by Nick Schultz
An under strength Nomads were beaten soundly by the in-form Tamworth Kangaroos on Saturday, despite a fighting effort from a number of first year and emerging players.

Missing more than a few of our top players, we knew the task at hand was tough against a Roos side that thumped Narrabri last week. Nevertheless, the first quarter saw a great contest, with plenty of attack on the ball from both sides. Omphile Temoso was controlling the ruck, regularly placing the ball to the advantage of Hamish Pearce and Matt Bourke in the centre. There was no question about the intent of the Nomads, but the Roos took the ball forward with a bit more experience and class, and had small lead at quarter time.

The second quarter saw some more hard work from the Nomads. Players like Mark Dowdle, Jay Wright and Matt Bourke really stepped up playing in the positions of their absent or injured team mates. Despite a highly competitive first half, we were 25 down at half time. Things started to go the Roos way in the second half. We couldn’t keep up with their run through the centre, and the Roo’s Tim Cotter and Mitch Douglas were swooping on any loose ball. We fought it out to the end, but were outclassed by a side that we’ll hopefully get another go at in the finals.

Sadly for the Nomads and for the big man himself, this game was the last (for the time being) for Omphile Temoso, the Motswana from Botswana. Omps has been great for the Nomads over the past two seasons, and has really cultivated his craft in the ruck and racked up possessions around the ground. He has also been a top guy to have around the club, and will be sorely missed by all. We wish him the best for the future and hope to see him back here as soon as possible. Omps was chaired off at the end of the game, in what was both a moving tribute and an arduous task.

With this week’s loss, we narrowly hang onto third spot on the ladder. This makes our game next week against the fourth-placed Swans a battle for third place and a home final. As always, good numbers at training always equate to good form on the weekend, so everyone get down to training for good week on the track.

Award winners: Player’s player – Omphile Temoso and Hamish Pearce (Tie), Coach’s Award – Jay Wright, Captain’s Award – Mark Dowdle, Red Rooster – Matt Bourke, President’s Award – Nick Schultz, Vice Chancellor’s award – Leigh Holmes, Inverell’s Best – Mitch DouglasTop effort not enough for Nomads against the Roos

Round 14 2010

This entry was posted on Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 10:08 am 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.