Huge wins for South and West

SOUTH V NORTH

At Alma Oval on the weekend, South came back from a quarter-time deficit to record a 68-point victory over North and remain three games clear at top of the ladder.

The Bulldogs shot out of the blocks early with a four-goal-to-one opening quarter to hold a three-goal lead into the first change. The Roos did respond well in the second quarter, kicking six goals while keeping their opponents goalless. A strong second-half showing by the Roos, who had plenty of scoring shots, ensured the result would go their way, despite the Bulldogs showing fight right to the end.

Cody Schorn continued his hot streak in front of goal, kicking nine majors for the Roos, who also had Harrison Butcher contribute four goals for the side.

For North, Cooper Oates kicked four goals, and was backed up by Anthony Henderson who slotted three majors.

“To North’s credit, they started off really well,” South coach, Craig Thomas, said.

“We were really sloppy, our skills were well down, and our energy levels just weren’t there in the first quarter. We made some positional changes and backed our belief in our playing group that it was going to happen, it was going to come.”

“The next two and a half quarters, we pretty much played on our terms and got the ball going down to Cody and he did the rest. Overall I was really pleased with the way we fought our way back into the game. We haven’t been under that much pressure this year so to be able to do that and respond like we did, I was really pleased with the group.”

North coach, Mark Pitt, said, “the last three weeks we were looking for that fast start and it didn’t happen. But on the weekend the boys responded really well, played a really good brand of footy. We’ve just got to do it for longer periods of time against these good sides”.

“I was pretty proud of the boys, they showed great commitment and character as well as some good energy as well, but we lost a bit of focus, we lost perspective on the fundamentals without being accountable, and a bit of player awareness, so to speak. And then South came over the top of us in different areas and taught us a lesson on how to play a good brand of football.”

Goals: Cody Schorn (South) 9, Harrison Butcher (South), Cooper Oates (North) 4, Anthony Henderson (North) 3

WEST V CENTRAL

West recorded its biggest score and win of the season, with a 139-point victory against Central at Jubilee Oval. The Robins have made second spot their own.

Both teams started well, with West holding a 21-point lead at the first break and taking plenty of momentum into the rest of the game, which began with a seven-goal-to-one second quarter.

Scoring seemed to come easy for the Robins, with some wayward kicking not impacting the result too much as both sides ran out the game to the very end, both on field, and by hitting the scoreboard.

Lachlan Harvey was West’s main target up forward and slotted eight goals for his side – a season-high for him. Brock Ellis and Daniel Milne chipped in with three goals apiece towards West’s final score. For Central, Nicholas Devoy was the team’s top goalscorer, kicking three goals.

“I thought we started really slow,” West coach, Nathan Pearce, said.

“We really butchered the ball in the first quarter, our skills and our attitude were not the greatest. It wasn’t until quarter time where we addressed that. After that, we were great. I thought we moved the ball well, changed lanes really well. We’re trying a couple of different things before finals, different forward line options, different people, and I think the forward line really worked well on the weekend.”

Central coach, Sheldon Hall, said, “we sort of thought, ‘we’re not doing too bad’, but in our second quarter, our boys just stopped. West took control and the quarter just got blown out real quick. At half time I just addressed it, [said] the second half, we’re just going to play slow, kick the ball around and tighten up the game. But then we just couldn’t maintain it for long periods.”

Goals: Lachlan Harvey (West) 8, Brock Ellis (West), Daniel Milne (West), Nicholas Devoy (Central) 3