The Deniliquin Rovers have retained the coveted Warner Tasker Cup for the fourth consecutive year.
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The rivalry match against the Redeyes was played at Blighty’s home ground, in front of a decent crowd, despite the cold foggy weather.
With a few key players back, Blighty’s seniors were hoping to get their hands back on the cup, but to no avail.
The Roos were the stronger side, despite Blighty’s admirable efforts finishing with a 90-point deficit to the Rovers.
The Rovers were in control during the first quarter, kicking six goals to one and holding a 30 point lead at quarter time.
Jim Falcone was a strong contributor from the start, giving Rovers first use of the ball on many occasions and setting up scoring opportunities.
He combined well with John Allitt who controlled the centre bounces and played his best game of the year.
The second quarter saw Rovers kick another five goals to two and set up a match winning lead at half-time, despite the best efforts of Blighty who applied plenty of pressure and fought out every contest.
Rovers full forward Terry Lumbar was a constant threat, kicking four goals in the first half.
The third quarter matched the weather, with Rovers being a little inaccurate in front of goal kicking 3.5 for the quarter to Blighty’s 1.1.
Rovers playing coach Alex Hay asked his team to open up the forward line in the last quarter which improved ball movement and resulted in Rovers kicking 6 .4 for the quarter to the Redeyes 2.1.
The final margin doesn’t reflect the efforts of Blighty, who competed well all day, but does play an important role in keeping Rovers season alive.
Blighty seniors playing coach Kyel Bain said despite being flat in the first half, the side fought hard under pressure in the second, with Aaron Litchfield going down in the first quarter and having no bench.
“We struggled to get our hands on the ball and get a bit going,” he said.
“The second half we got a bit of a run going and started hitting the scoreboard more, but with no bench we started to tire at the end of both quarters.”
Final score: Rovers 20.14 (134) def Blighty 6.8 (44).
Best on for Blighty was Zac Thompson, who played a good game at full back.
Next was Nick Hay who ran hard all day and finished with three goals. Mitch Ross also had a strong game in the ruck, matching up against a bigger opponent.
The Redeyes’ last two awards went to Rhys Holden who continues to give Blighty a target at centre half forward, and Blake Charlton who gave plenty of run on the wing in the second half.
Better players for Rovers included Jim Falcone, who dominated the game all day and was a popular winner of the Warner Tasker medal for best afield.
Jack O’Callaghan controlled the backline with Falcone, and Nick Sheldon (five goals) has been a great addition on and off-field this season.
Coach Alex Hay was another good contributor kicking three goals and showing great leadership.
James Gilligan played another good game, whilst Terry Lumbar finished with six goals and Dylan Mills played well down back.
Another pleasing feature was the debut of Cam Wills who played his first senior game and showed plenty of poise and skill to join a growing list of junior players who have played senior footy this year.
In the reserves, the Roos were able to keep the Redeyes scoreless, due to a massive effort from the Rovers backline.
Rovers president and reserves coach John Glowrey said despite the score, the home side delivered a hard fought game around the ground.
“It was good to see Dom Read back attacking the contests and Haydon Mowat running up and down the wing with his silky skills,” said Glowrey.
Rovers’ Brock Thomson was played deeper in the forward line on Saturday at full forward, and made the most of it kicking five goals.
Bailey Caruso, Blake Norris, Pat Westcott and Brody Flight all scored multiple goals making the most of every opportunity.
Jack Bartlett and Bodie Arthur were both great again down back and Tim Mcdonnell, Aden Bermingham and Jamie Thorpe were exciting in the middle.
Blighty fought hard all game with Jamie Loy, Jarrod Andrews and Chris Hovenden holding up the backline.
Kev Kerr, Allan Gardiner, Anthony Street with Ash Bain were in the ruck, and tried hard all game.
Best on for Blighty was Kev Kerr who ran and tackled non stop with Allan Gardiner, Chris Hovenden, Jamie Loy and Ash Bain also receiving the awards.
Final score: Rovers 20.11 (131) def Blighty 0.0 (0).
Playing Deni Rovers at home on a very cold and foggy morning, Blighty’s thirds were certainly ready for this game.
From the first bounce we were hungry for the ball and hit the scoreboard early.
Our attack in the middle was strong and hard, clearing the ball forward giving us a good lead at halftime.
After the main break the Rovers came out firing, but credit to our boys they held up and still retained the lead at three quarter time.
In the last quarter, every single player stood up and did their part to gain control of the game and come away with an outstanding win.
Best on was Will Doolan playing wing and midfield, running hard all day.
Dean Macdonald, in his second game for the year due to injury, was dominate in our forward line kicking a couple of goals.
Jarrod Bashford, playing off half back, was solid clearing the ball out at pace.
Riley Webb was also outstanding around the ground all day, playing centre.
This was one of those games that took a whole team effort to come away with an awesome win.
Final score: Blighty 9.5 (59) def Deni 4.1 (25).
Coming up against Deni Rovers, the fourths knew it was going to be a very tough match.
Even though it was a cold and very foggy morning, the young Redeyes came out with purpose and were very competitive in the first quarter.
Unfortunately as the game progressed, the Rovers were just to strong and the game slipped away from us.
Everyone should hold their heads up high as they are a very good side.
We will take a lot out of this game and start working on a few more things at training.
Better players for the day included Lara Strong, who was given a tagging role and executed it really well.
Ash Hines had a another strong game and is really starting to string together some good games of footy.
Cobi Johnson is Mr Consistent. He battles all day and does not stop.
Jack Culton played another great game down the backline collecting plenty of possessions and Reagan Macdonald had another big day coming out of fullback and really starting to find his feet in the backline.
Bailey Hemphill played his best game to date and got plenty of the footy all around the ground.
Final score: Blighty 0.1 (1) def by Deni 16.15 (111).
The fifths came up against Deni on another freezing cold, foggy and miserable morning.
We knew from the get go it was going to be a tough game but our young guns pulled the boots, shorts and guernseys on ready to play.
The first quarter started off slower than normal, with the ball very slippery and the kids feeling the chill.
After the main break the kids come out guns blazing all warmed up. They were firing away.
It was a awesome game to watch as the kids found themselves coming up against most of the mates.
Best on this week went to Sam Strong, who was a ball magnet all game and racked up a lot of possessions.
Next award went to Zane Sibraa who had another cracking game running out of the guts all day.
Jackson Cleve is another one who is starting to shine around the ground, collecting plenty of the ball.
Logan Andrews is also a very reliable player who we can count on.
Lachie MacDonald also received an award this week, as one of our young guns who goes in hard all day.
The last award for the day went to Monty, the youngest and smallest fella on the team.
He goes in hard at every contest and gives it a red hot crack, he never fails to disappoint.