United Yeelanna continued their unblemished season to date when they overcame a plucky Lock side at Karkoo to remain unbeaten at the top of the Great Flinders table. Elliston Districts flexed their muscle to comfortably beat Tumby Bay on the Blues home deck with the Roosters producing a scintillating first quarter to have the game shot by quarter time, while Cougars recorded their first win of the year beating archrivals Ramblers by just 5 points.
Cougars coach Matty Stokes would have been wrapped to finally get a win under the belt for his side which has helped kick start their season. Their trademark tackling and pressure was back on Saturday and a return to form from some key players in Dylan Wandner, Tom Phelps and Lochie Paech helped them get over the line against the Magpies. The inclusion of Brodie Falciani was also useful with his strong attack on the footy a highlight. Cougars dominated the first half to hold a handy 20-point lead at the main change, but Ramblers were able to claw this back in the third quarter and it was game on with Cougars leading by 5 points going in to the final quarter. The last quarter was a genuine arm wrestle, but Cougars were able to hold sway and run out 5 point winners with Wandner, Brodie Laube, Damon Scott ad Tom Phelps all playing important roles in their win. Oscar White was super impressive for Ramblers, Kingo Bilney continued his good form through the midfield and Haarsma and Treloar were both valuable players. Both sides have tough games ahead with Cougars taking on United Yeelanna this weekend, while Ramblers travel to Elliston to take on the Roosters who are just beginning to hit their straps.
Elliston Districts were nothing short of impressive against Tumby Bay, particularly in the first quarter when they slammed on 8 goals against a shell shocked Blues side who could only manage 1 point for the quarter despite several inside 50 entries. The Roosters looked slick and had a dominant midfield with Williams, McInnis and Feltus finding plenty of it, while up forward Rosalia and the classy Tom Gibson were in everything. To Tumby’s credit, they were able to respond in the second to stem the onslaught and actually outscore Elliston for the quarter, but the damage had already been done. Elliston piled on a further 5 goals in the third quarter with Rosalia dominant up forward and doing it at both ends of the ground, while Mitch Lawrie battled his heart out in the midfield along with Sanjayson Hanuman and Walker was good across half back despite the dominance of Elliston District’s forward line. It was an impressive performance from Elliston Districts, they have quality across all lines and a dangerous forward line with plenty of players capable of hitting the scoreboard. Williams was a bull in the midfield and his ball use outstanding, Montgomerie excellent, Tansell and Bascomb solid across half back and Kody Rosalia was best on ground with a 7 goal haul and plenty of touches across the ground. The Blues will welcome back some key players after their bye this week, most noticeably Kieran Fair, Tom Kelly, Nigel James and possibly Matt Hartwig which will give them a boost in what looms as an important clash with fellow finals aspirant Ramblers in a fortnight.
United Yeelanna had to work hard to overcome a determined Lock side who threw everything they had against the Eagles in a dour struggle to half time that saw the Eagles lead by just 2 goals with neither side being able to score freely. The third quarter however was a completely different story as the class of the Eagles was on full show. They piled on 7 goals and kept the Roo’s scoreless as the likes of Maxfield, Watson and Murnane took complete control through the midfield and Toby Lynch bobbed up to be a dangerous forward. Lock had no answers to the onslaught – momentum is a tough thing to stop in footy, and the Eagles certainly had plenty of it. They put the game to bed in this quarter to lead by 60 points at 3 quarter time, with the contest fading in the last with only 3 goals kicked for the quarter. Lock would have been happy with their commitment to the contest bar 1 quarter, but as is often the case, good sides are very hard to hold for a full 4 quarters and this was exactly the case with Yeelanna stepping it up a notch with an impressive onslaught after half time.
They sit undefeated at the top of the table, Elliston Districts has put some space between themselves and the others to currently sit second, and then comes the interesting log jam as it looks as though Tumby Bay, Ramblers, Lock and Cougars will fight it out for a spot in the finals – there will be some interesting games ahead in coming weeks with all 4 of these sides taking each other on in what looms as some intriguing and season defining battles.
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