The Deni Rovers’ winning start to the season was interrupted on Saturday when they suffered a 14-point loss to a more experienced and physically more mature Jerilderie side.
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The Rovers started the match in good form, kicking the first goal through the agility of Alex Hay and had the ball in their forward half for the first 15 minutes of the quarter.
Unfortunately for the Rovers, they could not capitalise on their forward-half dominance, and Jerilderie gained the momentum to kick the last two goals for the quarter and led by five points at quarter time.
The second quarter was the Rovers’ best effort of the year, and they slammed on 6.3 to Jerilderie’s 2.1 to establish a 21-point lead at half-time.
This effort demonstrated the potential of the young side and was achieved against strong opposition.
Josh Flight was a real problem for the Jerilderie defence and kicked four for the quarter to capitalise on the opportunities provided by the on-ball brigade.
Jerilderie came out after half-time and dominated out of the centre.
Chris Marshall, a previous League Best and Fairest winner, was the architect of many Jerilderie attacks, which yielded 7.1 for the quarter.
A skilful banana goal kicked by Tyson Willis was the Rover’s only goal for the quarter, and they had the job in front of them, trailing by 15 points at three-quarter time.
The Rovers were hoping for early goals to get back into the game, but instead, Jerilderie kicked three early goals and looked like they would run away with the game.
To their credit, the young side came back, and they reduced the margin again as they got the game back on their terms.
Goals to Josh Flight, Tyson Willis and Alex Hay got the margin back to 14 points, but the damage had already been done.
Better players were Allan Bond who has had a great season so far and is showing the benefits of a strong pre-season.
Logan Ives was a strong contributor in the centre, while Josh Flight looked dangerous up forward, kicking six goals despite being heavily marked.
Joey and Alex Hay also had good games up forward.
Tyson Willis, with three goals, and Alex Hay, with two goals, were the goal kickers.
Rovers look set to regain Brady and Lachie Trotman, Tom Dowling, James Gilligan and Adam Bodey for next week’s clash with Tungamah, which will provide the perfect opportunity to bounce back and get back on the winning list.
Final score: Deni Rovers 11.11 (77) def by Jerilderie 14.7 (91).
Goals: Josh Flight 6, Tyson Willis 3 and Alex Hay 2.
Best Players: Allan Bond, Logan Ives, Josh Flight, Joey Hay and Alex Hay.
Awards: Deni RSL - Allan Bond, Frank n Beans - Logan Ives, Barber & Threadz - Josh Flight, Wired Entertainment – Tyson Willis and Myo on the Move – Joey Hay.
Reserves:
The reserves played a great first half against Jerilderie, kicking five goals in both the first and second quarters to have a match-winning lead of 62 points at half-time.
The second half was more of a slog, and Rovers were able to restrict Jerilderie to a solitary point while kicking 5.9 for the half.
The defence held up well all day, with Zack Thompson, Nick Stubbings, and Will Dudley leading the way.
Hayden Gardiner and Brodie Elphick got a lot of possessions around the centre and created plenty of scoring opportunities.
Ben Littmann showed plenty of craft up forward to kick three goals.
Matt Horne led the goal kickers with four, while Jack Pekin and Tristan Fitzsimmons with two were among the goals.
Final score: Deni Rovers 15.17 (107) def Jerilderie 1.1 (7).
Goal kickers: Matt Horne 4, Ben Littmann 3, Jack Pekin 2, Tristan Fitzsimmons 2, Tim McDonnell, Zack Thompson, Matthew Wade and Cooper King.
Best players: Zack Thompson, Nick Stubbings, Hayden Gardiner, Brodie Elphick, Will Dudley and Ben Littmann.
Awards: Physiofit with Britt – Zack Thompson, Cin’s Remedial Massage – Ben Littman, Deni RSL – Hayden Gardiner, Hardman’s Intersport – Nick Stubbings, Frank n Beans – Brodie Elphick, N8 Health – Alex Rourke and Smoko Shak – Will Dudley.
Thirds:
In an even contest, the Rovers got off to a good start, kicking the first two goals of the game, with Andrew Smith and Spencer Cowley working well together up forward.
With both teams battling hard, no-one could get the upper hand.
The Rovers kicked four goals to Jerilderie’s three for the first quarter.
The second quarter was the Rovers’ best for the game, kicking five goals to Jerilderie’s two, with the midfield starting to dominate through Baxter Cowley and Alex Harvey and getting plenty of entries into their forward line.
The Rovers took a 24-point lead at half-time.
The third quarter was another hard-running quarter as both teams propelled the ball from end to end.
The Rovers’ back line was standing tall and giving nothing easy to their opponents, led by Reagan Macdonald, Dexter Hardman and Andrew Croker.
Both teams finished the quarter with two goals each.
With the lead of twenty points going into the fourth quarter, the Rovers had the game in their control.
But in a disappointing display, the Rovers made some simple errors and lost concentration, letting Jerilderie gain momentum and run the game out stronger than the Rovers.
Jerilderie kicked four goals to nothing in the last quarter to come away with a very well-earned seven-point win.
Thanks again to the fourths’ players for filling in: Jake Harvey, Stuart Benger and Haydn Sampson.
Final Score: Deni Rovers 11.3 (69) def by Jerilderie 11.10 (76).
Goal kickers: Andrew Smith 3, Spencer Cowley 3, Alex Harvey, Brody Wills, Ben Hayes, Baxter Cowley and Dexter Hardman.
Best players: Baxter Cowley, Andrew Smith, Dexter Hardman, Alex Harvey, Ethan Connolly and Reagan Macdonald.
Awards: BLT Fabrication – Baxter Cowley, Fanmac Ag & Logistics – Andrew Smith and Dexter Hardman, Barber & Threadz – Alex Harvey, Canteen – Ethan Connolly and Subway – Reagan Macdonald, Brody Wills and Jake Harvey.
Fourths:
Another beautiful Saturday morning for footy as the young Roos made the trip to Jerilderie.
They were on from the first bounce, with Lincoln Meharry controlling the ruck, allowing Bentley Hardman and Sam Conallin to clear the centre and drive the ball into the forward line where Stuart Benger and goal sneak Cormick Hardman were waiting.
A six-goal first term put them in good spirits at the first break.
High-intensity efforts continued throughout the second term as Jerilderie tightened their defence, making scoring more challenging.
Xander Strong was strong across the half-forward flank, putting two majors on the board.
Kelsey Clark’s determination for the ball helped the young Roos keep it in the forward fifty for much of the quarter.
Stuart Benger had a stellar game and claimed a mark-of-the-year contender in the third term with his leaping mark over the pack.
A couple of extra wingers entered the play, which congested the midfield.
However, Bentley and Sam combined their skills again to clear it out.
Ryan Bulmer and Angus Knuckey chipped in to help deliver the ball into the forward fifty.
The young Roos finished the game off in style, not letting Jerilderie put a score on the board.
Jake Harvey was phenomenal in defence and stopped many passages of play from Jerilderie trying to put a number on the board.
Another great team effort.
Final score: Deni Rovers 11.7 (73) def Jerilderie 0.0 (0).
Goal kickers: Cormick Hardman 3, Stuart Benger 3, Xander Strong 2, Dannon Leetham, Jett Conn, Bentley Hardman.
Best players: Bentley Hardman, Jake Harvey, Xander Strong, Stuart Benger, Tom Way and Cormick Hardman.
Awards: Riverside Bookkeeping Services – Tom Way, Wired Entertainment – Stuart Benger, BLT Fabrication– Jake Harvey, Intersport Deniliquin – Lara Strong, Rovers Canteen – Cormick Hardman and Kelsey Clark, McDonald’s - Ryan Bulmer and Kayden Leech and Subway – Sam Strong.
Fifths:
As Jerilderie does not have a fifths team, no game was played.
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