A Richards rampage
By Ben Lonergan (Armidale Express, 21/05/2014)
The New England Nomads remain one of only two undefeated teams in the Tamworth AFL league after another crushing victory over the Inverell Saints on Saturday.
In a rematch of the 2013 grand final, the Nomads again proved far too good for the Saints, with goal scoring phenom Dave Richards adding four more to his rapidly growing tally to lead his side to a 96-38 victory.
Velani Chakalisa getting tackled.
The Nomads faced a much tougher opposition in the Saints compared to their opening two opponents.
It was the first time the Armidale side had been kept under 130 points this season, but the Nomads’ suffocating defence never let Inverell settle into the match.
The Nomads were not able to score as freely as previous weeks, but still managed 14 goals in the win.
After jumping out to a 20-7 lead at quarter time, the Nomads continued to push forward in the second and were leading 50-16 by half time.
The margin had grown to 70-26 after three quarters and four more goals in the final period pushed the buffer to 96-38.
Richards has now booted 16 goals through the first three matches of the season, but he wasn’t the only Nomad on fire in front of goal.
Matt Folpp followed his four goal effort against the Swans last weekend with three more against the Saints.
Skipper Weston Whitby and Isaiah Graham booted two apiece, while Johnathon Frost, Andrew Garraud and Clarence Barker all kicked their first goals of the season. Nomads’ player-coach Zac Economou said the score didn’t indicate the stiff test his side faced on Saturday.
“It was a very good game,” he said.
“It was a lot tighter than the scoreline indicated.”
Economou was full of praise for the performance of his defenders.
“The backline held up really well,” he said.
“Soloman Hanks, Tom Granleese and Zac Wells all had great games.” After two easy matches to start the season Economou urged his troops not to become complacent in Inverell.
“It would have been easy for us to come out pretty sluggish,” he said.
“I’m impressed with how switched on we were.
“We moved the ball well and our tackling was great.”
Not for reproduction except by permission of the Armidale Express
Round 3 2014
| Saints def. by Nomads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | P | G | B | P | ||
| Q1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 20 | |
| HT | 2 | 4 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 50 | |
| Q3 | 3 | 8 | 26 | 10 | 10 | 70 | |
| FT | 5 | 8 | 38 | 14 | 12 | 96 | |
Team:
- C. Barker,
- V. Chakalisa,
- D. Davies,
- Z. Economou,
- M. Foley,
- M. Folpp,
- J. Freund,
- J. Frost,
- A. Garraud,
- C. Graham,
- I. Graham,
- T. Granleese,
- S. Hanks,
- S. Macdonald,
- D. Richards,
- J. Shirley,
- O. Temoso,
- S. Walkom,
- A. Walsh,
- Z. Wells,
- W. Whitby,
- M. Woodward.
Goalscorers:
- D. Richards (4),
- M. Folpp (3),
- I. Graham (2),
- W. Whitby (2),
- A. Garraud,
- C. Barker,
- J. Frost.
Award winners:
- T. Granleese (Players' Player),
- Z. Wells (Coach's),
- Z. Economou (President's),
- S. Hanks (Captain's),
- M. Foley (Gleeson's).
