South and West pick up Round Seven wins

NORTH V SOUTH

South Roos jumped ahead with a two-game lead on the season standings with a 48-point victory against North Bulldogs at Jubilee Oval during the weekend in Round Seven of the AFL Broken Hill A-Grade competition.

Kicking with the breeze, the Roos capitalised with a six-goal-to-none first quarter. They kicked the first eight goals before the Dogs were able to find their first goal of the game in the fourteenth minute of the second quarter.

South’s Cody Schorn kicked seven goals – his fourth consecutive bag of seven-plus goals since he returned a month ago – and was backed up by Harrison Butcher and Cooper Green who kicked two apiece. Logan Ferguson was North’s lone multiple goalscorer, slotting two for his side.

“The way we ran and linked up and used our run and carry in the game was very pleasing for us,” South coach, Craig Thomas, told us.

“One of our most pleasing things is the way we’ve started this year, we’re kicking five or six goals every first quarter. That’s been our Achilles heel at South for a while, we haven’t got off to good starts in games, but this year we’re getting out of the blocks a lot faster.”

North coach, Mark Pitt, said, “to South’s credit, they utilised that wind really well and their game style was really good, you can’t question that. We got caught lapsing and the scoreboard showed that. When we did get more accountable and provide a bit of heat and pressure, the boys played a really good brand of footy and our KPIs matched up with South pretty well for those three quarters, which is promising”.

Goals: Cody Schorn (South) 7, Harrison Butcher (South), Cooper Green (South), Logan Ferguson (North) 2

CENTRAL V WEST

West Robins travelled to Memorial Oval to take on Central Magpies and came away with a 77-point victory that sees them jump to second on the ladder at the end of the round.

A nine-goal-to-one first half laid the foundation for the contest between the two sides, with West taking advantage of most forward 50 entries the side could get, with the defensive end holding up too, restricting Central to a solitary point through the second quarter. A seven-goal-to-one third term broke the game apart even further, but the Magpies clawed back with goals in the fourth quarter to outscore the Robins across the final 20 minutes of play.

Harper Bromson saw a new role deeper inside forward 50 for West and reaped the benefits by kicking seven goals in his fourth game in the A-Grade comp. Jake Crozier and Codie Mcevoy slotted two goals each for the Robins, while Justin Heath was the Magpies’ multiple goalscorer, getting on the scoresheet with two majors.

“It was a bit of an unsettled side, and then you throw in the windy day as well,” West coach, Nathan Pearce said.

“I thought we attacked the ball really well, played our gameplan for most of the day. For us it’s about trying to get some consistency in our side.”

Central coach, Sheldon Hall, said, “it’s good in a way and frustrating in another, because we know we can play good footy. We do have people who are committed and now we can show patches. I think it’s more of a mental thing because we definitely have the players and the skills to play good footy, we’ve shown that in that last quarter. It’s about kickstarting it from the get-go rather than waiting to be behind the eight ball before digging in. The signs are there.”

Goals: Harper Bromson (West) 7, Jake Crozier (West), Codie Mcevoy (West), Justin Heath (Central) 2

Round Eight kicks off on Saturday and sees South host West at Alma Oval in a top-two clash, while Central travel to Jubilee Oval to take on North. Both games from 1.15pm.