Grafton Tigers AFL team has continued its strong run heading into the finals with a comprehensive victory over the Coffs Swans by 151 points at a cold and windy Fitzroy oval in Coffs Harbour on Saturday.
The round 13 matchup between the top and bottom teams of the North Coast AFL, it was always going to be a tough match for the Swans, but with the Tigers missing 6 of their regular starters, including the competitions leading goal kicker, Lee Anderson, the Swans started the match with some hope of staying with the minor premiers.
However, that quickly diminished with the Tigers taking control of the match early and controlling the ball superbly, Ronald Davis and Evan Duryea were unstoppable in the midfield and with Sam Morrison playing at full forward and Chris Holder roaming free from the wing as an extra forward, the Swans had no answers in the first quarter as the Tigers raced out to a comfortable 52 to 12 lead.
With the wind at their backs, the Swans were the first to score in the second term and it looked like a comeback may be possible, but once the Tigers backlines kicked into gear, Kelly Thompson, Justin Darby and Ryan Sheather simply shut down any ball that came within the Tigers defensive 50, with the midfield still dominating possession and finding their forwards easily, the Tigers were able to extended their lead at the half time break to 62.
Fearing his team had become complacent in the second quarter, Coach Adi Campbell gave his troops a stern dressing down at half time, reminding them that their future matches will need their full attention for the whole game and that this match should be no different.
When play resumed in the third term, the Tigers heeding their coaches instructions were ruthless in attack, again dominating from the middle and keeping the ball pinned in their opposition defensive zone where the forwards of Dan Zacek, Carl Boehme and Morrison were able to find space under pressure, while the Swans never gave up and occasionally finding space on the flanks to get the ball moving forward, once in the Tigers defensive zone, they were again met by the solid Grafton backlines who continued to give nothing away.
When the siren sounded for the final change of ends, the Tigers were clear by 105 with the scores 136 to 31.
With the game a forgone conclusion when play resumed for the last quarter, the Swans still refused to give up and continued to apply pressure to Grafton, and for their efforts added a further 2 goals running the flanks, however, with the dominance of the Tigers through the middle, even into the wind, the Tigers still managed to add goals to their total easily, with 5 to go, the Swans heads finally dropped and the Tigers added their final 3 goals of the day with little resistance.
The victory ensures the Tigers have a double chance at defending last season’s premiership in the finals and will finish on top of the league ladder as minor premiers for the second year in a row.
Seniors Final Scores:
GRAFTON TIGERS: 8.4 13.9 20.16 29.21 (195)
COFFS SWANS: 2.0 4.1 5.1 7.2 (44)
Goal Kickers Grafton: S Morrison 6 C Boehme 5 D Zacek 5 R Sheather 3 E Duryea 3 C Holder 3 R Newman 2 L Hayman S Duroux goals
Coffs Swans ( D Dickson 3 A Munro 2 T Snow M Pearce goals)
In reserve grade, with the scores even at half time, the Swans powered away after the main break to a convincing victory, and with the Tigers prolific goal scorer, Mark Blundell suffering a possible season ending leg injury, the reserve grade premiership hopes of the Tigers are not looking good.
Reserve Grade final scores:
Grafton Tigers: 5.5 (35)
Coffs Swans: 11.8 (74)
Grafton Goal Kickers: J. Lollback 2, M. Blundell , T. Predo , C. Leslie
Coffs Goal Kickers: C. Ball 3, T. Snow 3, T. McMullen 2, D. Attwood , K. Bellemore , M. Andrews
Next week sees the Tigers with the bye before the long road trip to Port Macquarie to take on the Magpies on August 4.
Last Modified on 22/07/2012 12:39