At Bellevue Oval in Armidale the New England Nomads achieved something they haven't been able to do since round 4 2006, get a win over the Inverell Saints. The first quarter was a high scoring affair with both teams kicking multiple goals. The Nomads had the edge though kicking 6 goals to the Saints 4 goals to take an 11 point lead into the first break. The Saints held the Nomads to 3 goals in the second quarter while peppering the goals themselves. Saints Coach, Nick Baird, would have been ropeable with his team going into the long break as they could only convert 1 of the 7 shots on goal to into the half time break 18 points down. The third quarter again had the Saints on the attack, this time out scoring the Nomads. They straightened up their kicking a little and kicked 3 goals 2 behinds to the Nomads 1 goal 3 behinds reducing the margin to a slender 7 points. This set up a cracking final quarter with both sides going for broke. The pressure in both forward lines was immense and affected the shots on goal by both teams. In the end the Nomads kicked 3 goals 5 behinds to the Saints 1 goal 5 behinds. Nomads Coach, Brendan Meehan, was very happy after the game saying "The Saints backline is good and we had to work hard to beat them". The major goal kicker for the Nomads was again Weston Whitby with 5 goals and their best player was Hamish Pearce, he must be a smokey for the Tony Gillies Medal already. And for the Saints Coach Nick Baird and young Hamish Bird kicked 2 goals each and the returning Joe Kimmince was their best player.
In the match of the round at Tamworth's No.1 Oval the Kangaroos hosted the Narrabri Eagles. Kangaroos Coach, Tim Cotter, was waiting for this game to get a real gauge on were his team is at. Likewise for Eagles Coach Phil Dennis. For Cotter he found out that his team is the real deal and are now the firm favourite for the premiership. Dennis will be disappointed that they let this one slip as they are going into their first bye in round 5. The Kangaroos got the jump on the Eagles in the first quarter and took a 18 point lead into the first break. The Eagles fought back hard in the second quarter to reduce the Kangaroos lead to just 7 points at the main break. The premiership quarter was the good for both teams as the both scored 3 goals 2 behinds each. This shows that both these teams can handle the pressure and will be better for the experience come finals time. The last quarter shows the Kangaroos won the game by their first break margin of 18 points. But it also shows that had the Eagles kicked straight, 1 goal 5 behinds, they could have been a big chance and this will be what Coach Dennis will be looking to fix. The Kangaroos best player was new comer Matt Hodge and their major goal kicker was Cam Douglas with 4 goals. And for the Eagles their best player was Andrew Irvine and their leading goal scorer was again Tim Cooper with 6 goals.
The last game of the round saw the Cats hosting the Tamworth Swans at the Cattery in Muswellbrook. Even though the Cats have copped hidings in its 3 games so far this year they have been better than the scores suggest. On Saturday they should how good they can be with a 53 point win over the Swans. The Swans held sway in the first quarter by 1 point at the first break. They had their straight kicking boots scoring 3 goals 1 behind. The Cats were peppering the goals but couldn't convert kicking 2 goals 6 behinds. The second quarter saw the Swans double their score but the Cats had their radar on track in this quarter kicking 5 straight goals to lead by 10 points at the main break. The 3rd quarter had the Cats lose their sharp shooting again but the still had a fair share of the ball as they put on 3 goals 7 behinds to the Swans 1 goal. The Cats Coach Bryce O'Connor must said the right things at the final break because the Cats straightened up again in the last quarter belting through 7 goals 3 behinds to the Swans 3 goals 3 behinds. O'Connor would have been happy with his sides win but knows that they will not get away inaccurate kicking against other teams in the comp. Swans Coach, Phil Dennis, would have been happy with his men's kicking at goal this week and the fact they fought it out, know he has a lot of work to do gat them back in the top 5. The Cats main goal kickers were Stu McAdam and Ken Garland with 4 goals each and Garland was their best player. For the Swans club backman come goal scoring machine Josh McKenzie was their main scorer with 4 goals.
Last Modified on 29/05/2011 10:12