Nomads beat a determined Gunnedah Bulldogs
In the last match of the home and away season the New England Nomads defeat the Gunnedah Bulldogs by 56 points. Up forward Zac kicked another 6 goals to add to his tally of over 50 for the year. In the middle, Hamish Pearce, Clarrie Barker and Jed Ellis-Cluff dominated. The Nomads played well in general against a vastly improved Gunnedah Bulldogs who troubled the Nomads with the quick ball movement. The final score was 15.7.97 to 5.11.41.
The weather in Armidale was wet and cold and the Nomads expected more of the same when they were traveling to Gunnedah. However, the weather in Gunnedah was mild. The TAFL was holding a double-header at Gunnedah so the Nomads game started at 1.00.
The first quarter saw the Nomads kicking to the east (which is often the scoring end) and the boys got away to a strong start with Mitchie Darton hitting up Zac in the first couple of minutes with Zac kicking truly was an obtuse angle. Hammer was dominant in the midfield getting the hard possessions and getting a few knocks for his troubles. Chux was getting plenty of ball around the ground as is his way while Cammie Graham was creating lots of opportunities for the forwards with his quick ball movement around the flanks. The Nomads kicked 5 for the quarter with the score at the first change being 5.2.32 to 0.1.1.
In the second quarter the Bulldogs worked hard in the middle and troubled the Nomads. The Nomads only kicked 3 for the quarter while the Dogs sprayed their chances – kicking 1.4 for the quarter (although it must be said that one of those points was from the boot of one Mr Johnathan Frost – more of which later). Tim Keys was taking some strong marks in his new position of centre half forward – he is gradually finding his feet in the position and is going to be a dominant forward in the near future. At half time the scores were 8.3.51 to 1.5.11.
In the this quarter the Nomads played a much better brink of football and worked as a team. The only real criticism one might have is the one-step kicking that went on during the quarter. Too often it meant the resulting kick had a higher trajectory than is ideal and as a consequence switches that would have been excellent passes if kicked flatly went from being switches to 1-on-3 contests. So the delivery needs to be improved. At three quarter time the scores were 12.4.76 to 3.6.24.
The final quarter was again closely contested. The Bulldogs are a vastly improved outfit and a number of spectators commented on how close it was in terms of the around the ground play. They did miss a lot of shots they should have got and also sprayed a few out on the full and if they had kicked more accurately, then the scores would have been a lot closer. In the end though the Nomads were too strong.
The Nomads have thus gone through the whole home and away series undefeated which as far as your correspondent knows, this is the first time the team has scored that particular achievement. But it will count for little if the the boys in green drop their guard during the finals and complacency sets in. Home and away series mean little in finals. So let’s hope that the boys can continue their good form over the next 3 weeks.
Rascal of the Week
So a previous winner, Frosty, put in a good showing to be this week’s Rascal. After being scolded for kicking goals for sneaking forward in previous weeks he decided not to go forward (for fear of the wrath of the Jeddacutta Man) and instead to kick one straight through the opposition’s goals. If this counts then he has kicked 5 straight for the year.
However, we can’t award this to the same person twice – and there are other strong candidates, including big Sticks Hunt and fist-bumping Jed for their post Gilles medal celebration (though what’s said on the river stays on the river). BUT the winner is…… Tim Keys for his driving the family sedan into a canal after training at Consett Davis. If it were not for the efforts of his team-mates then the Family Kingswood would still be in the ditch. So Keysie – thanks for the entertainment – you are this week’s rascal.
Round 18 2016
| Bulldogs def. by Nomads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | P | G | B | P | ||
| Q1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 32 | |
| HT | 1 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 51 | |
| Q3 | 3 | 6 | 24 | 12 | 4 | 76 | |
| FT | 5 | 11 | 41 | 15 | 7 | 97 | |
Team:
- C. Barker,
- V. Chakalisa,
- M. Darton,
- Z. Economou,
- J. Ellis-Cluff,
- M. Foley,
- H. Freund,
- J. Frost,
- C. Graham,
- W. Hall,
- M. Harriot,
- T. Hunt,
- T. Keys,
- T. Lashlie,
- P. Mitchell,
- H. Pearce,
- J. Petrascu,
- D. Richards,
- C. Roe,
- J. Treweeke,
- A. Walsh.
Goalscorers:
- Z. Economou (6),
- J. Ellis-Cluff (3),
- V. Chakalisa (2),
- C. Barker,
- D. Richards,
- M. Harriot,
- T. Lashlie.
Award winners:
- H. Pearce (Players' Player),
- T. Hunt (Coach's),
- H. Freund (President's),
- C. Barker (Captain's),
- J. Frost (Meehan's Plumbing Services').
