It was another successful weekend in the Hills Football League for the Blackwood Football Club winning 5 out of 5 games for the third straight round. Round 4 saw Blackwood travel to Thomas Foods International Park for a clash against the Lobethal Tigers.
A Grade: Blackwood 20.20.140 defeated Lobethal 4.7.31
It was a key match in the A-Grade for both sides as Blackwood were looking to maintain their unbeaten start to Season 2017 whilst Lobethal were looking to get their first win on the board. In the previous 14 meetings between the sides, Blackwood held an 8 to 6 winning ratio and had won 4 of the previous 7 matches between the sides at Lobethal.
Blackwood started the match kicking towards the Northern end of the ground and made a great start when Ryan Dijksman snapped a goal after 2 minutes. Blackwood made all the early running winning the ball out of the midfield with ease and putting the Lobethal defence under the pump. The constant attacking forays from Blackwood were too much for the Lobethal defenders to handle caving in and allowing another 7 goals for the quarter. Crafty half forward Ryan Dijksman made a blistering start kicking another 2 goals for the quarter to make it 3 for the quarter. When the siren blew the home crowd was silent as the visiting Blackwood side lead by 48 points, 8.1.49 to 1 solitary behind.
New Lobethal coach Brenton Wortley was scratching his head on the sidelines wondering what moves he could make to get his side back into the game. Blackwood were running all over the top of Lobethal who were not manning up on the defensive transition allowing Blackwood to sling-shot the ball from their half back line with ease. The second quarter was much like the first with Blackwood dominating all the play. Lobethal defender Matthew Brockhouse was fighting hard down in the backlines but lacked help as Blackwood were outnumbering their Lobethal opponents wherever you looked. When the half time siren blew, the visitors lead by 82 points, 13.12.90 to 1.2.8. The scoreboard could have been much worse for the home side as Blackwood kicked 11 behinds for the quarter, most of them from easy shots.
The few spectators who were in attendance looked for any warm spot during the half time break as the temperature was dropping at the Lobethal venue whilst the ladies who were at Ladies Day were being kept awake by playing a game of heads & tails and the drawing of the major raffle. Blackwood came back onto the ground first to start the 3rd quarter looking to continue their dominance for the first half. The quarter turned into an arm wrestle with Lobethal throwing some numbers behind the ball in an attempt to slow the play down. This seemed to work only in stopping the scoring from Blackwood as Lobethal didn’t have a clear method of moving the ball forward with success. Dustin Head managed to kick his first goal for Blackwood during the term and his team mates celebrated accordingly. Scott Bricknell who had the ball on a string from the half back line managed to get forward and kick a nice running goal on the outer wing.
Blackwood kicked four goals to one in the third term to extend the margin to 100 points as coach Damien Salievic urged his players to finish the game off in style and enjoy their football in the last quarter as ‘you don’t often have a lead like that with a quarter to go.’ Like the first three quarters, Blackwood had most of the play for the quarter but much like the second term they were inaccurate in front of the big sticks kicking 3 goals and 7 behinds for the quarter. Lobethal managed to get a couple of consolation goals including a nice 50 metre set shot to Luke Hampton. Blackwood centre half forward Phil Hopton kicked two majors in the final term to take his goal tally to four for the match. When the final siren sounded it ended a miserable day for the home side going down by 109 points, 20.20.140 to 4.7.31.
The better players for the visitors were Scott Bricknell who racked up high 30s for disposals, Michael Minuzzo who was playing his 50th senior match, Kurt Thompson, Nick Homburg who seemed to not have an opponent within 15 metres of his all game and Daniel Benson who provided drive through the half forward line.
Overall, Blackwood played like a well drilled side, moving the ball from defence to offence with precision kicking and hard work. They have improved from 2016 scoring on average 29 more points a game and conceding 21 points less on average. The improvement has come through the lesser known players who have raised their games and are contributing to the team on a consistent basis. Coach Damien Salievic said after the game that ‘there is still plenty to work on in our game and we must continue striving towards our goals.’
In other results:
– B Grade: Blackwood 11.8.74 defeated Lobethal 3.4.22
After jumping out of the blocks in the first quarter kicking 5 goals to 0, the game was a closer game that appears on the scoreboard. Coach Adam Pope was pleased to get a win but knows the final output of the lads can be so much more. Matt Thomas kicked 3 goals to be named fourth best, whilst Nathan Dunn, Denam Moore, Andrew Work and Haydn Kenny were the other players acknowledged in the best players.
– C Grade: Blackwood defeated Uraidla (on forfeit)
– Senior Colts: Blackwood 19.17.131 defeated Lobethal 1.3.9
– Junior Colts: 24.14.158 defeated Lobethal 0.0.0
– Mini Colts: Blackwood 7.5.47 defeated Lobethal 1.3.9
So overall, the total score from Round 4 of the Hills Football League between Blackwood and Lobethal was:
Blackwood 81.67.553 defeated Lobethal 9.17.71
SANFL Boys
The SANFL boys competitions also got underway with home games against Woodville South and Edwardstown. The results are as follows:
– Under 14s: Blackwood 9.6.60 defeated Woodville South 5.6.36
– Under 12s: Blackwood 4.6.30 defeated Woodville South 4.2.26
– Under 11s: Blackwood v Edwardstown (No score uploaded)
Girls
It was a historical weekend for the Blackwood Football Club with Girls playing their first official games in the Red & the Green. The results are as follows:
– Under 18s: Blackwood 7.1.43 defeated by Angle Vale 14.17.101
– Under 16s: Blackwood 2.4.16 defeated by Henley 3.3.21
– Under 14s: Blackwood 1.5.11 defeated Henley 1.2.8
Next weekend
@ Blackwood Hill Oval
#honourthecolours
