By Jonty the Jet
Photos: John Tibben
THE Nor-West Jets were ruthlessly exposed as pretenders in the race for a finals’ position as they handed up their spot in the top five with barely a whimper as Auburn cruised to a 38-point victory in their AFL Sydney Division Two match at Mona Park on Saturday.
The clash between the fifth and sixth-placed teams on the ladder was expected to be a high standard clash between two desperate teams, but only one came to play as the Tigers eased to a 13.11 89 to 8.3 51 win.
And the writing was on the wall from the first bounce as the Tigers showed themselves to be more desperate and harder at the ball, with only poor kicking at goal keeping Nor-West in the contest with a quarter time scoreline of 3.8 to 1.0.
It was more of the same in the second term, but Auburn lifted its accuracy, adding four goals to two to extend the margin to 32 points and the contest was as good as over.
Nor-West started to work its way back into the contest in the second half, but were never likely to make any serious inroads on the scoreboard, with the home team stretching its lead to 38 at the final change.
The Jets managed to break even in the last quarter thanks to three late goals from returning Shipley Medallist Paul Sherwood, who never stopped trying and was rewarded for his efforts, with two of goals being excellent shots from the boundary and the third a result of an act of frustration from his opponent.
Josh Howe worked hard all day across half forward to keep his team in the contest, while Don Ollington provided leadership in the middle, but if it wasn’t for the committed defence led by Ben Cain, Warwick Smith and Jebal Williams, the Jets would have lost by significantly more.
NOR-WEST 1.0 3.1 5.2 8.3 51
AUBURN 3.8 7.9 10.10 13.11 89
NWJ Goals: P Sherwood 3, D Ollington, A Travers, J Berry, J Thomson.
NWJ Best:J Howe, P Sherwood, B Cain, J Williams, W Smith, D Ollington.
ONCE again the reserves went into their match undermanned, a problem that hopefully is now over, and it paid a huge toll on those who did line up as the undefeated Macquarie University romped to an 89-point thrashing at University Oval.
The Warriors put the match beyond doubt with a six goal to one first term and added five more to two in the second and six to two in the third.
But the Jets never gave up, sharing the spoils at the end with three goals each in the final quarter in a brave effort against the best team in Division Four to keep the final margin under three figures at 20.15 135 to 8.8 56.
Luke Bell produced a lion-hearted effort rucking almost unchanged all day against three towering opponents to be the Jets’ best, while Stephen Davidson put his hand up for a recall to the seniors with an excellent display roving.
Dean Braid turned in his best game for the season while giving Bell some support, while youngster Jesse Cass was again impressive, Steve Staszek was typically feisty in his first appearance of the season and Tony Joyce reveled in the chance to go forward, kicking two goals.
NOR-WEST 1.1 3.3 5.5 8.8 56
MACQUARIE UNI 6.3 11.6 17.9 20.15 135
NWJ Goals: T Joyce, M Davidson 2, S Braid, M Laurence, L Cass, B Bowker.
NWJ Best:L Bell, S Davidson, D Braid, S Staszek, J Cass, T Joyce.
A big crowd is expected at Bensons Lane this Saturday as the Jets take on a huge test of character in both grades, starting rank underdogs against high-flying arch-rivals Penrith at 12pm and 2.10pm, with the Riff-RAAF Cup again on the line.
Last Modified on 11/07/2011 15:21
