FOOTBALL
NORTH GIPPSLAND
BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
STILL plenty of season left.
That’s what many coaches would be saying now that it’s been proven that North Gippsland Football-Netball League favourites Cowwarr won’t simply lay waste to the rest of the competition.
In the final five rounds of the home-and-away season, six teams still fancy themselves every bit, but there’s only five spots available.
Woodside 17.8 (110) def Cowwarr 11.16 (82)
THEY are beatable.
After a few closer calls in the last month, all of which came to a similar end to the other results, only done so in a second half blitz, Cowwarr’s unbeaten streak came to an end.
Woodside reminded the Saints of what a loss felt like, victorious by 28 points, 17.8 (110) to 11.16 (82) at Woodside Recreation Reserve.
Early on, the two premier sides of the competition so far went hard at each other, with the pressure the Wildcats were looking to put on to negate Cowwarr’s run evident.
Woodside nailed the first punch with playing coach Hudson Holmes finding Brody Stainer free inside 50 – two Wildcats who would be frequent throughout.
The home side withstood a pressing Cowwarr, who mounted multiple shots on goal to minor success, only for Woodside to work the ball back into its attacking end and convert through a long bomb from Holmes.
Saints defenders weren’t given a break, as the next centre clearance was immediately won by Woodside, with Holmes quickly adding his second and his team’s third.
A Goanar Ruach snap from the boundary finally put Cowwarr on the scoreboard majorly at the 13 minute mark, but Holmes found the ball and converted once more for Woodside soon after.
Even with a quick 15-point lead, the Wildcats would have expected the Saints to bounce.
That came before the first quarter even ended, with four consecutive goals to take the lead, which began through Keenan Hughes.
The field had opened up for Cowwarr, with the margin eight points in favour to begin the second term, which extended through Tristen Waack.
While Woodside was facing a sudden deficit, the forward pressure was still there when the ball was inside, which came through Holmes nailing Jack Johnstone holding the ball and sending through another major.
The longest period without a goal either way followed, lasting a total of 17 minutes, before Saints skipper Ben Coffey made something out of nothing with a snap out of the contest on a tough angle.
Woodside wasn’t giving in at all however, with their coach leading from the front with a sweet move by saving the ball from going out of bounds late in the half, manoeuvring past two Cowwarr players and found Cooper Ryan.
Ryan sailed it home from a set shot, moving the margin back to seven points just as halftime arrived.
Stainer added the first for Woodside just over a minute into the second half.
Continuing to negate Cowwarr’s midfield work, which has dominated throughout the season, the Wildcats won another centre clearance and Holmes ticked the box with a shot from beyond the 50 metre arch to take the lead.
All of a sudden, the Saints were the ones under the pump, as once Woodside found the ball out the back, the Saints defenders were found in all sorts of trouble, and a 50 metre penalty added Stainer’s third.
The Wildcats weren’t without undisciplined acts either, as Holmes gave away a 50 metre penalty, which directly led to a Coffey goal and the margin moved to three points.
Tainted play followed for Woodside, with a Holmes shot on goal reversed, seeing Cowwarr transition the ball seamlessly with the Wildcats on the backfoot, ending with Waack converting on the goal line to take back the lead.
Dan Missen broke the run, pushing Woodside back in front, and added consecutive goals through Holmes.
Into the final quarter, despite Cowwarr having plenty of chances to etch closer or even take back the lead in the early stages of the piece, the Wildcats stood strong and ticked ahead through the regular culprit, Holmes.
The Saints answered through Johnstone to again pushed the margin to two points.
Woodside continued to be lively however, finishing off the game with four of the final five goals to hand Cowwarr its first loss on the year.
That the Saints were happy to see the game done with and on their way home was clear when the Wildcats were practically gifted their final goal, as Cowwarr players stopped in their tracks when the ball was initially thought to be over the goal line, before Woodside kept their sights on the score and finished it off.
Holmes was focal in the win for the Wildcats with eight goals, followed by the efforts of Adam Janssen, Riley Denovan in a new defensive role, Rowan Missen, Ben Johnson and Brody Stainer with four majors.
Waack was best for the Saints, alongside Coffey, Mitch McMaster, Johnstone, Tim Johnston and Patrick Tainsh.
Woodside already sat second on the ladder, but were coming off a hiding at the hands of Heyfield the week before, shaping an interesting trio come finals time.
The result at the weekend may be the necessary loss Cowwarr needs to go full force in the final two months of the season, knowing the difficulty and wear an undefeated year can be.
Churchill 15.10 (100) def Sale City 7.18 (60)
CHURCHILL pushed past Sale City to add its seventh win of the season, 15.10 (100) to 7.18 (60), at Gaskin Park.
The Bulldogs mounted an early case for a potential upset, finding the ball inside forward 50 consistently throughout the first quarter.
Catching the Cougars off guard, Sale City added three goals from eight chances in front of goal, holding a 10 point lead at the first break.
Churchill began to kick into gear as play resumed for the second term, holding the Bulldogs down in prolonged stretches to hit the front.
Sale City withstood this with equal amounts of scoreboard pressure to cling to a two-point halftime lead.
The Cougars, still chasing the opportunity to leapfrog into the finals picture, knew it couldn’t let a game like this slip against a weaker opponent.
As such, Churchill slammed on six goals to one in the third quarter to position ahead by 24 points.
The goal that Sale City added in that period turned out to be its last, as Churchill continued to tick over to the final siren.
Under 18 player Archie Norman got on the end of three goals for the Cougars, while Rory Peter and playing coach Chris Williams added equally as many.
Bailey Flanigan, Xavier Hughes, Hayden Weir, Harry van Rossum and Jack Hasell were others to play well for Churchill.
Chad Evans, Hudson Tollner, Nathan Whitford, Brysen Nottle and Bailey Harrison and Jett McDonald with two goals each were noted for Sale City.
While Churchill sit outside the top five, they are only are a game back of third, as Heyfield, Rosedale and Yallourn Yallourn North are equal third.
YYN 18.15 (123) def Yarram 10.6 (66)
THE Jets made the trip over to Yarram and did what was required.
YYN shut down the Demons in long enough stretches to cancel out any danger of dropping the game, winners by 57 points, 18.15 (123) to 10.6 (66).
It didn’t start all great for the visitors, seeing Yarram convert three of the first four goals of the match.
After settling down, picking off the ball more efficiently down back, the Jets found players more often inside forward 50.
Playing coach Dean MacDonald sent through three goals in quick succession, only broken up by a major from teammate Brandon Mcauliffe.
After trailing by 10 points early on, YYN was all of a sudden up 20 plus as the first break arrived.
Adding four of the six goals in the second quarter, the Jets continued to tick the margin upward with little pushback.
Four of the first five majors of the second half put YYN above 50 points, cementing the game with plenty of time remaining.
Overall, by the time the final siren rang, MacDonald totalled nine goals on the day, followed by four from Dylan Bath and two from Mcauliffe.
Campbell MacInnes, Jai Massese and Elliott De Carli also played well for the Jets.
Kayleb Pearce with three goals, Daniel Vardy, Toby Mitchell, Owen Gourley, Ben Vardy and Tyler Chisholm were named as the best for Yarram.
Rosedale 14.19 (103) def Gormandale 7.8 (50)
ROSEDALE weren’t worried by Gormandale, winning 14.19 (103) to 7.8 (50) at Rosedale Recreational Reserve.
A quick four goals to nothing start for the Blues indicated the way the day would be headed, both positively and negatively for either side.
Continuing to add multiple goal scoring runs, Rosedale gave little hope to a Tigers team who were coming off a win against bottom-placed Traralgon Tyers United.
After leading by 26 points at the main break, the second half proved more or less the same, with the Blues outscoring Gormandale seven goals to four to finish clear winners.
Lachlan Speairs added four goals on the day, while Zach Felsbourg, Declan Barnett, Riley Boyle, Oscar Smith and Brandon McConnell were great contributors for Rosedale.
The Tigers named Riley Jenkins, Liam Deering, Peter Strong, Michael Diaz, Chris Wangman with four goals, and Chris Potalej as its best.
Heyfield 36.25 (241) def TTU 2.1 (13)
HEYFIELD laid the smackdown on TTU to the tune of 228 points at Tyers Recreation Reserve.
The Kangaroos, garnering a welcome percentage booster, added 36 goals to the Bombers’ lonesome two majors.
As has been the case in TTU’s other 200 point loss (which came in Round 5 against Woodside), Heyfield went even better to finish the game than how they started.
The Kangaroos poured on 19 goals in the final stretch, including 13 in the third quarter alone.
Kyle Graham was the biggest benefactor, sending through 15 majors, while young Phoenix Cox added five.
Others to play well for Heyfield were Harry Tatterson, Tom Marchesi, Liam Heasley and Finn Stephenson.
The Bombers named Rohan Hildebrand, Trent Hourigan, Liam Michie, Regan Richards, Ryan Massaro and Josh Twite as its best.
GLENGARRY had the bye.
