EDFL round 12 review

By Ken Moore
CATANI battled hard to see off a young and enthusiastic Nar Nar Goon by 36 points at Catani on Saturday.
The Goon had no answer to John Entwisle, who read the ball well, marked soundly and bagged seven goals to make the difference for the Blues. Ben Maroney was good at setting attacks from defence and captaincoach Paul Alger at his combative best. Glen Hall held the defence together and, having recovered from his third broken leg, there was a lot to like about Justin Evans, who went in hard in his first outing for the season. Josh Tymensen showed his usual class and wowed the crowd with one kick out from full back that cleared the centre by well over 10 metres. Goon youngster Andrew Oldmeadow played all over the field and notched four goals when at centre halfforward to again show he was a rising star. Allan McArthur performed solidly in defence, ruckman Pat Delosa toiled hard and Spencer Noonan and Matthew Wade came under notice.
Buln Buln was torn apart early by Nyora conceding eight firstquarter goals and went on to lose by 104 points. The Lyrebirds failed to score against the breeze in the first and third quarters but saved face outscoring the Saints in the second and fourth. Captain Anthony Baker, Brent Eastwell, Shane Tyler and Andy Musgrove all won plenty of possessions and Mitch Nobelius chimed in with three majors. Rick Mitchard did well to hold Nathan Osler to only three goals. For Nyora, small ruckman Matt Hendry dominated at both ends of the ground, Luke Watson, Brad Langley and Jeremy Hopkins all won a lot of possessions in and around the middle. Emerging 18yearolds Chris Langley, with six goals, and Tim Smith (three) proved a handful for the Lyrebird defence.
NilmaDarmum gave Poowong a scare when it rammed on three goals inside the first 10 minutes of the first quarter. The Bombers led early in the second quarter before the Magpies settled and went on to win by 68 points. Veteran Matt Joseph turned back the clock with a sevengoal effort and first gamers Justin Mileto (two goals) and halfforward Jacob Enbom both acquitted themselves well. The everreliable Ren Wyatt in defence, Adrian Carr and Shane Youngman all made their presence felt for the Bombers. Utility Scott Blaney, the twin brother of Bunyip’s Darren, and wingman David Cameron won plenty of possessions. It was a vastly improved effort by NilmaDarnum.
Longwarry chalked up a handsome 92point victory over Lang Lang. Paul Williams was at his elusive best, kicking six majors, and Glenn Browney notched five goals but soured his performance with 11 behinds. Ken Towt and Daniel Brown (in his 150th game) provided stoic defence and Aaron Serong made a handy debut. Despite the final margin, Tigers captaincoach Troy Datsun was pleased with his side’s effort and singled out for praise Adam Baxter and Alex Sarakin, who worked hard in midfield.
Ellinbank’s finals hopes have been dashed after it went down by 58 points to Cora Lynn. The Bankers pushed the Cobras in the first half, only trailed by seven points before Cora Lynn closed out the match after posting five goals to none in the third term. The double act of Cam Haynes (four goals) and Ben McKay (three) provided strong forward targets. Ben Aidrie played another fine game in defence and the former ROC players Lee Dowsett and Steve Nuutinen (the latter with three goals) both impressed. Youngster Tim Payne, son of local football stalwart Ray, played his first senior game for the season and used the ball well off his halfback flank.
Unerring accuracy by Warragul Industrials gave the Dusties an eightpoint victory over NeerimNeerim South. In stark contrast the Cats missed many straightforward chances. A five goalstoone third quarter by the Dusties turned around an 18point halftime shortfall into a fivepoint lead at the last change. Despite having 11 scoring shots to four in the last term the Cats could not reel in the deficit.
Talented ROC recruit Chris Jones proved a headache for the Cats with six goals, utility Dave Bracken was everywhere, another former ROC player, Nathan Vanderplight, was busy around the packs and Andrew Davidson defiant in defence. For NeerimNeerim South, halfback Darren Ratten, onballers Chris Urie and Josh O’Brien and defenders Scott McIntosh and Mark Mapleson offered much resistance. Cats captaincoach Paul Whelan was prominent and scored three goals but tarnished his good game with seven behinds.