Saints continue to set the pace

You win some, you lose some is the mantra that Port Macquarie Magpies and Sawtell Toormina Saints will both be quoting after the weekend’s fixtures.

Whilst the Saints Men continued merrily on their winning way, Port Women became the first team to inflict a loss upon the previously unbeaten Saints.

The damage was done in the Senior game in the second quarter when Sawtell posted six goals to one to go to the long break with a healthy seven goal lead. This margin was extended in the third term with a further six goals to none, meaning that the last quarter was purely about how far the margin would extend to.

Whilst the Saints did take their foot off the pedal in the final term they still managed three goals to one to wrap up a deserved a 95 point victory.

Luke Matthews retirement proved to be short lived as the former Sawtell captain/coach returned to the field to give a boost to his beloved Saints. The team responded accordingly and had nine individual goal kickers. The best of these were Josh Little with four, Jordan and Connor Perks and Jimmy Angel with three each.

Brendan Badenoch was the only Magpie to kick multiple goals with two, while Riley Irwin and Zane Sparke were the only other players to hit the scoreboard. Poor finishing hurt Port with 10 behinds kicked, but straighter kicking would have only affected the margin, not the result.

Sawtell Toormina Saints 19.15 (129) defeated Port Macquarie Magpies 4.10 (34)

The Women’s match between these two clubs was an absolute thriller.

Scores were locked at half time before Sawtell kicked two goals in the third and held the Magpies scoreless to go to the last break with a 12 point lead.

Roles were completely reversed in the final term with the fast finishing Magpies posting two majors against no score for the Saints, with the final difference being just two points.

Fiona Bagley and Anishah Burnes each kicked two goals for the Magpies, with their efforts matched for the Saints by Keira Bassett and Alana Hanson.

This result opens the premiership race up and adds plenty of interest to the remaining matches between these two teams.

Port Macquarie Magpies 4.4 (28) defeated Sawtell Toormina Saints 4.2 (26)

The Grafton Tigers will be sadly disappointed with another slow start on their home patch.

By quarter time Coffs Harbour Breakers held a 27 point lead, having kept the Tigers goalless. The second quarter was the most even of the day with Breakers adding five goals against Grafton’s four to give the impression that the Tigers could work their way back into the match, but Breakers put pay to this in third term.

A five goal to one blitz in the third quarter saw the result beyond doubt by the last break, before a spirited effort in the last quarter by the Tigers limited the final margin to 70 points.

For Breakers, Nick Stanlan-Velt (seven goals) and Aden van Ryswyk (five) had a field day, with good support received from Luke Valdes.

The Tigers chief avenue to goal was through Lachie Glover who kicked four, but the Tigers inability to find other multiple scorers is of concern to coach Chris Curthoys.

Coffs Harbour Breakers 19.14 (128) defeated Grafton Tigers 8.10 (58)

For full results click here.