HARROW-BALMORAL took apart Taylors Lake in round 11 of the Horsham and District Football Netball League (HDFNL) senior football at Balmoral last Saturday, the final margin was 178 points.

Southern Roos playing coach, Jai Thompson booted home 10 goals in the win to put him third in the league goal kicking with 34 majors from 10 matches.

It is clear that Thompson is one of the classiest players in the HDFNL and as it stands, he would have to be one of the hot favourites for the 2024 Dellar Medal.

It was the perfect way to go into the bye as the Southern Roos rest and reload this week to go rejoin the league’s action next weekend.

The Southern Roos couldn’t have dreamed for a better few weeks since the league bye and despite playing low-placed teams, they have boosted their percentage significantly with three consecutive drubbings.

The three huge victories have come against Kalkee (142 points), Kaniva Leeor United (190 points) and Taylors Lake (178 points).

The odds were stacked against the Lakers from the opening bounce, but they battled hard in the first quarter to keep the Southern Roos to just 3.6 (24) while they kicked 0.2 (2) in reply.

The Southern Roos’ dominance began in the second quarter as the undefeated side punished the turnovers of their opposition and dominated around the stoppage.

While the Southern Roos had already iced the game by half time, they had left a few goals on the table kicking 7.11 (53) in this quarter while the Lakers were yet to register a goal.

Whatever Thompson said to his troops at half time should be used more often as they came out and played like men possessed, kicking an incredibly accurate 18.9 (117) in the second half and burying Taylors Lake in the process.

Thompson was at his damaging best, while Rhys Daffey, Cody Deutscher and Nick Pekin all got in on the scoring with four goals each.

Will Burbury, Anthony Close and Will Plush were all among Harrow-Balmoral’s best players in the huge victory.

Netball

IT was a heartbreaking three-goal loss for the Harrow-Balmoral A grade netball side which did everything but get the desired result last Saturday against Taylors Lake, falling short 38-35.

Having won just one game in the recent past, this was a game that the Southern Roos will be flat about dropping as the thriller played out in favour of the Lakers at Balmoral.

Harrow-Balmoral started well with the youthful duo of Tara McIntyre and Tori Dunstan capitalising on opportunities to put the side in front 10-8 at the first break.

Essentially the whole game was tightly contested with either side able to get the upper hand, as both sides couldn’t be split going into half time 18-18.

This trend continued in the third quarter as they again couldn’t be separated and were tied with 29 goals each as the last quarter approached.

The Lakers did enough to come home strong and secure a sweet victory as they won 38-35 at the final whistle.

Febey McClure gave her all on the court as she has done every week, the exciting centre has become one of the most consistent and impactful players in the league.

McIntyre also continues to take big strides in her development scoring 12 goals while Dunstan scored 21.

The win means Harrow-Balmoral are now on the bottom of the ladder just below Natimuk United, Taylors Lake and Pimpinio who all sit on two wins – but one win is it all it takes to change that given the evenness of the competition.

While this loss is devastating and disappointing for the Southern Roos, they will go into the bye this weekend and refresh for a big challenge against Noradjuha-Quantong next weekend.