Woods win at Howard Lane

A three goal to none final quarter has helped the Blackwood Football Club over run the Barkeroos and record their fifth win of the season 2019. The win is the first time the Woods have been successful in the A Grade against the Barkeroos at Howard Lane since 2016 and only the fifth time in 14 matches between the sides at the venue since 2006.

The Woods made one change to the line up from Round 8 welcoming back Nathanael Dudley for his first A Grade game since Round 5 replacing Matt Waldron. Kicking towards the southern end of the ground in the first quarter, the Woods had more than their fair share of forward 50 entries but were able to final a major. It took until the 13th minute of the term for the first goal to be scored with Roos captain Mark Thomas cleverly snapping through the middle. As the heavens started to open, the home side gained an advantage around the midfield and as a result scored two more majors through Billy Stokes and Tom Worthley to take a 16 point victory into the first break.

Woods coach Ryan Anderson urged his players to lift their intensity around the ground at the first break. “They got on top around the contest in the middle part of the term, we need to lift our attack on the ball and the body and start hitting our targets”. Starting the quarter in a better fashion the Woods got the first goal of the term through star midfielder Nick Homburg. Moving the ball quickly from half back, Scott Bricknell kicked it long inside the 50 arc in the direction of key forward Phil Hopton. The ball spilt to the ground to Matt Tuck who picked up the loose football and hit up Homburg 40 metres out on a 45 degree angle. He went back and converted truly to get the Woods back into the match. The home side to the reply with Tom Hughes catching James Hopton holding the ball at the top of the 50. Playing on quickly he kicked it long to the top of the goal square to find Samuel Scott lose. Getting the next centre break, Matthew Chapman hit up Luke Giles who went back from 50 out to kick the fifth goal of the match for the Barkeroos and extend their lead. The Woods lifted their pressure at the back end of the term to claw their way back into the game kicking two majors from Ryan Dijksman and Jacob McCarthy. McCarthy’s goal came from a free kick at the top of the square after an off the ball infringement after a behind.

Trailing by 10 points at the main break despite having the same scoring shots, the Woods were in the game. Coming out in the third term, there appeared to be a change of game plan with more direct ball movement forward. Chris Williams received a high contact free kick on the half forward line, handballing to skipper Kurt Thompson the ball was sent long inside the forward 50 where Daniel Benson crumbed the pack to kick the fourth goal of the match for the Woods. The Barkeroos then kicked the next two goals of the match courtesy of Bowen Hosking and Tom Worthley to extend the lead to three goals. A free kick in a ruck contest to the Woods saw a late goal to Lucas Herbert and the margin close to 10 points at three quarter time.

One last message from Ryan Anderson urged his players to give it their all in the last quarter. “We’ve spoken about turning at the half-way mark five-and-three, now is the time for everyone to lift and play their roles as a team and achieve this goal.” Moving the ball forward in the opening minutes, the Woods were able to cause repeated ball ups inside their forward 50. In the sixth minute, an undisciplined act from Mt Barker midfielder Tom Hughes saw him receive a yellow card for an elbow to the midriff of Matt Tuck. A resultant 50 metre penalty saw the Woods close the margin to four points with plenty of time remaining. Mt Barker ruckman Luke Giles received the second yellow card in seconds for the home side after some apparent backchat to the umpire immediately after Tuck kicked the goal. With a two-player advantage for 15 minutes, the Woods pressed hard forward. Locking the ball in the forward line the Woods hit the lead through Herbert who scored his second of the match. With the Phil Hopton shot on goal dropping short, Herbert kicked the ball off the ground straight through the middle much to the delight of the travelling Woods supporters. Jak Baldissera then stepped up to kick the third goal on the trot for the Woods. Winning the clearance from the forward 50 ball up, Ryan Dijksman handballed out to Scott Bricknell who snapped the ball in front of the leading Baldissera who was under immense pressure from his director opponent, Harry Barnett. Taking the contested grab, Baldissera went back and kicked the ball straight over the goal umpires hat to give the Woods a 10 point lead. Mt Barker pushed the ball forward in the last few minutes but were only able to kick two behinds and the Woods ran out eight point winners when the final siren sounded.

Jake Atkinson was named best player for the Woods for his constant presence around the ground whilst Matt Tuck, Haydn Kenny, Nick Homburg and Scott Bricknell also featured in the better players. After other results, the Woods moved into fourth position and a game clear of fifth place. Next weekend sees the side travel to Qube Logistics Oval in Nairne for the first time since 2001 to play the Nairne Bremer Rams.

Final scoreboard

Blackwood 0.2 3.4 5.6 8.8 (56)

Mt Barker 3.0 5.2 7.4 7.6 (48)

Goal scorers – L. Herbert 2, J. Baldissera 1, D. Benson 1, R. Dijksman 1, N. Homburg 1, J. McCarthy 1, M. Tuck 1

Better players – J. Atkinson, M. Tuck, H. Kenny, N. Homburg, S. Bricknell