Football
29 April, 2026
Bombers win Arapiles Cup
Despite a valiant first-half from Natimuk United, Noradjuha Quantong’s senior football side secured the Arapiles Cup in round three of the Horsham District Football Netball League on Sunday, April 26.
Playing at Quantong, the Bombers kicked 21.13 (139) to Natimuk’s 13.3 (81).
In warm conditions, both sides got on the scoreboard early, trading goals before a couple of late-quarter goals gave the home side a 33-26 lead at the first break.
Back-to-back goals from Dylan Shelley and Wade Francis helped the Bombers extend their lead to 23 before a late surge saw the Rams cut the deficit to 12 (62-50) at halftime.
But a superb third quarter on both ends from Noradjuha Quantong saw them take control, leading 101-63 at the final break.
Despite a couple of early goals keeping the Rams in the contest, the Bombers eventually blew the game open, winning by 58.
Dylan Shelley led the side with six goals, Damian Cameron had four, while Wade Francis and Judah Hobbs kicked three each.
For the visitors, Jett Munn kicked four goals, while Matthew Combe kicked three.
Declan Phyland received player of the match honours, with Francis, Shelley and Jack Vague also among the best for the Bombers.
Matt Combe, Munn, Albie Trigg, Oscar Miller, and Will Kennedy were among the best for the Rams.
Bombers coach Damian Cameron admits Natimuk made better use of their opportunities than he would have liked in the first half, but was pleased with how the side moved the ball and found their forward targets later in the match.
“It was tight in the first half; I felt like we were playing good footy and moving the ball pretty well, but we were getting caught out pretty bad on turnovers,” he said.
“Even though we controlled a lot of play, when Natimuk got their hands on the ball, they found it easy to score goals, which was probably the frustrating part.
“The second half was still a little bit scrappy; it was pretty physical, but we were managing to find targets easily down forward and managed to kick the goals there.”
The Bombers coach said he was pleased with how a lot of the team stepped up individually across the park.
“It was probably a bit more of a solid effort from a lot of individuals today,” Cameron said.
“As a team, we've been operating well, but we’ve either had a lot of standouts and then guys just pinch-hitting in their roles, but today, the likes of Greggy (James Gregg) got back into form and got a lot of footy, Wade ran through the middle and obviously played a really, really strong game.
“Dyson Parrish down forward, starting to get his hands up a little bit more.
“There are a lot of guys that played their roles a bit stronger than they probably have in a scrappy game, so if they can continue that form moving forward, it makes things easy.”