CAVENDISH has claimed outright third place on the South West District Football netball League ladder after a complete demolition of Tyrendarra at home on Saturday with an emphatic 17.19 (121) – 1.2 (8) victory.
The Bloods entered the match sitting in fourth place, equal on points with Tyrendarra but behind on percentage, and it was expected to be a very close encounter, but the home side continued the form that saw it defeat top team Coleraine last round.
The Darras came into the match with their midfield down on strength and the Bloods capitalized from the opening ball up as they dominated from the outset.
Cavendish were buoyed by the return of Brad Thomas, Ross McNaughton, Ed Purvis and Jack Behncke to strengthen the side that defeated Coleraine the previous week with all four having huge impacts on the match.
So dominant were the Bloods that the ball never passed the half forward line for the Darras in the first quarter as the Cavendish backs repelled any possible attacking raid and the visitors were held scoreless in the first term.
The only downside for the home side was the poor kicking for goal in the first half that saw them post 6.14 up to the half time break while Tyrendarra could manage only the one goal in reply.
That goal was the best piece of play for the day for the Darras swept the ball upfield with slick passing and deft hand ball to leave the Bloods in their wake as Withers kicked truly but it failed to spark any revival.
Fortunately for Cavendish they were able to reverse their kicking form in the second half as they again held the visitors scoreless in the third quarter.
By the end of the match Cavendish had posted a further 11 goals to finally find the target they had been searching for all game but if they had been on song from the first term then the game would have been put to bed by the first break.
Tyrendarra had come into the game missing some important players, but Cavendish is nearly at full strength coming into the latter part of the season.
“As it so happened, yesterday there were a (number of) Tyrendarra boys that were unavailable or injured and fortunately for us, we're getting to the stage where each week we're getting closer to full strength,” Cavendish coach, Clinton Thomas said.
“Coming into the game we felt confident that we would be able to take it right up to Tyrendarra.
“They’ve got a fantastic uncontested game-style and in recent encounters, they've always hurt us on the rebound.
“While we've always felt competitive with the contested ball against Tyrendarra, they generally clean up very well with their shape around the contest.
“We felt we matched up really well across all lines and knew that if we covered their exits from the contest, we could let our inside lads do their thing,” Thomas said.
Peter Coghlan, Samuel Gibson, Jack Behncke, Ross McNaughton, Harrison Rees and Christopher Quinn were very influential for the home side but really the entire team was on song as they were not beaten in any position while Hamish Withers, Jason Meulendyks, Lachlan Kirk, Luke Thorpe, Joshua Brough and Dylan Jennings did their upmost to reverse the flow of the game for Tyrendarra.
Westerns v Heywood
HEYWOOD has all but locked away a finals place after defeating Westerns at Alexandra Park on Saturday, 16.27 (123) – 0.0 (0).
The Lions were always expected to win the match, as the Roos have had a season that will be locked away in the dark corners of their collective memories only to be referenced if future teams suffer a form slump.
In another game that was marred by poor kicking for goal, the Lions could only manage to be on target 16 times from 43 shots on goal and if the side wants to go deeper into the finals than week one, then this will have to be remedied quickly.
John Bell led the way for the visitors, but he had great assistance from Samual Walsh-Bannam, Jason Walker, Nick Johnstone, Troy Lovett and Jed Saunders while the home side was well served by Noah Knight who never stopped trying with Dylan Marlow, James Corbett, Stephen O’Brien, Maison Pridham and Nicholas Scott all playing their roles.
Coleraine v Branxholme-Wallacedale
COLERAINE appears to have ended the finals aspirations of Branxholme-Wallacedale with a commanding 21.14 (140) – 6.7 (43) victory at Silvester Oval on Saturday.
The loss means that the Saints are now two games out of the top five and to gain entry to the finals they will need Heywood to lose at least twice before the two teams clash in round 16.
After suffering their only defeat of the season last round the Maroons were not about to let losing become a habit as they quickly found the form that has carried them to the top of the ladder as they swept the ball down field with their brand of fast flowing football.
Jack Wright, Sam Tooley, Robert Mackinnon, Will Slattery, Brayden Manders and Samuel Youngman all played well while Thomas Scott, Adam Hamilton, Lachlan Holcombe, Colby Hammond, Todd Saffin and Bryce Baldwin did their best to continue the Saints winning run.
Dartmoor v Heathmere
DARTMOOR has continued its winning form with victory against Heathmere at Dartmoor Oval on Saturday, as the Giants ran away with the contest 32.13 (205) – 2.3 (15).
The home side was expected to win well, and they did just that as their forwards feasted on the ball provided by their mid field as Justin Eales returned to form with a best afield performance.
The champion midfielder has missed five games in a row after round five but after returning to the field last round he exploded on the Meres this week to set up goal after goal.
Christian Howlett added nine majors to his individual tally to 50 and open a seven-goal gap between himself and Tyrendarra’s Jordi Withers who only managed one goal this week.
Howlett had great assistance up front with Jordan Murphy and Dylan Gull each booting seven goals to completely dominate the visitors.
Justin Eales, Liam Robinson, Christian Howlett, Jordan Murphy, Mark Phillips and Dylan Gull took the game away from Heathmere with Reece Morris, Morris Richardson, Kyle Anson, James Stanford, Zac Deane and Cedrick De Vera all striving to give the Meres a lift.
