The Nor-West Jets let a 5 goal lead slip away to a 12 point defeat when they clashed with local rival Penrith Rams in the final round of Division 3 Sydney AFL at Bensons Lane on Saturday.
The Jets, who pushed Penrith out of 2nd spot the week before, started strongly against their fancied opponents, but couldn’t convert chances in front of goal in the first quarter, with a wasteful 5 behinds to go with a solitary goal. At the other end of the field, the Jets held the potent Rams attacking players at bay, with Matt Schwager leading the way, containing the dangerous Mitch Stevens, while Matt Brophy relished the freedom across half back to set up countless ball switches. Nor-West went to the first break down by 2 points, and then opened the game up in the second quarter, as they added 6 goals with slick delivery to the forwards and applied pressure across the centre. David Clinch showed his strength through the centre, and Jake Berry and Ben Jennison proved hard to contain in the air, as the home side extended their lead to 27 point before the Rams hit back with two late goals to keep the half time margin to an attainable 15 points.
Poor discipline in the third term saw the Jets flounder and the Rams take the initiative, exploiting Nor-West on turnovers as they added 5 unanswered goals in a seesawing game packing with hard hits and great skills on display. With both teams set to play each other again the following week in the Qualifying Final, there was plenty on the line, and both teams went goal for goal in the last, the Jets with 3 and Penrith with 2, but the third quarter again let Nor-West down as they ran out of time and lost by 12 points, 10.9-69 to Penrith 12.9-81.
Goal Kickers: P. Kyle 5, D. Wellington , M. Gray , S. Tibben , B. Jennison , J. Patterson
Best Players: M. Schwager , J. Berry , D. Guthridge , B. Jennison , D. Clinch , M. Brophy
| # | Player | G | BST |
|---|
| 2 |
|
5 |
0 |
| 55 |
Benjamin Jennison
|
1 |
4 |
| 78 |
Dale Wellington
|
1 |
0 |
| 9 |
Stuart Tibben
|
1 |
0 |
| 17 |
Michael Gray
|
1 |
0 |
| 26 |
Joshua Patterson
|
1 |
0 |
| 77 |
Matthew Brophy
|
0 |
6 |
| 15 |
David Clinch
|
0 |
5 |
| 10 |
Daniel Guthridge
|
0 |
3 |
| 40 |
Jacob Berry
|
0 |
2 |
| 47 |
Matthew Schwager
|
0 |
1 |
| 44 |
Kyle Clarke
|
0 |
0 |
| 61 |
Jarryd Smith
|
0 |
0 |
| 7 |
Brent Johnston
|
0 |
0 |
| 28 |
Peter Martinoli
|
0 |
0 |
| 5 |
Ryan Johnston
|
0 |
0 |
| 69 |
Bradley Pond
|
0 |
0 |
| 25 |
Warwick Smith
|
0 |
0 |
| 23 |
Louis Butler
|
0 |
0 |
| 74 |
Zane Priest
|
0 |
0 |
| 56 |
Zackary Coombs
|
0 |
0 |
| 34 |
Liam Veigel
|
0 |
0 |
The Jets and Rams face off in what shapes to be a classic encounter in the Division 3 Qualifying Final this Saturday at Gipps Road Oval in Greystanes at 1255, with the winner set to meet Minor Premiers Randwick City, where the victor will claim a spot in the Grand Final, while in Division 5, the Jets will be fresh after earning a week off as Minor Premiers, and also do battle with Penrith, with first bounce at 0845am.
Last Modified on 18/08/2014 12:43
