Swans pick up where they left off
An inexperienced Nomads side saw what they need to match to be competitive on Saturday as they went down 20.17 (137) to 11.3 (69) to the reigning Country Energy TAFL premiers.
There was worse news to follow for the club after the match, as word reached the Wicklow that Caleb Dobos had fractured his ankle. Caleb landed badly attempting a mark and as a result will be in a cast for six weeks.
New England started poorly, a failure to match the Swans numbers and hardness in the contests resulted in them not getting much possession. When they did have the ball the Swans pressure meant that delivery was poor, leading to more contests. By the end of the first quarter the Swans had kicked 8.3 (51) to 1.2 (8).
The lead grew in the second quarter, despite an improvement in the Nomads showing, leaving the Swans 74 points ahead at half time.
The Nomads continued their improvement in the second half, winning the third quarter and the half. While this may have reflected a drop in the Swans’ intensity their response to having the game taken to them would indicate that wasn’t entirely the case.
So while the result was disappointing there were positives to be taken from the improved performance as the game went on. Everybody on the team put in a great effort once they had found their feet and gotten used to the speed and intensity of the game and the Tamworth heat.
Omps Temoso again won most of the ball in the ruck, Gavin Nelson did a great job in the centres on debut and Matt Bourke showed how good a goal kicker he can be when given a run up front. Matt Maxwell and Weston Whitby were consistently good as ever.
Round 1 2010
Swans def. Nomads | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | B | P | G | B | P | ||
Q1 | 8 | 3 | 51 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
HT | 14 | 10 | 94 | 3 | 2 | 20 | |
Q3 | 17 | 11 | 113 | 9 | 2 | 56 | |
FT | 20 | 17 | 137 | 11 | 3 | 69 |
Team:
- C. Ballagh,
- D. Bioletti,
- M. Bourke,
- D. Brown,
- M. Clayton,
- R. Crump,
- C. Dobos,
- M. Dowdle,
- D. Dunlop,
- M. Hamilton,
- M. Maxwell,
- C. Merrick,
- C. Murray,
- G. Nelson,
- B. Page,
- O. Temoso,
- P. Tobias,
- J. Vesey,
- G. Wagstaff,
- T. Walsh,
- W. Whitby,
- J. Wright.
Goalscorers:
- M. Bourke (3),
- R. Crump (2),
- W. Whitby (2),
- C. Ballagh,
- C. Dobos,
- J. Wright,
- P. Tobias.
Award winners:
- M. Maxwell (Players' Player),
- O. Temoso (Coach's),
- M. Clayton (President's),
- M. Bourke (Captain's),
- G. Nelson (VC's),
- R. Crump (Red Rooster).