Senior Competition: Round 2 Wrap
New season, new players, new coach. Unfortunately for the Grafton Tigers it was the same result as the Sawtell Toormina Saints impressive start to the season marched on. The Saints overcame last week’s inaccuracy in front of goal, kicking 32 goals 14 to rack up a 192 point win.
For Sawtell the majority of the scoring was contributed by the raking left foot of Danniel Johnson, last season’s Woodlock medallist Brandt Lee, and the evergreen Mark Couzens who each kicked 6 goals. Co-coach Luke Matthews also managed 5 majors and was pleased with his team’s accuracy. “The only disappointment with last week’s performance was the missed scoring opportunities so it was great to see the boys converting their opportunities today.”
The only upside for the Tigers is that they were still missing three of their key recruits and will definitely be better for their first run of the season. Coach Luke Stanford couldn’t hide his disappointment, saying “Our effort on the training paddock has been great but we didn’t reproduce that today. We just need to chalk this one down to experience, roll our sleeves up, and get on with the job of working hard on all aspects of our game.”
Sawtell Toormina Saints 32.14.206 defeated Grafton Tigers 2.2.14
In Port Macquarie, Coffs Breakers got their season underway with a win after last week’s washout to claim the first silverware of the season, the Morgan/Sheldon Cup that the two clubs play for annually.
Breakers won every quarter and didn’t look like a team that were having their first outing together. Impressive returns from new recruits Nick Stanlan-Velt and Royce Close with 4 goals apiece were complemented by strong contributions from local juniors Harry Parker, Ben Gibbeson, and Jacob Sincock.
It was an improved performance by the Port Magpies who are still missing key players, and were boosted by the return of Rod Sonogan. The club will be eager to get Craig Dicker back on the park as he will provide much needed support to the likes of Jesse Schmidt and Luke Boxhall who each kicked 2 goals.
Coffs Breakers 19.15.129 defeated Port Macquarie Magpies 7.9.51
The competition has a general bye next weekend due to Easter, however Grafton Tigers and Coffs Breakers have rescheduled their washed out round 1 clash for Ellem Oval at 6:30pm on Thursday 13 April.