After our barcrawl later today after the final siren, I do hope our visitors, the Hughenden Prairie Dogs are able to get to the airport ok..... It's been a wonderful few days here but........ Strict law enforcement to keep drink drivers off the streets during the Songkran festival led to the seizure of 5,212 vehicles in four days, the National Council for Peace and Order says.
One way traffic at Flying Fish Cove Park, where the Panthers lead 1157/13 to 962/14. The Smugglers have been nothing short of awful and are on track to post their lowest score ever. The Panthers have been toying with their favourite bunnies and should run out winners by around 300 points in an absolute belting.
Thanks Holky - that's great news (Why didn't I notice that earlier???) That means that there was a 38 point margin, and although Parfitt was kinda bad (52 points), he wasn't that bad. So, pending final scores, its a Coolgardie win by 14 points. Coolgardie 1195 / 79.7 Eden 1181 / 78.7
A further note to everyone - if you could all just stop scoring huge against my team, that would just be great! Seriously... 5,333 points against in four rounds (or 1,333 each game) is just crazy!!!
The Bulls have come out on top of an entertaining and high scoring affair, downing the home town Buffaloes 1384 - 1319. Full match report to follow.
MATCH REPORT. In a close game at The Stadium, Banchang had their 1st win of the season with a 1220-1189 victory over the visiting Hughenden. The visitors jumped to an early lead due mainly to the "Yo Yo" man, Elliot Yeo who had his best score so far with 141, ably supported by Sheppard 86, who overcame an injury scare to take his place down back in defence. The Prairie Dogs continued playing attacking footy with Oliver and Shiel 112 and 111 respectively,scoring heavily with "Big Sandi" 91 and Membrey 85, doing their bit. But the rest of the playing group fell away drastically in the 2nd half. Banchang, in the meantime, weathered the early onslaught, playing team footy, and taking the lead from their onfield leader, Taylor Adams 113, and putting in a sustained team effort. Hall 111, Suckling 99, Robinson off the Interchange 94, Lyons 83 and 2nd gamer Nick Newman with 80, all contributed to a winning score. But it was left to the "Mad Irishman" Zac Tuohy, in the final quarter to come through with his 96, to hold off the opposition and allow The Barcrawlers to register their 1st win for 2017, and leaving Hughenden Prairie Dogs still searching for their first. It doesn't get any easier next week for both teams with Hughenden at home to the table topping Nuytsland Vikings, while Banchang travel to Staghorn Flat to take on the 3rd placed Bulls. BOG. 3. Yeo 141 (HPD) 2. T.Adams 113 (BB) 1. Oliver 112 (HPD) BIG TAP. Sandi def Sinclair 91-65.
Gisborne 1139 defeated by Cow Bay 1159 Gisborne staff members are buckling up for potentially the first 0 win season in ORFFU history after losing to perennial-bottom-enders-turned-finals-contenders Cow Bay in Round 4 of ORFFU|5 1139 to 1159. The scoreline reflects a close contest but fails to show the improvement shown by the Crocs, who have come on in leaps and bounds (not sure if crocodiles can leap and bound but anyway) under the tuition of miracle-worker coach @fresh. Looking through the lines, the Grenades were thoroughly outclassed in defence. Jack Martin shone for the Crocs with what could prove to be a breakout 110 (although it was against Carlton) as did number 1 pick Brighton Grammar boy Andrew McGrath with a 97. Cow Bay will be hoping that these two players can be the cornerstone of the defence for years to come. Old-timer Heath Grundy led the Grenades defence with 85 but no other players seemed up to the task as the Crocs clamped their jaws around the D. In the midfield, #gisbornegun Lachie Neale showed glimpses of his form last year with an incredible 90~ 3rd quarter and 140 point game which dragged Freo over the line and very nearly sunk the Crocs. Hopper was valiant with 90 and looks to be one for the future. Young guns Billings and Fiorini are finally beginning to show why they were selected both hitting 90s to further press the Crocs underwater, however, the young Grenades foolishly did not realise that crocodiles cannot drown. In the ruck line, the water animals did their best to drown after Boyd went down early for only 3 points, giving Witts an easy 79 point Big Tap win. It was a smart decision to rest Brendan Whitecross in the forward line, especially when he didn't play so Cam McCarthy's huge 100 point (POOYA SURELY!) game gave the Crocs a stranglehold of the forward line battle. For the Grenades, only Steele was able to stand up with a 93 point game showing why he was held onto in the off-season despite numerous big offers from rival clubs. Leeeeeevvvvvviiiii somehow managed 74 as well. Gunston was able to seal the deal late in the fourth with an 80 point game, scuttling the faint hope that the Gisborne crowd held onto throughout most of the match. Powell-Pepper and Wilson both put in sub-par performances and another POOYA effort for the Crocs, this time from Patton with 118, safely accounted for the young Gisborne players in this positional line. With Patton and Cameron on the same team, @fresh is almost guaranteed of a bag of goals each week, especially with the Giants playing the way they are. Despite some good early season form, I'm not sure Cow Bay have improved enough yet to be playing finals this year, however the team has come a long way from the spoon last year. With a bit of luck they could push for 8th, but I see them finishing in the 11-15 range this season. The next few years will be exciting to be at the helm of this team though with the young talented players on the list. BAFFU 3. Neale 140 2. Patton 118 1. Martin 110
Match Report: Coolgardie v Eden In the match of the round* it was the home team, Coolgardie Prospectors, who finally fell across the line against the visiting Eden Whalers. The final scores were 1,195 to 1,181 making it a 14 point win to the home side. The match started slowly, with Eden seemingly forgetting that there was a Thursday game, although a couple of the red-and-whites were seen warming up before bouncedown. Maybe it was just that the visitors were keen to put their efficiency on display, also calling it a day earlier than the home side, and seen downing some drinks while watching the end of their own match on the big screen. The Coolgardie defence has a lot to answer for, again letting the coach down with some deplorable displays of football. Scores ranging between 40 and 70 were seen, for a total of 218 points. Conversely the Eden defence was a model of solidarity. A tight bunch they were, with a range of 80 to 93 points (and even the emergency fell within that range), lead by R Tarrant, to show a total of 345 points. The mids for the Prospectors saw gun JPK top score with 113 points, Wines and Ebert came back to the pack with 90-odd each, while Jaeger didn't even turn up, making for a stressful wait to see if Parfitt could pull on the jumper and boots, which he finally did to post a modest 52 points. Total score of 352 points. The Whalers mids took a similar turn, with Scully jumping out of the blocks on 117 points to lead the side, while Jones, Curnow, and Zaharakis could only manage between 67 and 86 between them. The coach will surely be looking for a better performance from those three boys in the coming weeks. Total score 341 points. The rucks was the Mummy show, with the big local hammering on 135 points to completely demolish the visiting 'Berger and his 55. With a dominant display like that, the local fans were expecting big things, and shouldn't have seen the close and enthralling game that they did. Up forward for the home side was a model of mediocrity. Top score was Westhoff on a lowly 78 points, while Miller and Wright pitched in for 71 apiece, and Fantasia came crashing back down from his lofty highs of only a few weeks ago, to score 69 points. Total score 289 points. The visitors forward line didn't fare much better. Brown lead the way on 98, Hrovat was serviceable on 80, Lynch of the wrong Tom variety only scored 67, while Stretch played to his name, for an OOP 26 points. Total score 271 points. Coming off the bench was a second-highest score for the game of 131 to big Stefan, while Watts had the fans asking the same question, with just 70 points to his name. 201 points off the pine. The visitors bench was more consistent, with an 89 from Atkins, and an 80 from Gibson, totaling 169 points, but not really setting the world on fire. Next week sees the Prospectors taking the Raid and the Mortein on the road with them, to south-eastern Victoria for a match with the Korumburra Blowflys. The Whalers are back at home in Eden to welcome the former biggest losers in the Ararat Armadillos. Good luck to all teams. The votes: 3 - Shane Mumford, Coolgardie, 135 points. 2 - Stefan Martin, Coolgardie - 131 points. 1 - Tom Scully, Eden, 117 points. Giant Tap: Shane Mumford, Coolgardie, defeated Matthew Leuenberger, Eden, by 80 points, 135 to 55. *Smallest margin, so I'm claiming it!
Love the write-up @Tomster , some great lines in there I agree that the Crocs are still a little way off finals but the coaching staff will be hoping that a finish out of the bottom 2 is on the cards this year. 2 wins in a row for the Crocs, a first in Cow Bay FC history!
The drain of 2 away trips in 2 weeks is starting to show with the Parasites leading the lethargic home side. Cow Bay 281/4/70 Pakenham 348/4/87 Just the one ton so far in Curtly Hampton with his score of 103.
We're in to the second half at Mill Park with Banchang remaining in the lead over Staghorn Flat SFB 664/8/83 BB 998/13/76.8 A big Sunday awaits for the Bulls as Big Boy, Rough, Wellingham, Mackie & Selwood take on Tuohy as they look to minimise the Barcrawlers lead heading into Monday Night and ANZAC day footy
@YAD69 's hometown Barracudas 8/723/90 lead the visiting Sandgropers 6/621/103. There's a long way to go in this one with some quality players to come for either side.