Football
19 August, 2024
Thunder make statement at Central Park
The Southern Mallee Thunder has sent a message to the rest of the competition with a 61-point thrashing of Stawell at Central Park in round 17 of the Wimmera Football Netball League.
With Brad Lowe and Rupert Sangster missing from their best 21 and Stawell missing only James Sullivan, a hot match was expected, but the Thunder had other ideas. They kicked seven goals to one to lead by 42 points at quarter-time.
In a similar story to the last time they played, the Warriors slowly came back, outscoring the Thunder in the second quarter to trail by 36 points at half-time.
The Thunder remained on top in the third quarter, pushing the margin back out to 44 points at the last break.
They ran out the game, kicking three goals five behinds in the last quarter to win 15.16.106 to 7.3.45.
Coleman Schache kicked four goals for the Thunder, with Kieran Delahunty kicking three and dominating in the ruck. Leigh Stewart, Tobias Fisher, Angus McSweyn, and Jackson Fisher were among their best.
Cody Driscoll kicked two goals for Stawell, with Marlon Motlop, Aiden Graveson, Zachary Marrow, Thomas Eckel, and Mitchel Taylor among their best.
Thunder coach Kieran Delahunty credited the fast start.
"The pressure from the first bounce was unreal, and the tackling was good, and the performance we put in to get away with that early lead was a whole team effort, and as the cliche goes, we didn't have any passengers," Delahunty said.
"To have a wide spread of goalkickers again is a good strength of ours as we don't rely on one or two kicking the goals."
Delahunty praised Schache's game.
"He was unbelievable. He is good below his knees and good in the air, which makes him a tough matchup, and he reads the ball well and has the smarts around goals, and he played a great game," Delahunty said.
Demons maul the Eagles
The Horsham Demons have recaptured some form with a 95-point win over the Warrack Eagles at Horsham City Oval.
Seven goals to Jordan Motton and six to Ryan Kemp were the talking points for the Demons, who were never challenged on the scoreboard.
The Eagles were restricted to one goal in the first half, with the Demons taking a 47-point lead into halftime. An 11-goal second half saw them run out 19.18.132 to 5.7.37 winners.
Jasper Gunn, Zak Smith, Tyler Blake, and Hugo Papst were among the best for the Demons.
Ryan McKenzie kicked three goals for the Eagles, ending a terrific season for him in front of the sticks, with Lachie Stewart, Riley Morrow, Kyle Cheney, Bailey Watts, and Declan Powell among their best.
Demons coach Jordy Burke said it was tricky early, and it was nice to bounce back.
"The conditions were slippery early, and there was some congestion in our forward line in the first half, but we worked through it, used the footy, and brought pace into the game, which we like to do," Burke said.
"Our forwards were good, and I thought we did a good job to rotate our setups a bit and had a good rotation into the forward line, which was nice."
Saints grind out a win
At Dimboola Recreation Reserve, the Horsham Saints fought out a 21-point win over Dimboola.
The Saints took an early 16-point lead into quarter-time, which Dimboola reduced to seven at half-time. The Saints rued their opportunities in front of goal, kicking 10 behinds in the first half.
The Roos used that to their advantage in the third quarter, outscoring them to take a one-point lead into the final break, with an upset looming.
The Saints, however, fought hard in the last, kicking four goals to run out 9.15.69 to 6.12.48 winners.
Mitch Martin kicked three goals for the Saints, and Sam Clyne, Jordy Keyte, Gage Wright, Jackson Davidson, Patrick Knott, and Max Bryan were among their best.
Ben Miller, Dylan Landt, Jack Landt, Andrew Moore, Patrick MacDonough, and Ash Clugston were the best for the Roos.
Saints coach Ben Knott was thrilled with the outcome, considering the injuries they suffered during the match.
"Angus Martin and Will Tickner both went down, and we were down to one man on the bench for the bulk of the match, and it was a dog fight," Knott said.
"Dimboola responded well and picked up their pressure when we had a lead and got themselves back into the match. I thought it was a fairly strong performance from us in the way we held them when they came at us."
Tigers and Rats fight out a thrilling draw
At Davis Park, a draw between Nhill and Ararat has potentially cost the Rats the top spot on the ladder.
No goals were scored in the opening term, and both teams applied pressure. The Tigers took a one-point lead into quarter-time.
The Rats kicked five goals to three in the second term to lead by 14 points at half-time.
Nhill fought back in the third quarter to reduce the margin to eight points at three-quarter-time and could smell victory.
The Rats had their moments in the last quarter, kicking five behinds, but Nhill capitalised on their opportunities in front of goal. The scores remained tied at the final siren, 10.10.70 to 9.16.70.
Tom Williamson kicked four goals for the Rats, with Ben Taylor, Jack Ganley, James Jennings, Sonny Kettle, Henry Shea, and Baydn Cosgriff their best players.
Deek Roberts kicked three for Nhill, and Jake McQueen was their standout in the midfield. Daniel Batson, Patrick Purcell, Liam Albrecht, and Petros Politis were also among their best.
Nhill coach Jake McQueen said it was a weird feeling.
"When you draw a game, you don't know what to feel, and it was a weird feeling because we consolidated our finals spot, and they lost their top spot," McQueen said.
"The draw does give us confidence going into the finals as we know we had the caliber to match it with the best, and we will get a lot out of the game."
When asked what his message was at half-time, McQueen said he wanted his team to be more aggressive.
"We had the wind, so we wanted to come out and attack more and be more aggressive with how we wanted to move the ball," McQueen said.
"We didn't do too bad, but we were a bit too aggressive, and the last quarter going into the wind, I said to the boys we can do this, take the game on, and don't be as silly as we were in the third and we nearly got there."
Josh Lees did a good job on Tom Williamson, which McQueen credited.