Grasshoppers came to play with some urgency in their actions highlighting their disappointment in their loss to Mt.Pleasant the previous round.

Coach Damien Lock again provided a fine leaders game as a number of players gained confidence including Julian Bull and Jake Weppner 4 goals as the Grasshoppers were often able to create a flow on effect with loose men to kick to.

It was a disappointing result for Mick Simpson as they failed to be competitive with the leading sides of the competition. The Dogs were hampered by the absence of key midfielder Robbie Morris and the loss of speedster Daniel Thorsen in the opening minutes. Positives for the Bulldogs included the tireless performances of Aaron Greenwood, Ben Thatcher and ex-Cobram Tiger Cameron Parker.

Colbinabbin will have a much needed bye next weekend while North are again at home this time to LBU in a winnable game for the Dogs.

Categories: Reviews
Tags: