The Nor-West Jets progressed to the Division 3 Preliminary Final on Sunday with a strong 31 point win over 2nd placed Gosford Wildcats at Greystanes on Sunday.
After disposing of Sydney University, and with Gosford being thrashed by Randwick the week before, the Jets were confident of taking down their Central Coast opponents, and took the game by the scruff of the neck in the first term, with slick attack on the football as they delivered the ball into their forward 50 with regularity. Gosford had plenty of the ball themselves but were thwarted time and again by the Jets defensive unit, who despite losing key runner Julian Goonan in the Elimination Final, stood up and held out the strong Wildcats forward line. Aaron Bayne, Daniel Guthridge and Aaron Lawes were in fine form right from the start, keeping the opposition scoreless at quarter time, and Gosford’s attempt at roughing up the Jets young guns went up in smoke as the Jets replied in kind.
With a score line of 35-0 to open the second quarter, Gosford replied early with a goal and applied more pressure on the Jets, and when team cannonball Dave Clinch was given a yellow card and a 15 minute stint in the sin bin for reckless conduct, the Wildcats got a sniff. They added 3 goals to the Jets 1, as Nor-West tried to slow the tempo of the game. Big forwards Dylan Cruz, Paul Webster and Pete Kyle were proving hard to contain, while Brad Pond and Steve Davidson toyed with the Wildcats through the middle. The Jets took a 22 point lead into the main break, and were confident of running over a tiring Gosford after half time.
The ball seemed to be parked in Nor-West’s forward 50 for most of the quarter as they peppered the goals for little return, while Gosford remained composed and added 2 of their own to bring themselves back into the game. Troy Clent was dominating the ruck, and Michael Morgan continued his recent run of form on the wing. It was a brutal display of finals footy, and the Jets were able to take it to another level, guided by the old brigade of Chris Kyle and Steve Chase. With Gosford kicking with the wind in the last term and trailing the Jets by 22 points, the final term was going down to the wire.
Possessions were at a premium in the last quarter, and Nor-West had the better of it as they added 3 more goals, as they ran out unlikely winners, and set up a Preliminary Final showdown with the highly fancied Randwick City Saints, with action to start at midday Saturday at Gipps Road Oval.
Goal Kickers: P. Kyle 5, C. Kyle , T. Roberts , P. Webster , D. Cruz , B. Pond
Best Players: D. Cruz, A. Bayne, B. Pond, S. Davidson, A. Lawes, P. Kyle
Last Modified on 02/09/2013 13:09
