Ramblers came away with an important win against local rivals Cougars to give them some breathing space in the top 4, Lock had a big percentage boosting win against Elliston Districts to keep their top 2 finish alive and in the match of the round United Yeelanna overcame a determined Tumby Bay after trailing at half time.
In the match of the round United Yeelanna hosted Tumby Bay at the Kooplex as Mitch Jolly and Spoggy Crettenden celebrated their 200th Games for the Eagles while Mitch Lawrie was playing his 100th game for the Blues.
The game opened in fantastic conditions for footy and both teams were applying strong early pressure. Zac Glover opened proceedings for the day but this was quickly responded to by the Blues as the intensity lifted. After dominating the first 15 minutes, the Eagles were suddenly faced with a deficit as the run and carry of Sumner and Miller was causing them issues and the Blues skipped out to a 2 goal lead at quarter time after brilliant solo efforts from McLeod and Miller.
Tumby Bay opened the 2nd quarter strongly as their midfield got on top and Walker was outstanding across half back. Like all good sides do though, United Yeelanna slowly began to wrestle back control and ended the quarter strongly to go in to the long break 5 points down in what was an excellent game of footy.
The Eagles cam out strongly in the third quarter to completely dominate the contest as Tumby Bay had no answers to a dominant midfield led by Maxfield, Watson and Martin, and up forward it was the Matt Crettenden show as he piled on 3 quick goals in succession. Their defence led by Norton, Dyer and Carr was excellent and had complete shut down the Blues forwards and suddenly they led by a game high 26 points at 3 quarter time and if not for poor kicking on goal they should have led by a much greater margin.
Tumby Bay fought back strongly in the last quarter, but the damage had been done in the third as the Eagles maintained a hold on the contest. The Blues kicked a late one through Hartwig to bring the margin back to 20 points, but in the end United Yeelanna were simply too strong when it mattered most.
Maxfield, Watson and Martin were all excellent, Dyer solid all day and Norton, Casey Carr and Mitch Jolly all contributed strongly. For Tumby Bay none were better than Joe Walker across half back, Kelly was good on the last line, and Franks, Hartwig, Lawrie and youngster Henry Challinger all played well for their side.
Ramblers hosted Cougars in the local showdown at Cummins Oval and it was the Magpies who prevailed in a tough slog to win by 35 points in the end. The game started as a real arm wrestle as both sides applied strong pressure and it was Jimmy Richardson who finally kicked the first goal of the match after 23 minutes. Ramblers had most of the play but couldn’t score as Cougars defenders closed the game down and made it a contest.
The second quarter was somewhat of a nightmare for spectators as not a single goal was scored by either side as it turned in to a game of defences. Will Haarsma and Michael Franklin were winning plenty of the ball for Ramblers, as was Adam and Louis Green for Cougars, but a miserly scoreboard saw Ramblers 1.6 to Cougars 0.3 at half time.
Things opened up a little in the third quarter and at 11 minute mark Ethan Langley scored only the second goal of the match. An old fashioned scrap ensued in front of the coaches box and meanwhile Ramblers moved the ball forward to result in Ramblers scoring another goal through Ethan Langley. Thomas Phelps was leading from the front for Cougars and Louis Green was contesting strongly trying to lift their side. Matt Charlton laid a huge tackle on Dobbins to claim him holding the ball and went back and converted to give Cougars their first goal for the match late in the third quarter. The Magpies led by 18 points at the final change with the game still up for grabs for either side. Brodie Laube kicked truly from a left foot snap after 10 mins to bring them back within 2 goals, but the experienced George Pedler used all his experience to outbody his opponent to mark and goal, giving Ramblers some breathing space. James Richardson iced the game late after some strong play by the ever-reliable Haarsma and then followed this with another just minutes later to give his side a comfortable 6 goal win in the end.
Tom Crettenden, Haarsma, Franklin, Bullard, George Pedler and Dobbins were the standouts for the winners, while for Cougars it was Louis Green, Adam Green, Laube, Turnbull, Jay Green and Doudle were all good players.
In the final game Lock produced one of their best performances of the year to completely outclass Elliston Districts at Minnipa oval to the tune of 116 points. The return of Siebert and Reynolds was pivotal as they opened the scoring in the first quarter and the Roo’s looked up and about. Ty George and Blaze Kay were well on top through the middle of the ground and Hetzel was his usual crafty self up forward as the dominated the game early. Gill and Horgan were working overtime against the tide in the Rooster back half but they struggled to contain a dominate Lock who kicked 4.1 for the quarter and held the Roosters scoreless.
They opened the 2nd quarter strongly with goals to Aaron Beard, Siebert and George to blow the margin out to over 8 goals as Fleming, Rosalia and Carter tried valiantly to get their side back in the game. A 48 point lead at half time saw the game all but over and this was confirmed early in the third as Kory Beard took control of the game banging on 3 early majors to put the game to bed. Gregory produced a rare goal for the home side as Heath, Beard and Brown formed a formidable back half that the Roosters simply could not penetrate.
The Roo’s led by 63 points at the final change and were in complete control dominating all over the ground. They produced their best quarter for the day in the last piling on 8 goals as Kory Beard again dominated kicking 4 for the quarter to bring his tally to 7 for the day. Reynolds, Crosby and Aaron Beard all chimed in with goals as the home side failed to hit the scoreboard and could not match a strong Roo’s midfield and back half.
Blaze Kay was a clear stand out as BOG, Aaron Beard strong all day, and Brown, Kory Beard and Crosby were all strong contributors in an even team performance. Kody Rosalia never gave up for the home side to be their best player, Gill, Horgan and youngster Fleming worked tirelessly, and Guerin and Gibson had some moments.
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