THE Nor-West Jets overcame a crippling injury list, East Timor callouts and one of the worst football grounds in Australia to hammer Southern Sharks by 142 points at Taren Point's Gwawley Park on Saturday.
The ground looked more like a wartime battlefield than a football oval, with large sandy patches. It was so uneven that Jets ruckman Andrew Travers and veteran Chris Kyle elected not to risk aggravating their niggling ankle injuries by playing on it, leaving the team to start with just 22 players.
The Sharks burst out of the blocks to kick two goals in the opening 10 minutes, but that signalled the home side's last major of the day.
The Jets gradually worked their way on top, booting four goals in quick succession, including three to in-form forward Kris Sharpe, to end the first term with a 20-point lead.
Nor-West stepped it up a notch in the second term and quickly put the Sharks away, piling on eight goals to nothing in the second quarter as rookie Jesse Meyer produced his best match in Jets colours, attacking everything and taking several telling marks to engineer a 74-point advantage at half time.
The injuries kept coming for the Jets, with Steve Chase concussed and Scott Travers reinjuring his ankle on the dodgy surface, leading to Kyle changing his mind and joining the action just before half time, despite obviously struggling with an ankle injury sustained in the warm-up.
Nor-West full forward Luke Ayling took control, Meyer continued to dominate, Nick Milkins and ruckman Brendan Smith marked everything and Damien Williams provided plenty of dash.
Six goals in the third term were followed by five in the last as the Sharks failed to kick a goal, Nor-West adding the last 23 of the match to win 24.14 158 to 2.4 16.
Ayling finished with seven goals to take his tally to 20 in just three matches.
Sharpe ended with four and Smits kicked another three as he continued the rich vein of form that won him last year's best and fairest.
Kyle kicked two brilliant goals, one a running shot from the boundary line and the second a right foot snap from 35m in a gutsy performance, while Vance also booted two majors, despite his discomfort.
In round five last week, the Jets put paid to their nearest rival, bringing St Clair crashing back to earth with a comprehensive 92-point thrashing of the Crows in the Division Two local derby at Bensons Lane.
The Jets controlled the match for three quarters and were never in danger of defeat as they recorded a comfortable 19.13 127 to 5.6 36 victory.
The Nor-West Jets are on the road again this weekend, taking on UTS Green at Trumper Park, Paddington, at 10am on Saturday.
Last Modified on 27/11/2010 15:15
