ROUND 2 v CYGNET
ALL Eagle teams were at home on Boyer Oval last Saturday in glorious sunny conditions, which saw players applying sunscreen prior to games. The new-look Lady Eagles were first up against South-East Suns and what a fantastic game it turned out to be with the home side showing how much it had improved from last season. With several new players performing well, they completely dominated for four quarters piling on 19 goals while holding the visitors scoreless. The Eagles eventually ran out convincing 128-point winners.
The Colts followed against the strong Southern Storm Colts. In a highly entertaining game, the young Eagles showed signs of some very good football. Unfortunately, they were unlucky to lose the match by a solitary point. Jack Miller was outstanding with nine goals straight in a dominant performance.
The Eagle Reserves were looking to regroup after a disappointing display the previous week against Lindisfarne. With several regular players back, they certainly performed much better against Cygnet in a good four quarter effort. Like the Colts, they fell agonisingly short to lose by two points in an entertaining game.
The main game saw the young Senior Eagle team face a huge task against last year’s premiers Cygnet. As expected, the powerful Port side dominated the game from the first bounce and despite the home side trying hard they were well beaten, eventually losing by 91 points.
On Good Friday, April 15, the New Norfolk women meet Claremont at 10am at Boyer Oval and the Colts have a bye. The Reserves take on Hobart at the TCA at noon and the Seniors will meet the Tigers at the same venue at 2pm.
CHRIS LOVELL
MATCH REPORTS
Port turned on the power – Wayne Marshall reports
REIGNING SFL premier Cygnet proved to be too powerful for the New Norfolk Eagles last Saturday, running out massive 89-point winners in perfect conditions at the big Boyer Oval. Port played their usual short kicking style of footy, setting up play from the backline with precise passing by foot finding the loose man. This resulted in many entries into their forward 50, setting up their mix of small and tall forwards throughout the four quarters.
Port simply had many more scoring options with ten individual goalkickers. Tall key forwards Joe Direen, James Zeitzen, Jack Tammens and Jacob Brereton booted 2 goals each, along with dangerous small forward Jake Dance who kicked five goals. The Eagles had fewer options with the only standout being Ben Lovell who battled hard all day for three goals.
First quarter action saw Port quickly go forward in the first minute of play with playing coach Thor Boscott converting for the first 6 pointer of the game. The visitors again pushed forward finding Toby Cowen who also kicked truly. The Eagles answered through Riley Higgins who received a free kick 30m out directly in front for New Norfolk’s first major.
Eagle ruckman Jacob Daley had his hands full with Port’s ruck duo of Joe Direen and the giant size Jacob Brereton. This duo enabled the Cygnet on ball brigade to be on top for most of the contest. Other key matchups had Eagle backman Rohan Heron on Port forward Jack Tammens, Jordan Banks-Smith was beside James Zeitzen and Josh Farrow picked up Boscott.
The Eagles answered from the centre bounce with Daley tapping the footy to running machine Jye Bearman who passed to Josh Clifford who then found Lovell on the lead. Lovell sealed an outstanding piece of play by registering the Eagles’ second from 25m out. Port quickly found their groove with goals to Direen and Dance to go into the quarter time break with a 19-point lead: Cygnet 5.1 (31) to New Norfolk 2.0 (12).
Port jumped further ahead early in the second term with goals to Zeitzen and Boscott to advance to a 32-point lead. The Eagle backline was under enormous pressure. Young Eagle recruit Brayden Butler gathered the footy and delivered a lace out pass to Lovell for his second major. Moments later Sam Webb missed two crucial set shots which could have had the Eagles in contact with the Port on the scoreboard. Port gained momentum in the latter part of the quarter with goals to Direen, Livingston and Dance which enabled them to skip away to a 36-point lead at the main break: Cygnet 9.2 (56) to New Norfolk 3.2 (20).
Cygnet slammed on three quick goals in the first six minutes of the third term with dangerous small forward Jake Dance causing the Eagles plenty of headaches up forward. Brayden Butler once again featured in a passage of play with a kick into the Eagle forward line that found Clifford who took a spectacular mark in the goal square for a much-needed goal. At this point of the contest Cygnet was more physical and stronger around the contested ball and when clear used the football to advantage. Three-quarter-time scores were: Cygnet 13.6 (84) to New Norfolk 5.2 (32).
It was all one-way traffic in the last term as the visitors controlled most of the play adding another six goals for the quarter while the Eagles could only manage two behinds. The two sides are at either end of the scale with Cygnet being a bigger, stronger and more experienced unit while the Eagles are in a development stage with many new faces finding their way in SFL senior footy.
For the Eagles, no one tried harder than former coach Josh Clifford. Jacob Daley performed well over four quarters against the Cygnet twin tower ruck duo of Direen and Brereton. Ben Lovell was a shining light up forward scoring three majors and Jake Bearman battled hard for the contested ball. Brayden Butler showed skill and poise when handling the footy.
The Eagles now head to the city to take on the Hobart Tigers at the TCA ground in round three on Good Friday at the end of this week. This game will be a crucial encounter for both clubs as they look for their first win for the season.
Make sure you grab a copy of the footy Record on home match days as it has plenty of great information on not only the current player lists and profiles but also some interesting history on the club along with milestones and news from the clubs. There was even a story on the great Ash Barty in last week’s edition so don’t miss your copy each home game for the bargain price of $2.
New Norfolk 5G 4B 34 points
Cygnet 19G 11B 125 points
Best – New Norfolk: J. Clifford, J. Daley, C. Morgan, Z. Kelly, B. Lovell, Jake Bearman, B. Butler; Cygnet: J. Brereton, C. Rawnsley, T. Cowen, L. Watt, J. Lister, J. Dance.
Goals – New Norfolk: B. Lovell 3, J. Clifford, R. Higgins; Cygnet: J. Dance 5, T. Boscott 2, J. Direen 2, T. Cowen 2, J. Zeitzen 2, J. Brereton 2, L. Carmichael, B. Livingston, J. Tammens, C. Rawnsley.
Reserves Report – by Wayne Walker
THE Eagle Reserves fell short by just two points in what was an entertaining game last Saturday. It was certainly a big improvement on the previous week’s performance against Lindisfarne. The club welcomed the return of the three Eiszele brothers (Nathan, Jordan, and Tyson) who all had great impact on the contest.
Both sides had control of the footy at stages early in the quarter but failed to find the scoreboard until the eight-minute mark. Nathan Eiszele took a good grab in the forward pocket on a tight angle and kicked truly for the home side’s first goal. The Eagles went into attack once again finding Jordan Eiszele, who marked at the true centre half forward position 40m out. He booted the footy straight through the big sticks for the Eagles second. Port had their fair share of the play but were wasteful in front of goal as the quarter time score showed: New Norfolk 2.1 (13) to Cygnet 0.4 (4).
The Eagles found Nathan Eiszele once again early in the second term in the forward pocket. He steered through his second major to give the home side a 15-point lead. Port bounced back with a goal to Jack O’Neil, followed by another from Mitchell Direen to even the scores at the 16-minute mark. At this stage of the contest Port was getting great drive from James O’Neill, James Caulfield, and Mitchell Lister. Eagle Tyler Purdon was mopping up across half back, while Jordan and Tyson Eiszele were gaining many possessions. William Watts battled hard in the ruck contests against bigger opposition in Port’s big Patrick Ford. Half-time scores were all tied up: Eagles 3.2 (20) to Cygnet 2.8 (20).
In a see- sawing battle, Port edged in front during the third term kicking four goals to the Eagles’ two, to give the visitors a 10-point lead at three-quarter time. Young Eagle Nathan Wakefield suffered a nasty knee injury which put him out of the contest and the Eagles were one down on the bench which had an impact with rotations in the hot and sunny conditions. Port managed to score one goal in the last term while the Eagles added two goals and two behinds to just miss out on a win.
Assistant coach Bradley Chaplin spoke to the playing group after the game and although there was disappointment, he said there were good signs that came out of the game for the weeks ahead. Eagle youngsters Thomas Lovell and Jacob Goodsell performed well throughout the game.
New Norfolk 7.6 (48)
Cygnet 7.8 (50)
Best – New Norfolk: J. Eiszele, T. Lovell, T. Eiszele, N. Eiszele, J. Goodsell, W. Watts; Cygnet: J. Caulfield, M. Lister, J. Direen, M. Direen, J. O’Neill, J. Woolnough.
Goals – New Norfolk: N. Eiszele 3, J. Eiszele, T. Lovell, S. Upton, W. Cook; Cygnet: J. O’Neill 2, M. Direen, E. Ross, J. Caulfield, C. Wheatley, J. Woolnough.
Colts Report – by Chris Lovell
IN sunny and warm conditions, the Eagle Colts were looking to record their first win of the season against Southern Storm following a narrow loss to Lindisfarne the previous week. The first quarter was a good even contest with both sides showing good skills. Accurate kicking for goal by both sides was evident with the visitors holding a slender 1-point advantage at quarter time: Southern Storm 3.1 (19) to New Norfolk 3.0 (18).
The second quarter once again showed the evenness of the two teams with both sides having five shots at goal. The home side continued its accuracy by scoring five goals straight to the Storm’s two goals and three behinds to hold a handy 14-point advantage at the main break: New Norfolk 8.0 (48) to Southern Storm 5.4 (34 ).
The Port began to get on top in the third quarter and kicked five goals two behinds while holding the home side to two goals and one behind to hold a five-point break at three-quarter-time: Southern Storm 10.6 (66) to 10.1 (61). The scene was set for a great final term as the young Eagles were fired up to record their first victory of the season. The lead changed several times in a highly entertaining final quarter. Unfortunately for the young Eagles, the visitors managed to hold on for a nail-biting one-point victory.
It was another disappointing loss for the boys after another gallant effort. The highlight of the game was a superb performance by Jack Miller who kicked nine goals straight. He was well supported by Jacob Goodsell, Hayden Burns, Jamie Devine, Jordan George, and Bailey Wheeler. It was another solid performance by the boys. They have now played possibly two of the strongest sides in the competition for two narrow losses. They have a lot of talent in this squad, and they are sure to improve as the season progresses.
New Norfolk 14.1 (85)
Southern Storm 13.8 (86)
Best – New Norfolk: J. Miller, J. Goodsell, H. Burns, J. Devine, J. George, B. Wheeler; Southern Storm: Z. Curtain, M. Polley, T. Clark, C. Kirkpatrick, H. Watt, C. Clark.
Goals – New Norfolk: J. Miller 9, B. Scanlon 2, D. Branch, T. Carr, J. Devine; Southern Storm: C. Kirkpatrick 5, H. Watt 2, J. Doyle 2, Z. Armstrong-Burgess, C. Eaves, T. Clark, O. Wood.
Women’s Report – by Zoie Crawford
BRIGHT and early on Saturday morning our new look lady Eagles ran out for their season opener against South East Suns at Boyer Oval. In chilly and dewy conditions, the girls showed what they were capable of and made a big statement in the opening quarter by piling on seven goals. It was a fast paced and highly skillful display all over the ground.
The second quarter tightened up and the midfield group had to work hard to get some outside run. The backline generals of Dannielle Clifford, Nat Bearman and Laura Wigg stood tall and were absolutely impenetrable, thwarting many South East Suns forward line entries.
The third quarter opened up again for the Eagles as the pure pace of Olivia Harris through the middle and Mia Temple and Gracie Kube on the wings began to open up the forward fifty. The class shown by the strong leading and marking of Melinda Green and Taylah Tangata up forward began to give the home side plenty of scoring options. We also got our first taste of showtime by Montana Percy who kicked three goals in a quarter in her first game of footy.
In an extremely powerful performance, the girls ran out 128-point winners. Unfortunately, as they kept the visitors scoreless, they failed to record any percentage, which kept them out of top spot on the ladder. With 14 club debutants (four new to footy altogether), to say coach Dean King was a happy man after the game would be an understatement.
This week the girls are at home on Boyer Oval again at 10am this Friday morning. Do yourself a favour and get around this exciting group as they strive for the ultimate reward in 2022.
New Norfolk 19.14 (128)
South East Suns 0.0 (0)
Best – New Norfolk: T. Tangata, S. Farrow, M. Percey, M. Tomkinson, O. Harris, C. Ford; South East Suns: M. Monks, C. Byrne, J. Roy, R. Sharman, A. Johnson, B. Foale.
Goals – New Norfolk: T. Tangata 5, M. Green 4, C. Ford 3, M. Percey 3, Z. Crawford 2, L. Wigg, J. Hay.
