Nor-West have firmly placed themselves in the top five with a gutsy hard fought 26 point win against second placed Sydney University at St Pauls Oval on Saturday afternoon.
In terrible wet conditions, both sides knew even before the first bounce that it would be a tough day at the office. In the opening quarter it didn't take long for the ball to get heavy and slippery as the rain steadily came down, so the general run of play was to push it forward at all costs. Nor-West showed dominance early with most of the play but couldn't capitalise on their chances when going forward with Sydney Uni's defence standing up and repelling attacks. With Uni's limited forward opportunities they managed to make the most of them and were rewarded with a handy 5 point margin at quarter time.
In the second and as the the conditions became worse, the Jets seemed to grow in confidence. The hard running midfielders of Coombs, Clarke and Hoffman were controlling the clearances and with the stern defensive efforts in the back half, the Jets were keeping the Students at bay. By half time Nor-West had ground their way on top, slowly putting a stranglehold on their more fancied opponents. With fantastic individual efforts from utility Brad Pond and the creativity of half backs Julian Goonan and Aaron Bayne by the long break, the Jets had pushed out to a 10 point lead.
With the smell of blood in the air and the chance to knock off their second big scalp in as many weeks, the Jets continued to power on in the third. Man mountain David Clinch was virtually unstoppable on a day made for hard in and under players. Clinch bullocked and barged his way through packs, intimidated the opposition with ferocious tackling and supreme skill, all the while inspiring his team mates to show no mercy. Big man Michael Botham, who rucked tirelessly all day, dominated the play around the ground. Josh Patterson worked his way into the game as did the clever Stuart Tibben and with sheer will from the entire group, the Jets began to take control. With scoring opportunities becoming increasingly hard to come by, the Jets dug in deep and increased the margin out to 19 points by the final change.
The final quarter would prove to be who could last the longest and with tired bodies everywhere from both sides it would be the Jets that would come out on top. In a desperate and willing final 20 minutes from all the players and with the rain belting down it became increasingly difficult to score. The commitment shown by all was to be commended and when dynamic forward Ben Thomas received a free kick and fifty metre penalty which he calmly slotted for his second goal of the match, Nor-West were home.
Goals: B. Thomas 2, M. Schwager, K. Clarke, G. Hoffman, P. Webster 1.
Best: D. Clinch, B. Pond, J. Goonan, J. Patterson, M. Botham, E. Coombs
Last Modified on 24/06/2013 22:23
