SFL – ROUND 4 – CLAREMONT V NEW NORFOLK
Senior Report – Wayne Walker
A FIRST-QUARTER five-goal blitz by Claremont put New Norfolk on the back foot for the remaining three quarters of the contest at Abbotsfield Park on Saturday, with the Magpies running out 25-point victors. The Magpies were well-led by the experienced onball duo of Martyn Allison and Luke Adams and had a clear edge in the air with Jake Williams and Richard Hanley the winners in the ruck contests. The Eagles could only manage one goal in the first term and were under enormous pressure for the remainder of the game, playing catch-up football.
Early in the first term young Eagle Jack Miller took a spectacular mark at centre-half-forward flying high above a pack of players as the Eagles went forward with an early minor score from a snap shot by Ben Lovell. The Magpies quickly rallied with a goal to big follower/forward Jake Williams who slammed through their first. Busy Magpie forward Lachlan Plummer found veteran Clint Curtain in front of goal for the Magpies’ second major.
Key match-ups early in the game had Blake Lockley picking up Eagle forward Caleb Triffett, Magpie Craig Bennett was on Eagle Ben Lovell, Josh Farrow started the game once again on the forward line with his opponent being Brodie Fewkes. Braeden Braunack had the task on Eagle small forward Josh Clifford. Claremont attacked once again from the centre bounce area and found Williams who converted for his second goal to give the home side an early 20-point lead.
The Magpies were on a roll and continued to enter their forward fifty zone finding Luke Adams who kicked truly and moments later when Bayley Bester booted another, the Eagles looked to be in trouble. Quarter-time scores were Claremont 5.3 (33) to New Norfolk 1.4 (10).
Second-quarter action saw Claremont open up with an early goal, but the Eagles answered with Caleb Triffett kicking the footy to big Eagle forward Ben Lovell who flew for a mark in a pack. As the ball hit the ground Josh Clifford was at the fall of the ball and bodied his opponent out of the contest to snap the Eagles’ second goal for the match. New Norfolk won the footy from the next centre bounce and found Lovell who marked 35m out as the Eagles registered their third major which cut the Magpies’ lead to 18 points.
Claremont small forward Lachlan Plummer added another for the home side but moments later the speedy Will Banks kicked a great goal on the run from 40m out to give the Eagles a boost as they trailed by only 14 points at
the halfway mark of the term. Claremont continued to win the centre clearance work and quickly added five unanswered goals to stretch their lead to 44 points as the game looked to be out of the Eagles reach. Just before half-time, a goal to key forward Triffett and another from the hard running Clifford kept the Eagles just within
reach at the half-time break, trailing by 30 points: Claremont 11.6 (72) to New Norfolk 6 6 (42).
During the interval, Eagles coach Tim Butterworth demanded a better effort from his players, but the Magpies again got the jump on the Eagles early in the third term with goals to Curtain and Hanley. The Eagles got one back with a free kick from a high tackle on Jaythan Poulson in the goal square. Classy onballer Jye Bearman snapped
two goals in the term as the Eagles edged a little closer at three quarter time to trail by 24 points: Claremont 13.9 (87) to New Norfolk 9.9 (63).
Both sides had their fair share of the footy in the last term but neither side could gain any momentum, only adding one goal each for the quarter. The Eagles had no answer for the Magpie onball unit of Allison and Adams. Lucas Green was good all day and big Jake Williams had a great game and also booted three goals. The Eagles were well
served by Tyler Purdon who continues to impress. Josh Clifford played a great game applying pressure to the opposition with his hard running and tackling and also booted three majors. Tyron Bailey was a consistent four quarter performer. Zayden Kelly shows that he can hold down a key position on the backline against key forwards and the speedy Will Banks continues to break the lines when handling the footy giving his side plenty of run.
The Eagles were missing a few key personnel including Rohan Heron, Jacob Daley, Brayden Chaplin, Riley Higgins, and Josh Hills (who may be out for some time). They can look forward to a number of these players returning soon plus the likes of Nathan Eiszele, Sam Webb and some others who have been playing well in the Reserves. The
Eagles will now be looking forward to this weekend as they face off against the Huonville Lions at the Boyer Oval in what should be a big encounter for both sides.
Claremont 14.13 (97)
New Norfolk 10.12 (72)
Best – New Norfolk: J. Clifford, T. Purdon, T. Bailey, Z. Kelly, W. Banks; Claremont: M. Allison, J. Adams, J. Williams, L. Green, H. Bielleman, B. Braunack.
Goals – New Norfolk: J. Bearman 3, J. Clifford 3, W. Banks, B. Lovell, J. Poulson, C. Triffett; Claremont: C. Curtain 4, J. Williams 3, J. Adams, B. Bester, L. Plummer, L. Adams, Z. Evans-Fenton.
Reserves Report – By Wayne Walker
THE New Norfolk Reserves cracked their first win by the slim margin of one point after two close losses in rounds one and two. After an even first quarter the Magpies edged ahead in the second term to lead by 12 points: Claremont 5.4 (34) to New Norfolk 3.4 (22).
The third term was no different with both sides not giving an inch and it all came down to the last term, with the Eagles kicking to the Brooker Highway end of the ground. The Eagles were desperate for a win after going down to Cygnet in round one by two points and then the Tigers last week by one point.
Maybe the footy gods were looking down on the Eagles as they toiled away in the final minutes of the game and when they scored a late goal scores were even with only two and a half minutes left on the clock. The visitors kept pushing forward until they registered a minor score to put them one point up holding onto the win in the final seconds.
In what was a low-scoring game, Nathan Eiszele was a key focal point up forward with three goals and Sam Webb returned after an illness and booted two majors. Kyle Walker played well over the four quarters and Corey Keleher was solid on the backline playing his usual honest close checking style of footy. It was good to see Luke Browning
back for the Eagles in his first hit-out for the season taking a number of telling marks across half back in the second half of the game. Youngsters Hayden Burns and Brodie Scanlon also played well in an important win.
New Norfolk 6.13 (49)
Claremont 7.6 (48)
Best – New Norfolk: S. Webb, K. Walker, C. Keleher, H. Burns, B. Scanlon; Claremont: M. Stocks, J. Harris, J. Conway, A. Fisher, J. Harris.
Goals – New Norfolk: N. Eiszele 3, S. Webb 2, C. Ransley; Claremont: S. Bennett 3, J. Campbell 2, A. Fisher, J. Harris.
Women’s Report – By Zoie Crawford
ON Saturday we travelled to the bike track oval at New Town for our first away game of the season. After two massive home-ground wins, the girls knew it would be a big test as St Virgil’s is a skilful and physical side and last year’s SFLW runners-up.
The first 5 minutes proved this to be the case, with hard contested footy until the Eagles were able to finally score the opening goal with a brilliant handball out of traffic from Mel Green to Zoie Crawford. The first half was much of the same, with every possession having to be worked hard for. The Eagle backs were locking down on every St Virgil’s forward entry and some gutsy two-way running from the Eagle midfield group enabled them to go into half
time with a healthy 48-point lead.
After the break, the physicality continued but the Eagles didn’t back down. Mia Temple and Laura Wigg were tenacious with their attack on the football. They won several free kicks for their tackle pressure and commitment to the contest. Chloe Ford and Liv Harris again showed why their pace is going to give every team headaches this season and Sophie Farrow once again played a true captain’s game.
It was another strong performance by the Eagles as they kept their opponents scoreless for the first three quarters of the game. St Virgil’s scored a goal and two behinds in the last quarter. The lady Eagles have now won their first three matches and sit on top of the SFLW Division 3 ladder with a healthy 40,000%. Saturday sees them at home again against OHA as they strive to keep their unbeaten season intact. We would like to see our supporters there in numbers to encourage the players and witness the improvement in the team from last season.
New Norfolk 13.13 (91)
St Virgil’s 1.2 (8)
Best – New Norfolk: S. Farrow, Z. Crawford, O. Harris, C. Ford, N. Roach, J. Mansfield; St Virgil’s: A. Reid, A. Singles, F. Langford, C. McDermott, T. Davis.
Goals – New Norfolk: M. Green 4, C. Ford 4, J. Mansfield 2, Z. Crawford, A. Robilliard, M. Tomkinson; St Virgil’s: S. Burridge.
Next Games Saturday, April 30:
It will be a big day at Boyer Oval on Saturday with four games of great community football. We also host a reunion of players from the Senior and Reserve Premiership teams from 2012 and it would be good to see everyone there to mix with former and current players.
- Women v OHA at Boyer Oval at 9am
- Colts v Huonville at Boyer Oval at 10.30am
- Reserves v Huonville at Boyer Oval at 12.30pm
- Seniors v Huonville at Boyer Oval at 2.30pm
