Maryborough Rovers v Navarre
Navarre has continued on its winning way with a sound defeat of Maryborough Rovers by 99 points at Jubilee Oval on Saturday.
Despite the margin, Rovers showed a never give in attitude and at times had Navarre under a lot of pressure, but the Grasshoppers were too strong in all areas, and wore them down the further game progressed and eventually ran out comfortable winners.
Louis Hannett was outstanding in the middle for Navarre and consistently thread his way through the packs to deliver the ball to his forwards or kick goals off his own boot, and Bryce Tickner also had the ball on a string as he broke the lines with his run and carry and went forward in the final quarter to kick a couple of goals.
Some concern for Navarre may be the loss of Daniel Parkin who left the ground in the opening term and did not return for the remainder of the game, but his absence had no effect on the effectiveness of the Grasshopper machine as they went out their business in workmanlike fashion. Jesse Hannett returned to the fold this season and showed signs of brilliance at times, wrong footing his opponents and finishing off with three goals for the victors.
Rovers were well served by recruit Dylan Gibson at ground level as the nuggety onballer racked up numerous possessions and was also dangerous around the goal mouth finishing with three majors, while Brayden Guareschi was at the ball at a number of contests, and Ruckman Dion Hedger battled strongly all day against his counterpart Josh Fowkes in a close contest, and the high flying Hedger also pleased the crowd with a big hanger where he sat on the shoulders of a pack late in the third term.
But it was Navarre who ran out the game and was far more dangerous up forward with Cody Driscoll kicking five goals and brother Ash kicking three, while young Lachlan Slorach proved to be a very difficult opponent in the forward line and set up a number of goals for other players around him.
Carisbrook v Royal Park
Carisbrook has scored its first win of the 2015 season courtesy of an impressive performance against Royal Park under lights in round two of the MCDFNL.
The Redbacks bounced back from their round one defeat at the hands of Navarre to deliver a telling victory over the the Tigers, 16.10 (106) to 10.8 (68). The home side adapted much better to the slightly greasy conditions on the Redbacks' home turf, and despite a close scoreline in the opening term, which saw Carisbrook take a nine-point lead into the first break, it was clear that the Tigers were going to be up against it, despite their opponents missing a few key players.
Carisbrook put their foot to the floor in the second term, largely via gaining a stranglehold in the midfield as Brady Neill, Matt Bilton and Lachlan Edwards gained ascendancy over their Tiger counterparts, with the difference between the two sides ballooning out to 28 points by half time, as the Tigers could only manage 1.3 in the second quarter.
While things improved slightly for Bushy after the main break, with the Tigers able to drill home a couple of quick goals to close the gap, the Brookers hit back, with Nathan Wright and Cole Roscholler running riot up forward for the home side, heading into the main break with a 23-point break.
The news got worse for the Tigers in the final term, with Carisbrook dominating right across the ground to finish the game with a five goal final quarter, despite a couple of late goal from Royal Park recruit Murray Bond.
Wright celebrated his return to the Redbacks' line-ups with six goals, while Roscholler and Bilton slotted three, with those three players joined in the best by Neill, Edwards, Jordan Bolding and Nathan O'Keefe.
For the Tigers, who are now 0-2, Bond was their only multiple goal kicker with three, while their best included Zac Tunbridge, James Lindeback, Jake Pring and in his first senior appearance for the Tigers, Ash Noonan.
Dunolly v Harcourt
Harcourt has fired a warning shot to the rest of the competition with a crushing 72-point win over Dunolly to start its season off at 2-0.
The Lions carried their momentum from round one into the second, and then some, downing a demoralised Dunolly 21.11 (137) to 10.5 (65), despite leading by just a solitary point at quarter time.
Capitalising on the goalkicking power at his disposal, Lions coach Sean Smith went into all-out attack mode against the depleted Eagles, and it paid off in a big way, despite a dour opening term which saw the two sides separated by just one point at quarter time, 4.3 (27) to 4.2 (26). Harcourt's forwards took th game by the scruff of the neck over the course of the next two terms however, piling on a massive 14 goals to four, including a 10-goal third term, to lead by 70 points at the final break.
Another two goals in the final term put the nails in the Eagles coffin, with the Lions rounding off another ultra-impressive display.
Big man Adam Pollock was the major beneficiary of the Lions' dominance, booting five goals, while Sean Smith, Chris Stone and Joel Smith each booted three, and Sam and James Gale kicked two apiece. Josh Collinson, Paul Chaplin, Pollock and Adam Ward were the winners' best performers.
Tristan Tack and Brad Schodde were Dunolly's only multiple goal kickers, each snagging two majors, while Matt Campbell, Jamie Townsend, Joe Thompson, and Jackson Baker were the Eagles' best players.
Trentham v Talbot
Trentham has delivered another shock loss to Talbot, with the Saints capitalising on their home ground advantage to record a 13-point win under lights on Saturday night.
The Saints came back from being behind at half time to record their first win of the 2015 season, 13.5 (83) to 10.10 (70), with the Hawks again left to rue some inaccurate kicking.
In a scrappy, dour affair, the Hawks were able to get the jump on the Saints, leading by one goal at the first break, before the Saints were able to whittle the lead back to just three points at half-time, 3.7 (25) to 3.4 (22).
The Hawks again ran out of puff in their third term, just as they did against Rovers in round one, in what must a be a frustrating trend for Talbot coaches Matthew Smith and Dallas Byars, as the Saints ran over the top to lead by eight points at three quarter time, and streaked further ahead in the final quarter, with a tired Talbot unable to keep up with the quicker Saints.
Justin Hoffman continued his good 2014 form up forward for the Saints, booting four goals, while Luke Whitehouse (three) and Ryan Moloney (two were also multiple goal kickers. Those three players, along with James Wicker, Chris Whelan and Lewis Bruton were named Trentham's best players.
Luke Kemp and Matt Whiteman both booted two majors for Talbot, while recruits Liam Belcher and Robert Conroy impressed, alongside Kemp, Tim Solomon and Tom Sutherland.
Natte Bealiba v Avoca
It was a lacklustre low scoring game at Natte Yallock on Sunday in cold windy conditions that saw Natte Bealiba notch their second win of the 2015 season, defeating arch-rival Avoca by 53 points.
Avoca went into the game without two of their key players in Michael Henningsen and Greg Hewson through injuries sustained in Round 1 and they were sorely missed, although defensively the Bulldogs started the game well, playing tight checking footy against a strong breeze and it wasn’t until the 21 minute mark that the Swans broke through the defensive lines for their first goal through Daniel Trewella. This was the only goal scored in the term as Natte led by eleven points at the first break.
Avoca also failed to take advantage of the breeze in the second term as they bombed the ball into the forward line at every opportunity, which allowed the Natte defence to repel the ball with ease, using the ball much better than the Bulldogs. However they did not take full advantage and could only score two goals for the term, but the Swans defence kept the Bulldogs to just three behinds for the first half.
Adrian Pilgrim showed signs of a hamstring twinge and was moved to full forward where he kicked the first two goals of the second half from in the goal square, This was answered by a goal to Joel Carter when he was on the end of a pass from Lachlan Morganti, but the dangerous Zac Perez was proving to be a very difficult opponent for his opponent as the Swans kicked the next three goals, two of them through Perez, to finish the third quarter with the game in its keeping,
The Bulldogs matched the Swans in the final quarter with Haydn Slater kicking two final quarter goals, but the Swans were far superior on the day.
Jarrod Bateson and Zac Perez were very good for the Swans as was Kurt Mortlock and Brayden Mills who were both amongst the better players, while Jake Nicholson’s attack on the ball and Joel Carter and Lachlan Morganti’s running play saw them figure amongst the Bulldog’s better players.
Lexton v Maldon
An eight goal to zero opening term set the scene for a big win to the Lexton Tigers at home on Sunday as Maldon were given a football lesson by the Tigers.
Maldon restricted the Tigers to just two major scores in the second term, but only managed to score five behinds themselves as they went into the half time break 60 points in arrears.
Lexton dominated possession, particularly in the first three quarters and led by 91 points going into the final quarter, but with the game in its keeping they pulled the foot of the gas and Maldon took advantage to outscore the Tigers in this term, kicking six goals to five goals.
Lexton was never really troubled and shared their goal kicking amongst twelve of their players with star forward Matt Brown returning to the team with a five goal haul.
Michael Smith continued his good form from the opening round as Nick Spolding and Nigel Reid also shone for the Tigers, as did 2014 Berry Powell Medalist, Damon Aspland.
Once again the experienced Haydn Kelly, Shaun Burchell and Joel Cross showed the way for the Bombers with Vaughn Williams and Matt Thompson also giving their all for the visitors.
The Tigers sit on top of the ladder after defeating the Bombers by 83 points.
Campbells Creek v Newstead
Campbells Creek bounced back from their big loss to Lexton in round 1 and ran riot in the second half of their Round 2 clash against Newstead, booting 13 second-half goals to Newstead’s four as they completely dominated possession and ran out very comfortable winners by 74 points.
Newstead started the game strongly and actually led at the first change, but from that point on the game it was all the Magpies way.
Mark Ashmore has proven to be a good pick for the Magpies this season and added another five goals to the three goals that he kicked in the opening round. While Daniel Klimeck was also amongst the goals finishing with four for the game. Jye Cartledge and Branwood Greenwood were once again amongst the better players for the Maggies as was the experienced James Boag and Shannon Berriman.
The loss of key players has certainly had an impact on the Steaders ability to score and it has been a long time since they started the season losing the first two games of the fixture. Michael Dalrymple gave his all and he was well supported by Blake Renfrey and Joel Pearson, while Joel Smith provided some scoring power with two goals, and Brent Deveraux was also amongst the better players for the visiting team.
Last Modified on 27/04/2015 10:33