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ROUND MATCH REVIEWS – by Laurie Williams

HILL END v FOSTER

Top clash of the round was the twilight match between the 2019 AFNL Premiers Foster and 2019 MGFL runners-up Hill End and Hill End fans who braved the trek to Foster on unfamiliar roads in the rain and wind were rewarded with their first ever victory over newcomers Foster by 25 points.

For three quarters the two teams matched it with each other, Foster opened with certainty and established a first break lead of 11 points. A couple of spotfires erupted to warm the players with Hill End fighting back with uncanny inaccuracy caused by the windy conditions and poor placement were able to head the Tigers at half time by seven points. 

Foster adapted better in the third with Mitch Allot and Matt Clark leading the revival and the Tigers were able to claw within a point at the three-quarter break. A four goal last quarter by Hill End snagged the points. Foster had put in for three quarters but failed to score in the last. Luke Mulqueen outshone his more favoured forwards with a five goal haul for Hill End while for Foster Matt Clark finished with three. Tyler Pratt was a good defender for Hill End and got the just rewards while Ambru Uliando and Ben Kerrigan put in a lot of the hard work. Hill End now hold the bragging rights as the first team to beat their new buddies from the Southern end of the League. Hill End 9-8 d Foster 6-1

MIRBOO NORTH v BOOLARRA

With both teams having a lot of new faces the challenge for the George Lewis Memorial Trophy was going to be intense but the match turned into somewhat of a fizzer with Mirboo North showing patches of brilliance to completely overrun the Demons. Mirboo North making a big statement as to their intentions for this season. Boolarra were left flatfooted as the dominant Tigers went in hard and fast to sew the match up by half time. After the break the Tigers dominated proceedings with jumping Jack Robertson good around the goals, Jeremy Salinger not picked in the advertised squad proved a worthy inclusion to be the Tiger’s best. After their one goal effort up to half time Boolarra didn’t do much better in the second half with only a couple more to show for effort and Coach Tony Giardina will have to really motivate his team if they want to be the improvers of the season. Mirboo North owned the game in the second half with a 11 goals to two scorecard. Ben Campbell, Joe Brooks and Jack Robertson all featured in Mirboo North’s best while Jayden Hawkins, Shaun Falla and Sean Viotto all showed promise for the Demons. Mirboo North 17-16 Boolarra 3-3

YINNAR v THORPDALE

Yinnar scored the fastest goal of the season with a major on the board at 28 seconds against Thorpdale, but it was another 30 minutes before they could add to their tally. Thorpdale showed plenty of desperation and caused Yinnar to make errors. Both teams were troubled by the strong wind which was howling across the field. At one stage the ball flew back over a player who kicked it. Both teams came in for trouble with the new “Man on the Mark” ruling and were penalised twice in the first term. Overall in the match there were seven breaches of the rule. After holding the lead for most of the first term Thorpdale let Yinnar in for a goal on the siren. It was goal for goal in the second term with Yinnar hanging on by a point in an interesting battle which had taken Yinnar by surprise. The third term Kane Grinstead-Jones fired up the Magpies, the former coach led with plenty of aggressive play to give the Magpies good chances to score. Daniel Johnson was starting to find the target up forward and was building up a steady quota to finish with a game high six goals. Yinnar raced away in the second half to run out comfortable winners in the end but Thorpdale should be commended in the way they played the game. Shannon Pickering kicked three goals for the Blues and also got the votes while Jarred Burgess and Andrew Irwin also were amongst the best. Yinnar 14-13 d Thorpdale 6-6

FISH CREEK v TARWIN

Fish Creek managed the points over traditional rivals Tarwin with the Roos hopping to a 59 point win in windy conditions at the relocated game at Tarwin.  The change caused by an infestation of a grass eating bug. It was a tug of war first term with both settling for a 2-2 scoreline. Fish Creek, however adapted better to the conditions and were able to forge head with a six goal haul with the use of the strong wind. The big man power of Travis Manne was a dominant factor for Fish Creek and players such as Willem Voorham and Ethan Park were able to use the conditions to their advantage. Fish Creek were winning the ball across their midfield giving the forwards the chance to score against the wind. Fish Creek wrapped up the match in the last term to run out comfortable winners in the end. Jai Stephani and Jordan Shaw both bagged three each for Fish Creek, Matt Williams got the vote for Tarwin ahead of Julian Patterson and Fergus Warren. Fish Creek 14-10 d Tarwin 5-5

MDU v TOORA

MDU kept Toora to the lowest score of the round of 2-7 but inaccuracy was the early downfall for the Magpies. Two early goals by MDU put them in the box seat in the poor conditions. A wind assisted second quarter by MDU allowed the Demons to add further goals but at the other end Toora wasted what little opportunities they had converting only one goal from six attempts, by half time A third quarter blitz by MDU of four goals to nil put the Demons in a good position going into the last term. Jacob Brydon and Wayne Stewart up forward were keeping the goal umpire earning his money with accurate shooting for goals, both finishing with three each. MDU 11-7 d Toora 2-7 

MORWELL EAST v NEWBOROUGH

Morwell East made a big statement with the highest score of the round beating Newborough at the kennel, not always an easy task. Rain and wind marred the match as players found it difficult to play attacking football with the ball being blown out of play so many times. Newborough surprised Morwell East early and established an early lead. Morwell East fell back into old habits of kicking short and in the conditions didn’t give them the required results. The East with the wind were starting to play better football, Frankie Marks and Joel Soutar coming the game, Daniel Hutchinson was also a valuable player for the Hawks. The floodgates opened up or the East in the third but Newborough got back goals through Ryan Louch and Josh Bland, however Morwell East with the running players were able to get forward quickly enabling them to share the goals. Newborough were powerless to control the onslaught as Morwell East showed their dominance to run out winners 18-13 to Newborough’s 7-4.

ROUND 1 RESULTS

LADDER AFTER ROUND 1

LEADING GOAL KICKERS AFTER ROUND 1

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