Football
27 May, 2024
Demons stun Stawell
Horsham stunned Stawell with a 29-point win at Horsham City Oval on Saturday in round six of the Wimmera Football Netball League, handing the Warriors their first loss of 2024.
The Warriors came out of the blocks fast to lead by 12 points at quarter time and extend the margin to 14 at halftime.
At halftime, the Demons shuffled the board around and sent Billy Carberry forward to go a bit bigger and it paid dividends as they kicked five goals to one to lead by 12 points at three-quarter time.
The Demons then went from strength to strength in the final term, keeping the Warriors goalless as they ran out 9.19.73 to 6.8.44 winners.
Hugo Papst kicked a game-high three goals for the Demons with Logan Millar chipping in with two. Jack Dalziel was tremendous down back for the Demons named best on ground with Tyler Blake and Brody Pope also solid throughout the middle.
For Stawell, Cody Driscoll and James Sullivan kicked two apiece with Jakob Salmi and Aiden Graveson among their best.
Demons coach Jordy Burke said their fitness paid dividends in the end.
"We kept moving the ball quick and the boy's fitness showed up in the end which is good as we have been working hard on it," Burke said.
"They have grown in confidence over the last few weeks in running out games and it's good to see everything in that regard going well."
Burke praised some of his players, highlighted by Jack Dalziel.
"Jack set up a lot of things and was offensively really good for us and defensively, he took a lot of intercept marks," Burke said.
"Logan Millar has been knocking on the door and played some seniors last year and presented well up forward."
"Tyler Blake went head to head with Tom Eckel, not as a tagger, but as a run-with player, and did a good job. The amount of ground he covered was exceptional."
Stawell coach Tom Eckel acknowledged how well the Demons played.
"They did their homework pretty good on us and they are coached well," Eckel said.
"They move the ball quick from transition and caught us out over the back and we were just poor on our defensive end as a whole and we got done by the better team on the day.
"In regards to how we played, our kicking was off and it was the worst I have seen all year and we also didn't capitalise on our opportunities."
"It's a good learning game. A few bad habits crept in from the Nhill game and it has rolled on and there are things we need to fix up moving forward."
Rats run over the top of the Burras
At Alexandra Oval, Ararat had a tough win over Minyip Murtoa kicking away late in the game to win by 18 points.
The Burras led by one at quarter-time, and even though the Rats took a ten-point lead into halftime, they were still in the match.
The Burras kept the pressure up in the third quarter as both teams were unable to capitalise on their opportunities with the Rats leading by 17 points at three-quarter time.
In the final term, the Burras kicked two goals, one of which was through Oscar Gawith to get within a goal, but the Rats were too strong winning 11.15.81 to 9.9.63.
Jae McGrath kicked a game-high three goals for the Burras with Oscar Gawith and Ben McIntyre kicking two apiece. Rhys Pidgeon, Kade Petering and Luke Fisher were also among the Burras' best.
For the Rats, Jake Robinson, Ethan Summers and Flynn Toner were among the best with Jacob Bates, Baydn Cosgriff, Henry Shea and Tom Williamson all kicking two goals apiece.
Burras coach Gareth Hose said the boys applied what they worked on at training into the match and was pleased they were in the game for a long time.
"We wanted to be better defensively and worked hard at that in our ball movement and how we structure up," Hose said.
"We had more contributors today and everyone played their role and it made a difference."
Hose praised Pidgeon and McGrath for their games.
"Jai McGrath has had an interrupted pre-season and has worked hard up forward and is starting to play well and it's pleasing to see," Hose said.
"Rhys has come up from the reserves and has been a solid contributor each week. We started him on the wing and the matchups weren't quite working for us in our back half so he played down there and was solid."
Eagles continue to improve
Jake McQueen continues to kick goals, booting five against the Eagles in Nhill's 32-point win over the Warrack Eagles.
The Eagles soared in the first half, taking a 10-point lead into halftime. The Tigers started to get on top in the third quarter, kicking six goals to two to take an 18-point lead into three-quarter time.
The Tigers ran out the game winning 16.8.104 to 11.6.72.
Dylan Ridding kicked four goals for the Tigers with Darcy Honeyman, Daniel Batson and
Timothy Bone amongst their best players.
For the Eagles, Kyle Cheney was outstanding up forward with three goals with Jake O'Donnell, Riley Morrow, Machok Garang, Tyson Hunt and Connor Insker all playing well.
Eagles coach Matt Walder said the straight kicking in the first half set themselves up, but rued the third quarter again.
"Straight kicking is good kicking and we reversed that from last week to this week and made use of our opportunities," Walder said.
"We faltered in the third quarter and didn't quite continue the work we had done in the opening half.
"Nhill picked up a gear and we were unable to match them. We were up for the fight and it's disappointing we were unable to close it out."