A top of the table clash in the Speed Field Days Mallee Football League lived up to all the pre game hype last Saturday with a large crowd swooping in on the action from a vast area to witness a sensational game of classic country footy.
Both Beulah and Ouyen United were at it all day, no side gaining any ascendancy at any stage; played in go spirit, the fierce contest kept the spectators on the edge of their seats right to final siren with Beulah just sneaking over the line with a one point thrilling victory.
The Blues welcomed back from injury, Brad Shannon, who continued to compete strongly while Garry Hallam, Christopher McKenzie, Tim Hill and Clayton Shannon all combined well down the back line to keep Ouyen United’s strong forward line in reasonable check. Ouyen United’s defence was on top with great efforts from Todd Barker and Brenton Jardine and on-ballers Ryan and Adam O’Callaghan seemingly everywhere while Ben Gregg covered a lot of ground and capped off a good game with a goal.
In the end the result didn’t resolve any issue in regard to the premiership race but everyone is looking forward to the returned clash at Ouyen in the next round. Congratulations to both sides for providing an outstanding exhibition of football.
The first quarter saw the Tigers on top early with Nathan Wight kicking 3 goals in perfect conditions on the Underbool oval. Palmer was rebounding well out of the back line as the Roos got their game going. A good even game of football was gathering momentum as Walpeup Underbool fought back late in the quarter to close the gap to just 3 goals.
After the short break Walpeup Underbool controlled the game for most of the quarter taking the lead momentarily only to see the Tigers take control to end the half up by 10 points. Walpeup Underbool squandered many opportunities whilst the opposition made the most of their forward entries. Travis Latta continued to push the ball forward for Walpeup Underbool as did Col Durie and Darcy Ryan for the Tigers. A serious clash on the Walpeup Underbool forward line saw Vorwerk, Brown and Raymond Hender all feeling worse for ware, fortunately no serious injuries resulted.
The Tigers blasted out of the blocks after half time slamming on three quick goals to bust the game right open. The Roos fought back, tightening up on their opponents and managed two goals to get themselves back into the game. The Tigers however, were proving to have all the answers as they nailed another couple of goals to finish off the third quarter to lead by 5 goals. Wight kicked 2 for the quarter, as did Ryan Dowdy. For the Roos, Tim Vallance and Chris Vorwerk were gathering plenty of possessions.
At three quarter time Tansley Hill, coach of the Roos pleaded with his players to give all that they had left in the tank and the players responded well getting back into the game. Warrick Brady kicked 2 quick goals to take his tally to 5 for the day, and the Roo onballers were starting to fire. An arm wrestle was brewing, with both clubs desperate for the win. Tigers coach Col Durie stood firm across half back as his team responded. Ryan Dowdy finding himself on the end of the good work kicking 3 valuable last quarter goals. A couple of late goals to the Roos were not enough to get them back into the game as the Tigers ran out victors by 22 points.
Jeparit Rainbow welcomed Hopetoun to Jeparit last Saturday. The oval was in good condition for its first game of the season. The Lakers were missing six players and with Hopetoun looking to improve their position a good game was expected.
The game began at fast pace with Jeparit Rainbow leading at quarter time due to Heath Clugston, in his 200th game, winning a lot of the ball and Andrew Hiscock kicking early goals. Ash Clugston was also playing well. Hopetoun's Clint Burdett was already having an influence on the game with his pace.
In the second quarter the game continued on goal for goal. Jayden and Luke Werner were defending strongly for Jeparit Rainbow, as were Scott Heath and Quentin Jones for Hopetoun. Bryce Wellington was having a great battle at full forward with the Laker's Adam Roll.
Heath Clugston was knocked unconscious in a heavy clash with Hopetoun's Marcus Burdett. Clugston was stretchered off the ground and taken by ambulance to the Wimmera Base Hospital. Burdett was yellow carded and placed on report.
With only two points between the teams at half time Hopetoun got on top in the third quarter. Hoeptoun’s Zac Taggert was giving Clint Burdett good support around the ground and Daniel Young was getting on top of Justin Chilver in a great ruck duel.
Jeparit Rainbow tried desperately in the last quarter to bridge the gap with Ash Clugston and Dean Schumann leading the way but Hopetoun was able to answer every challenge. The Lakers injury woes continued with Robert McAllister leaving the ground with a suspected serious knee injury. In the end Bryce Wellingtons’ nine goals was a major difference between the teams. For Jeparit Rainbow Peter Weir and Andrew Hiscock both kicked three goals.
Last Modified on 23/05/2010 12:36