The Grafton Tigers have made a triumphant return to their home ground Ellem Oval on Saturday with a very solid win over the bottom placed North Coffs Kangaroos in round 11 of the North Coast AFL competition.
For Grafton, it was the first game in a fortnight due to the forfeit of Nambucca Lions last week and the Tigers were eager to get on the oval and play some footy, with the Roos coming off their win over second placed Coffs Swans last weekend, the Tigers were not going to underestimate their opponents and were determined to start strongly.
For the beginning of the first quarter, it looked as though the Roos had turned up to play as they matched up to the Tigers onslaught early but some tactical errors on the Roos part to drop 3 players free only assisted the Tigers midfield to run rampant and find their rhythm with Grafton going on to kick their best first quarter score this season, booting nine majors to the bewildered Roos two to lead at the first break 56 to 15.
The Roos returned to the field a different side in the second quarter and again matched it with the Tigers, solid defence from both teams saw the ball frequently at both ends of the oval, only for the talents of goalsneak Dale Beaver, and forwards Shawn Purton and Evan Duryea were Grafton able to add another 4 goals to their score while solid defence by Ryan Sheather and Dion McGregor helped to contain Coffs to just 2 goals for their efforts.
Although Grafton led by 50 at the main break, coach Adi Campbell was not entirely happy with the sides performance, feeling that the team needed to stop playing individual football and work as a team.
The third quarter saw the Tigers take note of the coach’s requests and combining well all over the paddock , particularly the midfield trio of Beaver, Sam Morrison and Ronald Davis who were providing plenty of football forward where Purton and Zacek were able to mark in the forward pocket only to find Duryea or Beaver free in front of goal .
The Roos were never going to stop trying though and posted 4 additional majors to their total off the boots of Brad Giri and Nathan Harris but were powerless to stop the Tigers with Purton, Duryea, & Zacek having a great day with the boot and adding another 8 goals to lead at 3 quarter time 132 to the Roos 55.
From that point on the Tigers could have walked home but to the teams credit, they kept their intensity and focused on finishing the game only at the final siren, again the Roos didn’t lie down and still stuck it to the Grafton side, adding a final 3 goals to their score with the Tigers adding a further 5.
Final scores:
Grafton: 9.2 13.3 21.6 26.11 (167)
North Coffs: 2.3 4.7 8.7 10.8 (68)
Grafton Goal Kickers: D. Beaver 7, S. Purton 5, E. Duryea 4, D. Zacek 3, L. Hayman 2, R. Sheather , S. Morrison, A. Lollback , W. Bagnall , J. Darby
Best Players for Grafton: D. Beaver, S. Morrison, D. Gordon, S. Duroux, S. Purton, R. Sheather
North Coffs Goal Kickers: N. Harris 3, B. Giri 2, L. Miller 2, J. Latham 2, B. Sykes
Best Players: N. Harris, B. Gardiner, Z. Wyllie, M. Gleeson, M. Dawson, J. Pymont
The victory sees Grafton still sitting comfortably at the top of the North coast AFL ladder almost 2 wins clear on percentages and with only 4 rounds before the finals, the loss for the Roos still sees them cemented at the bottom of the table.
Next week Sat 16/Jul sees the Tigers host the South Coffs Swans at Ellem Oval in what is a eagerly anticipated match after the Swans were able to outsmart the Tigers in round 7 and some payback has been mentioned amongst the Tigers playing group, however after recently being relegated to third spot on the ladder with 2 losses in as many weeks, the Swans will be determined to still show the league they are in contention for the flag this season by knocking of Grafton at home .
Last Modified on 11/07/2011 23:08