On Saturday the Nomads followed up their comprehensive first round victory against the Tamworth Swans with a hard fought victory at home against arch rivals the Inverell Saints.

The Nomads headed into the match with numerous players including player/coach Tom Granleese missing due to Uni/School holidays and other commitments and started the game with only 23 players due to a couple of late withdrawals.

The first quarter commenced with Inverell getting the jump on the Nomads, despite both sides having their fair share of possession it was the Saints who made the most of their opportunities to skip away by a couple of goals mid way through the first term. To the Nomads credit they gathered their composure and worked their way back into the game with only a few points separating the teams at quarter time.

The second quarter commenced much the same as the first with each side enjoying their fair share of possession fortunately though the Nomads were able to convert their mid field pressure into forward entries and despite some inaccuracy in front of goal were able to wrestle the lead from the Saints and head into half with a slender 3 point lead.

The third quarter started with Inverell applying a lot of pressure and coming hard at the Nomads and despite it being a tough day for the forwards of both sides young Nomad Jed Ellis-Cluff managed to kick two crucial third quarter goals to stretch the lead at three quarter time to 9 points.

With both sides tiring and the Nomads struggling with a shortened and inexperienced interchange it was crucial for all players to battle hard in the final term and that is exactly what they did. All players pushed themselves time and time again to get to contests and pressure the Inverell ball runners and it this commitment that saw the Nomads get over the line in one of the clubs all time classic victories against their fierce rivals.

Whilst Ellis-Cluff was a shining light up front with three goals in a low scoring game and well supported by Centre half forward Grant Elson it was the tireless workrate of the Nomads defence that laid the platform for this victory. Zac Economou and Dan Davies were instrumental in the key posts of fullback and centre half back whilst Captain Clint Ballagh and Benji Julien were outstanding repelling relentless Inverell raids and turning them into attack and Nathan Lambie and Adam Parish were also very strong in defence.

Through the midfield the Nomads were well served by gun on-baller Dave Graan and plenty of hard work from centreman Hoani Morrell, Ruckman Omsy Temoso dominated all day whilst inexperienced winger Toby Marchart showed that he could be a player to watch as the season unfolds with a fantastic display.

Round 2 2013

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013 at 2:35 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.