Roos dominate in King’s Birthday showdown

AN OPPORTUNITY for the MGFNL community to support a standalone match on the King’s Birthday long weekend was always going to attract a healthy crowd, for both those who wanted to enjoy being on the sidelines of a high-quality contest and also for those astute clubs that wanted to do some forward scouting on their future opposition.

Rightfully regarded as one of the better country clubs in the State, Fish Creek once again found themselves under the spotlight, a location they are more than comfortable in and quite frankly a time at which they produce some of their very best.

The Kangaroos entered the clash as league leaders, but only one win ahead of their fifth placed opponents in MDU.

The Demons had come off a confidence building victory over last year’s Grand Finalists Newborough just a week earlier and were approaching the reigning premiers in this mid-season clash as though it was a final.

The final score, Fish Creek 11-9-75 to MDU 7-4-46, the success for the Kangaroos, built on a slow but familiar, even predictable style by the Kangaroos.

The reigning premiers did what they do, matched it with their enthusiastic visitors early, a one-point quarter time lead extended to nineteen points by the main break.

Some of Fish Creek’s best players, Tom Buckley, Jack Hayes, Roland DiBiase, Thomas Vuilermin, Matt McGannon and Lachie Gale continued to contribute further as the game unfolded, the final margin an impressive twenty-nine-point victory.

“Extremely pleasing win, MDU have been a bit of a bogey team for us the last few years so I was a bit nervous coming in,” Jarrod Walker, Fish Creek coach said.

“They play a fast style of footy and attack the corridor so defensively we had to be on. We were able to keep grinding and turning the pressure up and kick away late for a good win. A great crowd for the standalone game and a big thank you to the Meeniyan supporters who turned out in force.”

MDU actually did win one quarter, the third, by a point, but nevertheless it was a thirty-minute period in which the Demons proved they could be close with further work, and did provide some sort of consolation.

“Really enjoyable day, weather was perfect, ground a little bit underdone, but both teams played in the same conditions,” Nathan Allen, MDU coach said.

“Tough contested game of footy all day, felt really even, but Fishy were too slick for us when they went forward.” 

The Demon’s Kieran Bohn, Wayne Stewart, Connor Krohn, Jarrod Hoy, Brendan Tomada and coach Nathan Allen, doing their very best, and providing chances but not always having the required scoreboard pressure.

“We had our chances going forward but were unable to finish our work and on turnover Fishy ran in waves and cut us open,” Allen explained.

“Looking forward to a week off now, refresh, regroup and hopefully get a few numbers back against Yinnar the following week.”

MDU remain well and truly in any final’s calculations but the margin for error for the Demons like a handful of their opposition clubs is minute, given the evenness of the competition that we highlight almost on a weekly basis.

One thing however is more certain, and that is that a side, any side, is going to have to have a very good day, sprinkled with a little luck to have the better of one of the better sides that country footy has seen.