The New England Nomads have won their second game for the year against the Tamworth Swans at Tamworth. Jed Ellis-Cluff kicked 7 goals to add to his bag of 10 the week before. Phill Mitchell revelled in his new role as ruckman and Hamish Pearse did the hard yards in the midfield to ensure the Nomads came out on top. The final scores were 22.21.153 to 6.8.44.

The Nomads were slow out of the blocks and probably expecting it to happen as easily as it had the week before, and an improving Swans side-with a number of young faces in the side- shocked the Nomads. At one point early in the quarter the Swans hit the lead when they kicked two quick goals. This confirmed some of coach Ellis-Cluff’s worst fears before the game that this was a danger game for the Noeys. However, Hamo and Jed were determined that there would be no upset and, with Harry Freund, went hard in the middle and began to turn things around. At the first break the scores were 5.6.36 to 2 goals straight.

The second quarter saw the Nomads start to dominate and Modra and younger brother Cameron were unstoppable across the forward line. Phill Mitchell was dominating in ruck. Up back Mitch Darton and Frosty made a number of timely saves. There was some poor kicking for goal in this quarter (and for the rest of the match in fact) and the Nomads failed to capitalise fully on their dominance across the ground.

In the third quarter the Nomads kicked towards the non-pool end and again dominated across the ground. The defence was especially focused and only let one goal through for the quarter. By the final break the scores were 16.17.113 to 5.4.34.

In the final quarter the Nomads continued on in the same vein. New-comer Chris Roe popped up for a few goals and down back Snowy Snowden threw himself into the fray to slow any forward thrusts by the Swans. The final score saw the Nomads winning by 109 points.

It was a mixed effort on the part of the Armidale team. While the result was probably never in doubt – despite some jitters in the first quarter – the Nomads were not at their best. This was partly due to some key players missing this week, but also partly due to a subconscious over-confidence prior to the game (“always respect the opposition”). The Nomads also need to rework their game plan to be able to adapt to more confined spaces, such as those encountered at Number 1 oval.

Sincere thanks are due to those who helped out on the weekend. With the school and uni holidays we were undermanned. However, Brendan and Cheryl Nolan were there – of course – and provided invaluable assistance, as they have for nigh on 20 years. Thanks also to the Walcha crew – fathers of some of the under 15’s – Greg Buckland and Neil Dunn – who both ran water. Your assistance was greatly appreciated. Away games in the holidays are always a struggle but the help of all of these people made the difference.

Finally, one more good news story on which to end – and one for the ages. Nomads’ stalwart and local comic talent, David ‘Bizarro’ Bioletti kicked his first goal for the team in a perfect piece of front and centre work off the pack. Great to see and one goal most of us will never forget.

Round 3 2016

This entry was posted on Monday, April 18th, 2016 at 12:31 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.