Eastern Riverina Chronicle – Round 14 – Review

Only five points separated the teams at the last change before Duncan McMaster, Matt Tullberg and coach Matt Rava took control.

On a day when forwards struggled to have an impact, John Robbins kicked four for Culcairn and Declan Galvin three for Osborne.

Adam Eady maintained his great form; Culcairn with great support from Nath Stroh, Jess Sutherland and Jye Shields. The Lions are still in sixth on the ladder, with Howlong level on points in seventh and a weaker percentage. Culcairn will be away to Jindera this week in a tough encounter.

Henty put a finish to Jindera’s top-two prospects with an impressive 25-point win in a high-standard clash at home.

In an electrifying opening term, Jindera kicked six goals straight while Henty added 5.2 to whet the appetite for supporters of both sides.

Just two goals to each side in the second had the visitors Jindera four points in front at half-time, before the red-hot premiership favorites clicked into gear.

The Swampies booted eight goals to four in the second half, with Daniel Cox in scintillating form the springboard of many attacks.

The forward set-up of Damian Cupido (five goals), Heath Ohlin (four) and Jarrah Maksymow (three) proved to much for the Bulldogs’ defence.

Trent Castles kicked five for Jindera to leave him and Cupido level on 72 goals for the season. Dylan Pettingill and Michael Galvin were also solid for the Bulldogs.

Brock Burrum Saints have all but ended the Rand Walbundrie Walla Giants’ season with a solid 34-point win in front of a huge crowd at Walla. John Roy Williams was best afield for the Saints, with man mountain Matt Seiter and fellow tall Aidan Johnson not far behind.

Johnson landed two goals from outside 50 among his three for the day, while the reliable Aaron Livermore also slotted three.

The Saints look to have secured second position with a month of football left, while the Giants are left with a nightmare draw to finish the season. They are a 1½ games outside the top six, with four matches against Osborne, Jindera, Culcairn and Henty.

Myles Aalbers made a successful return and exciting young ruckman Mitch Thomas competed strongly against the experienced Seiter.

Holbrook has moved a step closer to breaking its five-year finals drought with a hard-earned 20-point win over Murray Magpies at Urana Road, Lavington.

Holbrook took control with a tighter defensive effort and more accountability in midfield over the next three quarters.

Andrew Mackinlay led the way with six goals in a season best performance, while Duncan Trethowan, Curtis Steele and Andrew Taylor stood tall.

Simon Turner had a big impact when put into the ruck for Holbrook.

Michael Simms, Hayden Edwards and Daniel Maher were best for Magpies.

Howlong had a massive 113-point win over a disappointing Lockhart at Howlong.

In doing so, it kept its finals chances alive.

The Spiders played their best football for some years with an eight-goal-to-nothing first quarter, blowing the visitors out of the game.

Dan Manning and Jay Koehler both kicked five goals, while Manny Hughes’ four-goal haul was his season’s best.

Alex Dilger kicked three as the Spider forwards feasted.

The end result went completely against the trend of the Demons’ excellent form of late.

They badly missed James Creasy, who was out with a broken hand.

Howlong’s run home is a testing one with matches against Holbrook, Brock Burrum, Osborne and a huge final round clash at home to Jindera.

Billabong Crows climbed off the bottom of the ladder with their third win of the season against CDHBU at Coreen.

The Crows kicked the last two goals of the game to get up by just five points.

A Tim Austin goal put them in front with two minutes left.

CDHBU had its chances in the dying stages, but the Power could only register two behinds in a thrilling finish.

Austin’s heroics capped off a superb match.

ROUND 15

Brock Burrum v Murray Magpies (Burrum)

Holbrook v Howlong

Jindera v Culcairn

Lockhart v CDHBU

Billabong Crows v Henty (Oaklands)

Osborne v Rand Walb Walla