Nomads post a convincing win against the Saints

The Nomads have won their second game of the year, defeating the Inverell Saints by 61 points at the Bellevue Oval in Armidale. The Nomads leaders Tom Hunt , Modra and Clarrie Barker dominated the midfield, while in the backline Phill Mitchell and Conor Nest marked everything that came their way. Up front, high-leaping forward Noah Connick added another 7 goals to his tally for the year to take the lead in the League’s goal-kicking (Modra and Benji Dutaillis chipped in with two apiece). Also, the team as a whole are starting to jell. It was overall a very pleasing effort. Final scores were 16.14.110 to 9.5.59.


photo by Richard Jones from Balcony Films

Weather conditions at the Bellevue were mild. The team welcomed the return of Daniel Boyd, who played with us in 2018 while still a junior. There were some other changes to the side that won the previous week. The enigmatic and aptly named Mark Yep was back in the side after a Leadership Jamboree in Tamworth. There were some notable outs. Harry Munday was unavailable for the week, in Melbourne. inter alia to watch Geelong trounce Richmond and the other member of the dynamic duo, Ben Fleming, was also unavailable.

In the first quarter the Nomads kicked to their non-preferred grandstand end (away from Uralla) and almost from the very beginning dominated. The ball movement was good generally. Noah once again dominant in the air and Sam Feltham and Bucko were busy mopping up the few marks not taken. I.R.A. Sulzberger and Benji were providing plenty of grunt in the packs in the mid-field and the usual suspects in the backline, Conor and Phill, seemed to be having lots of fun, winning kicks at will. The only real negative in the quarter were a number of shots that went through the wrong set of posts. The scores at the first change were Nomads 4.5.29 to the Saints 2.0.12


photo by Richard Jones from Balcony Films

The second quarter saw the Nomads racing out of the blocks. Tom was winning the rucks and Jetski and Barker.Clarence.dot.com were taking full advantage of it. Daniel Boyd took some strong marks up forward, as he did as a very promising junior in 2018. However, the Saints very much got themselves back into the game in this quarter with 4 goals. Their cause was helped by their straight kicking. The Nomads, on the other hand, kicking at goal on the road was to put it mildly sub-optimal. One noticeable aspect of this quarter was the willingness of the forwards to chase and to fulfil defensive roles when the ball was in the other half. At half-time the scores were 7.8.50 to 6.0.36.

In the third quarter the Nomads were finally able to translate their dominance across the paddock into scoreboard success. The team had winners right across the park. Some notable plays included Sam Feltham’s fleet-footed running around a number of Saints backmen resulting in goals and Bucko’s marking. Toby Fleming was also extremely strong in the back ground, a number of times, bravely floating back to mark strongly in front of a number of Saints players and in so doing stopping what looked to be certain goals. At the end of the quarter, after the siren, Coach Barker kicked a set shot from 55 metres out. That shot put the Nomads 40 points in front, the scores being 11.12.78 to 6.2.38.

In the final quarter the Nomads kicked 5 goals. It had been a very bruising physical game and both teams seemed exhausted. Tom Hunt though took the opportunity to practice his left foot switch kicking in the backline to Modra. Phill and Conor continued their dominance and Lindsay Brown was enjoying himself on the half back flank.

Overall, this really was a top effort and bodes well. Thi sis a team that is only getting to know each other and the performances can only get better. It must be said that the kicking ont he run needs working on, but that is a minor problem at this stage.

Next week will be 100th game for Nomads chief ruckman, premiership player, father of the year and long-time stalwart Tom Hunt. He has been a mainstay of the team since he returned in 2014 and his skill and generosity of spirit will be known to everyone associated with the Nomads. What more can we say? The game will be held in Tamworth. It would be wonderful if people can make the trek down to Tamworth to cheer on the big fellow in what will be a special game for us all here at the Nomads.

New England Nomads
Gus McKenzie Bsci
Warwick Richardson BA
Jeff Farmer
Tony Makepiece B commerce
Tom Hunt BAg Ec Armidale

Round 4 2021

Nomads def. Saints
 GBP GBP
Q14529 2012
HT7850 6036
Q3111278 6238
FT1614110 9559

Team:

  • C. Barker,
  • D. Boyd,
  • L. Brown,
  • N. Buckland,
  • N. Connick,
  • E. D’Gluyas,
  • B. Dutaillis,
  • S. Feltham,
  • T. Fleming,
  • W. Hall,
  • T. Hunt,
  • I. Jessep,
  • P. Mitchell,
  • T. Moscou,
  • C. Nest,
  • C. Paine,
  • D. Richards,
  • I. Sulzberger,
  • J. Veall,
  • X. Walsh,
  • L. Wheatley.

Goalscorers:

  • N. Connick (7),
  • B. Dutaillis (2),
  • D. Richards (2),
  • C. Barker,
  • D. Boyd,
  • I. Jessep,
  • L. Wheatley,
  • W. Hall.

Award winners:

  • T. Hunt (Players' Player),
  • B. Dutaillis (Coach's),
  • C. Barker (President's),
  • T. Fleming (Captain's),
  • C. Nest (Meehan's Plumbing Services').

One Response to “Nomads post a convincing win against the Saints”

  1. Pam Connick Says:

    Another good win keep up the good work.

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