Sport
31 August, 2023
Giants and Roos maintain assaults
A blistering first quarter by the Southern Mallee Giants guided them to a 72 point win over the Horsham Saints in Wimmera Football League’s qualifying final at the Murtoa Recreation Reserve on Saturday. The Giants spark was lit in the first couple...
A blistering first quarter by the Southern Mallee Giants guided them to a 72 point win over the Horsham Saints in Wimmera Football League’s qualifying final at the Murtoa Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
The Giants spark was lit in the first couple of minutes of the game by a brilliant deep in the pocket, around the body goal from Rupert Sangster followed by a goal to Tyler Lehmann which stunned the Saints early.
The Saints got on the board not long after through a snap from Mitch Martin from 40 metres out but since then the rest of the quarter belonged to the Giants.
The pressure the Giants applied around the contest was relentless. Mikjita Rotumah-Onus was rewarded with his outstanding work with a goal not long after to extend the margin beyond two goals.
Billy Lloyd and Josh Webster put on two quick goals before Sangster’s second goal of the game late in the quarter guided the Giants to a 34 point lead.
The pressure didn’t stop in the second quarter. Josh Webster got his second goal of the game early in the term from a great tackle in the goal square.
Mitch Martin responded with his second for the game a few minutes later but the Giants remained on top of every contest and a turnover from the Saints in their defensive 50 resulted in Sangster’s third goal of the match to give the Giants a 41 point lead at half time.
After half time the Giants pressure didn’t let up. It was textbook pressure finals football and the Saints battled hard until the Giants were rewarded with Luke Mahony hitting the scoreboard with a major at the ten minute mark.
The Saints were held goalless that quarter with Josh Webster kicking his third not long after and Jackson Fisher kicking back to back goals late in the term to put the Giants up by 67 points at three quarter time.
The last quarter the Giants took the foot of the pedal but two goals to Coleman Schache in the last as well as singles to Lou White and Angus McSweyn saw them win 16.10.106 to 5.4.34.
To the Saints credit they never gave up and were rewarded from their hard work with Cody Bryan kicking two goals and Will Brennan hitting the scoreboard.
The day though belonged to the Giants. They couldn’t do much wrong. They were excellent at finding targets. The Saints were left flat footed a lot and were inaccurate in comparison.
Giants coach Kieran Delahunty was ecstatic with the pressure that was applied early.
“It was great intent from the first bounce. I think we were on front from the get go. We put them on the back foot a bit and were able to continue that for four quarters which was pleasing,” Delahunty said.
Mickitja Rotumah-Onus was best on ground for a stellar first quarter that put the Giants in the driver’s seat in the important moments. Delahunty said he was a standout.
“He has been a consistent player for us this year. He had a great game through the middle and was outstanding with a heap of clearances and was a standout.”
“At least one of our midfielders every week have standout games whether it’s Coleman Schache or Billy Lloyd. It’s hard to shut them all down,” Delahunty said.
Another massive positive the Giants can take out of the game is that they had 10 different goal kickers which Delahunty highlighted as important.
“It’s been a theme all year for us. We like to spread the load a bit. It’s made it good with midfielders getting down there and hitting the scoreboard as well. On Saturday, all our forwards kicked a goal, and Rupert Sangster and Josh Webster were standouts up forward,” Delahunty concluded.
The Giants will now face Ararat at Anzac Park on Saturday with the winner to go through to the Grand Final. The loser will play the winner out of the Horsham Saints and Dimboola whom face off in the other Semi Final on Sunday at Beulah Memorial Park.
In the reserves, a head injury to the Saints Tom Butler in the first quarter resulted in a shortened match as an ambulance was waited for due to protocols. Both team’s trainers attended to him and gave him care until the ambulance arrived.
When the game resumed the Burras ran out winners 7.4.46 to 3.3.21.
A CT scanned cleared Butler of any damage and he is recovering well at home.
It was good news for the Saints juniors with the under 17’s having a thrilling two point win over Ararat and the Under 14’s a comfortable 38 point win over Stawell.
On Sunday, Dimboola ended Minyip Murtoa’s premiership defence with a hard fought 10 point win at Alexandra Oval in Ararat.
The Burras dominated early, getting a lot of the ball with Tyler Pidgeon kicking the first goal of the match from the boundary. Tanner Smith and Corey Morgan answered not long after to put the Burras up by three goals.
The Roos only goal in the quarter came from Jono Ross two minutes later. The Burras ended the quarter with a flurry of goals from Warwick Stone, Brylie Cameron, Jae McGrath and Jye Walter to take a 38 point lead into quarter time.
Stunned in the first quarter, the Roos fought back. They applied a lot of pressure in their forward half early in the quarter which was finally rewarded with Ross’s second goal.
Dylan Landt, in his first game back since Round 14, kicked the next two goals to bring the margin back to 20 points.
A few minutes later Jack Landt snapped truly in the forward line and when Ross kicked his third, the Roos were back in the match trailing by nine points.
Dylan Landt kicked his third for the term from the boundary to bring the margin back to one point and when Ross kicked his fourth goal of the game, the Roos hit the front with their seventh unanswered goal. They kept the Burras to one point to go into half time with a seven point lead.
Minyip-Murtoa suffered a key loss at the end of the second quarter when Smith was forced from the field with an ankle injury and did not return for the remainder of the match.
It was immense pressure football in the third quarter. The Burras came out firing early with Jae McGrath kicking truly to level the scores. When Brylie Cameron and Will Cameron both kicked truly the Burras found themselves up by two goals.
The Roos fought back with goals to Sam Godden and Billy Hayes levelling the scores again.
A late goal to Will Cameron guided the Burras to a five point lead at three quarter time.
With everything to play for, the pressure in the last quarter was relentless. Hayden Walters kicked his first of two majors for the quarter to bring the deficit back to under a goal. Dylan Landt kicked his fourth for the game to give the Roos the lead and Walters then finished the game off.
The Burras had their chances in front of goal kicking five behinds for the quarter but it was the Roos who made the most of their chances winning 13.7.85 to 11.9.75.
With one end of the ground having the bulk of the scoring shots, when asked if there was a breeze that affected the game, Dimboola coach Jack Landt said it was a difficult one to fathom.
“It was a bit of a strange one. It didn’t affect the play around the ground. It was easier to kick goals down one end and the other end was difficult with the set shots,” Landt said.
Billy Hayes was best on ground through the midfield for the Roos and Jack Landt said he and Dylan were by far their best players on the day.
“Billy Hayes was a standout for us through the middle. Dylan also kick started us in the second quarter with those three goals. They are two blokes that have played state league footy and starting to show how important they are,” Landt said.
“I may be a bit biased but I think Dylan is by far the best player in the comp. He has been traveling from Darwin so he can’t play all the time but when he plays, he is a standout. We will have him for the entire finals campaign.”
The result was the Roos first win since July 8th and keeps their season alive where they now play a knockout Semi Final against the Saints at Beulah Memorial Park on Sunday.
In the reserves, the Demons had a comfortable 48 point win over Stawell, 11.18.84 to 5.6.36.
It was good news for the Burras in the Under 17’s having an easy 43 point win over Nhill and the Warrack Eagles stay alive in the Under 14’s with a comprehensive 60 point win over Ararat.