A much improved showing by the Nomads this week as they ran out 9.18 (72) to 8.3 (51) winners over the second placed Muswellbrook Cats. In cold, windy conditions New England played very well – using the whole of the ground and moving the ball quickly.

The Nomads got off to a better start than in recent matches, in which they have been caught cold. After the first quarter they led by 3.3 (21) to 3.0 (18). However the margin did not reflect the balance of play, with the wind having slightly favoured the Cats.

By half time New England had built a 17-point lead, creating many more scoring opportunities than their opponents. Two quick goals at the start of the third quarter gave them a buffer to withstand the Cats rally, and they then controlled the final quarter having another seven scoring shots to the Cats’ one.

While the goal shooting was erratic, the conditions for kicking were difficult,
and the number of opportunities created was a positive sign. As was the ability of the defence to limit the Cats to 11 scoring shots for the afternoon.

Anthony Alderuccio was top scorer with three goals with Caleb Dobos (2 goals), Richie Malone, Dylan McGrath, Hamish Robertson and Johnathon Frost also scoring.

New England’s nominated best players were Matt Maxwell (Players’ Player), Anthony Alderuccio, James Downie, John Frost (Captain’s award), Mitch Penberthy, Clint Ballagh (Coach’s award) and Anthony Reid (President’s award), however nobody had a bad game this week.

Next up, the long trip to Narrabri. There is still plenty of room for improvement for the Nomads, but with another couple of training sessions before then things are looking up again.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 29th, 2007 at 10:30 pm and is filed under Match report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.