An accurate third quarter from the Blackwood Football Club set up its fifth victory of the season in Round 7 of the Mortgage Choice Hills Football League. In a match that felt like final, scoring was hard to come by with only fourteen goals for the match.  The win by the Woods ended the six match unbeaten run of the Mt Barker Football Club.

Speaking after the match coach Damien Salievic said “It was a really good performance today. That style of game probably suits us well. We’ve put in a lot of effort to get to this point in the season so enjoy the win.”

Making only one change from the previous week, Blackwood welcomed back star on-baller Nick Homburg for his first game of the season. Homburg replaced Matt Tuck in the side who was unavailable for selection.  For the Roos, they welcomed back Ross Brooks.

The opening 10 minutes of the match started very much like a final. Both sides were putting exceptional pressure on the ball not making it easy for the opposition to dispose of the ball. Playing an extra man behind the ball, the Roos were able to pump the ball into the forward 50 on regular occasion in the early period. Lead by skipper Kurt Thompson, the Woods defense held strong during the early barrage. Employing a full ground press, the Woods struggled to move the ball through the middle part of the ground with the ball getting turned over on regular occasion. In the thirteenth minute of the quarter, the Woods were able to move the ball forward with speed to find Ryan Anderson who was able to kick the first major of the match. It proved to be the only major of the term as both sides locked down in defence holding strong till the siren blew.

Both coaches gave positive advice at the first break urging their players to continue playing positive football. The visitors got their first goal of the match four minutes into the second term through veteran Simon Nunan. Managing to find space deep in the pocket, Nunan managed to mark and convert truly.  When Nunan kicked his second three minutes later, the Barkeroos hit the lead. They were getting on top around the midfield and able to give their forward plenty of opportunities driving the ball into the forward 50 on regular occasion. Working their way back in the middle part of the term Blackwood regained the lead when Scott Bricknell snuck up from the backline to kick the Woods second goal. The home side missed some get table changes late in the term to extend their lead further.

Taking a five point lead into the half time break, the Woods would’ve felt like they should have been further in front with more than double the scoring shots of the visiting Roos. Coming out after the half time break, the Woods made all the early attacking plays in the third quarter. Kicking two goals in the first seven minutes the Woods were now leading by 17 points. The goals came through Ryan Dijksman and Ben Macreadie. When Dijksman kicked his second of the term in the 13th minute the home side was running all over the visiting Roos.  Working their way back into the match in the later half of the term, the side from Mt Barker missed some gettable shots to draw the margin closer. When the three quarter time siren sounded, the Woods lead by 17 points taking the most of their opportunity early in the term kicking three straight goals to six behinds. This message was reinforced by Roos coach Scott Tidemann during the final change, “I am telling you, we had more of the ball that term. We just need to be more composed going into the forward 50.”

Listening to the words of wisdom from the coach, the Barkeroos got the first goal of the quarter inside three minutes. As the game opened up in the early part of the final term both sides were able to kick multiple goals in the first 10 minutes. Blackwood got the instant reply through veteran Troy Edwards after being spotted up by Mitch Smith in the forward pocket. The sides then went goal for goal with the Barkeroos kicking their fourth major two minutes later. It was a key moment in the match with both sides pressing their case to secure the two points. Blackwood was able to show why it was the reigning premier winning the key moments in the next 10 minutes. Winning the next two centre clearances, the Woods were able to score goals from Jake Atkinson and Ryan Anderson. Late goals to the Roos from Eckermann and Stokes brought the margin back to 12 points when the final siren sounded.

The 12 point victory saw the undefeated run of the Roos come to an end. The Woods were able to restrict the Roos scoring opportunities to only 13 shots for the match, which is well below their season average of 25.6. Whilst the Barkeroos had plenty of the ball, they were unable to use the ball well going into the forward 50 often finding the ball being intercepted by the Blackwood defenders.

The win was the fifth on the trot for the Woods at home against Mt Barker. It was also the lowest score Mt Barker has scored in any match against the Woods since 2006 with the Roos averaging 87 points for against the Woods in the 28 encounters between the sides since Round 1 of 2006.

For the Woods, Kurt Thompson was awarded best player on the ground with his presence across the defensive line, whilst Ryan Dijksman, Steve Woods, Scott Bricknell and Ben Macreadie also caught the eye of the coaching staff with their performances.

Final scoreboard

Blackwood 1.2 2.6 5.6 8.7 (55)

Mt Barker 0.1 2.1 2.7 6.7 (43)

Goals – Dijksman 3, Anderson 1, Atkinson 1, Bricknell 1, Edwards 1, Macreadie 1

Best – Thompson, Dijksman, Woods, Bricknell, Macreadie

Other Hills Football League results

B Grade – Blackwood 13.10 (88) defeated Mt Barker 4.5 (29)

Senior Colts – Blackwood 18.14 (122) defeated Mt Barker 3.10 (28)

Junior Colts – Blackwood 11.4 (70) defeat Mt Barker 5.4 (34)

Mini Colts – Blackwood 1.3 (9) defeated Mt Barker 7.5 (47)

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