Nomads fall by six points in Narrabri
By Darren Benfield (Armidale Express, 02/05/2011)
At Leitch Oval in Narrabri the Eagles eagerly awaited the arrival of the New England Nomads for their round one Tamworth AFL clash. The Nomads have been touted as premiership contenders in 2011, but the Eagles are building and were full of confidence for this game.
The first quarter was very close with the Eagles leading by four points at quarter time.
The Nomads had their chances in this quarter though by having one more scoring shot than the Eagles, with accuracy letting them down.
In the second quarter the Eagles kicked on and had they kicked straighter they would have had a bigger half time lead.
Coach Phil Dennis would have been happy with the Eagles go forward in this quarter but unhappy with the conversion rate at four goals five behinds for the quarter.
Still the Eagles led by two goals at the long break. The Eagles came out in the third quarter knowing their fate was in their hands.
In the other dressing rooms the Nomads coach, Brendan Meehan, was reminding his players that with expectation comes the hard work that is required to win.
The Nomads again had more scoring shots than the Eagles in the third quarter but again were not accurate and only reduced the half time margin by one point.
It was all or nothing for the Nomads in the last quarter and while they did give their all, they still got nothing. In the Eagles pre-season game against the Bulldogs they faded out in the last quarter and here again the faded.
Coach Dennis will be working on their last quarters at training this week. The Nomads had their best scoring quarter in the last but it was the Eagles just hanging on to win by six points.
For the Eagles, Dan Hughes was their main goal scorer with four goals and Michael Leven was their best player.
For the Nomads new players David Richards and Hamish Ross were the main goal scorers with three apiece and regular star Hamish Pearce was their best player.
Not for reproduction except by permission of the Armidale Express
Round 1 2011
| Eagles def. Nomads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | P | G | B | P | ||
| Q1 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 16 | |
| HT | 7 | 7 | 49 | 5 | 7 | 37 | |
| Q3 | 10 | 10 | 70 | 8 | 11 | 59 | |
| FT | 13 | 15 | 93 | 12 | 15 | 87 | |
Team:
- C. Ballagh,
- M. Bourke,
- A. Cruickshank,
- J. Frost,
- B. Garwood,
- L. Holmes,
- C. Murray,
- A. Parish,
- H. Pearce,
- D. Pearce,
- M. Reece,
- D. Richards,
- H. Ross,
- N. Schultz,
- D. Sides,
- S. Stubbs,
- O. Temoso,
- A. Walsh,
- T. Walsh,
- W. Whitby,
- M. Woodward,
- J. Wright.
Goalscorers:
- D. Richards (3),
- H. Ross (3),
- A. Parish,
- H. Pearce,
- J. Frost,
- J. Wright,
- S. Stubbs,
- W. Whitby.
Award winners:
- H. Pearce (Players' Player),
- B. Garwood (Coach's),
- H. Ross (President's),
- D. Sides (Captain's),
- W. Whitby (VC's).
