Elmore showed why they are a force to be reckoned in season 2007 with a classic come from behind 1 point victory over Broadford on Saturday. The Bloods were shell shocked early as the Roos playing in front of their home crowd attacked the ball strongly and found the key to a number of scoring opportunities through hard running.

Chris Dunne was explosive early in attack with four first term goals while their experienced band of players led by John Rowe, Adrian Wilson and Daniel Fletcher were brilliant as the Roos totally dominated play to boot 9 goals for the term and establish a 54 point lead.

The second term saw a much different complexion come over the game and as the Bloods stars Andy Grant, Justin Schubert and Brian Westley started to impact on the game they began to claw their way back into the contest.

The youthful Broadford side felt the tide come in as ace midfielder Daniel Fletcher and veteran Alwin Neilsen left the field with knocks to the head and lead was sliced to 27 points. 

Elmore’s confidence grew as they started to win the ball from the stoppages and running players Joe Cavallaro, Rick Smith and David Fevaleaki were starting to get their tails up. Aaron Debbatista a new comer to the Bloods this season was also able to curtail the influence of the dangerous Dunne somewhat and by the final break the bloods had squeezed their way within 8 points.

The last quarter proved to be a fitting final chapter to an epic battle as Broadford continued to refuse to buckle with lion hearted ruckman Grant Wearne along with creative pair Eddie Neilsen and Michael Edwards creating opportunities for the Roos to prevail. Unfortunately for Roos fans it was a term of missed chances as they added 1.5 while the experienced Elmore unit produced 3 goals for the final stanza.

The final moments of the clash brought controversy as Broadford were paid a free kick to Drew James on centre wing with Chris Dunne bolting with the ball and spotting a team mate up 20 metres from goal only for the umpires to rule their would no be advantage. Moments later the siren sounded and the Bloods had completed the great escape. Bloods coach Tony Southcombe was rapped with his sides persistence ” They were ferocious at the footy early and the ran hard to compliment it and our guys just couldn’t get their hands on footy in the first quarter. In the second quarter things started to change we started to get on a roll out of centre although we missed some easy shots at goal. The 3rd quarter was ours kicking 6 goals to 3 and the last quarter the lead just see sawed and we were lucky to be in front when the siren went”.

For Broadford it was the one that got away although they are a side clearly on the improve that are capable of defeating all teams especially on their home ground of Harley Hammond Reserve.

2007 Elmore Bloods Premiership Memorabilia.

White Hills continued on their merry way this time defeating Huntly piling on 32 goals for the afternoon to defeat Huntly to the tune of 121 points at Meridian Oval.

The Demons were met with an enthusiastic Hawks outfit early with youngsters Jesse O’Connell and Chris Long playing with flair and experienced campaigners Steven Clohesy, Adam Campbell and Mark Billings contesting brilliantly and at the first break Huntly were within 8 points of the 4th placed Demons.

In the second term White Hills had their running game in full flight and with Jimmy Angove, Christain Sargeant and David Wright in fine touch the Hawks were regularly paying the full price for simple skill errors as White Hills slammed on 14 goals for the quarter to set up a match winning lead of 71 points.

White Hills added 5 goals to 4 in the third term with the inconsistent Hawks again able to challenge the Demons in this period of play with Shaun Kellow and Steven Clohesy proving dangerous in attack.

The last quarter saw White Hills take full advantage of a tired Hawks side as the Demons produced a 9 goal to 2 term with Brad McConnell continuing to present and convert strongly on his way to dominant 12 goal haul while Peter Angove provided the perfect support with 6 opportunist goals from the forward pocket.

It was a perfect tune up for the Demons as they will be confronted with a much greater challenge when they meet 2nd placed Elmore next Saturday.

It was triumphant a North Bendigo side on Saturday when they totally outplayed a lacklustre Lockington Bamawm United side by 60 points to record their third victory of the season.

The Dogs were first to the ball time and time again in the greasy conditions while the Cats simply lacked the thirst for the contest which was evident in their body language.

North Bendigo coach Mick Simpson was pleased with his sides ability to put last weeks belting to the hands of top team Colbinabbin behind them.

” They say a weeks a long time in footy and it was as last week we got done by 140 points and today we came out and won by 10 goals”.

” Our best is handy but our worst is pretty bad and we need to stamp out performances like last week against Colbo and we were good today”.

Dean Watson was the star of the star of the show leading and marking strongly all day to kick 10 goals to finish the good work of midfielders Cole Richardson, Robbie Morris and Ben Thatcher who continually provided the Dogs great drive into attack all day. Thatcher who has spent the first half of the season playing in defence relished the opportunity to play in the midfield as he pushed forward to cash in with 4 goals.

Michael Galvin and Cam Lomas were particularly effective in defence defending desperately and bringing the ball back into the midfield with percentage based football.

For the Cats who were hurt by the absence of Assistant Coach Charlie Smythe in attack they had very few winners on what would go down as one of their most disastrous days since joining the HDFL.

Blair Suffolk was a livewire alternating between the ruck and the forward line and he finished the day with 4 goals while veteran Steve Mclyntre was tireless mopping up across the half back line and Matt Martin produced glimpses of brilliance including a check side goal hard up on the boundary early in the last term.

As predicted Mt.Pleasant proved to strong for Heathcote in a game that developed into a real slog. While the Saints threatened on occasions they were unable to convert crucial shots on goal and returned a wayward 8.16 for the afternoon while Mounts were able to kick 12.12 from the same amount of shots.

Trevor Douglas could lay claim to being the leagues most valuable player to this stage of the season with another fine display in the ruck while the run of Ben McLeary, Cam Carter and Pat O’Brien troubled the Saints with their dash and work ethic across the ground. Brad King presented well in attack for the reigning Premiers and his 3 goals were highly valuable in the context of a low scoring affair.

Best players for Heathcote included hard nosed midfielder Joel Condon along with fellow youngsters Chris Anderson and Sonny Middelton who never gave the contest away.

It was another frustrating outcome for the Saints and they must go to Atkins St next Saturday to play the Bulldogs full prepared for a challenge while Mounts will host the Roos in what promises to be another cracking clash.

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