Round 6 Wrap: Breakers and Sawtell Maintain the Early Pace
Coffs Breakers and Sawtell Toormina Saints continue to stretch their lead at the top of the ladder following comprehensive wins in round 6 of the AFL North Coast Senior Competition.
Sawtell have a tendency to rise to the big occasion, as evidenced by the club being the three time reigning premier. Whilst not quite at the same level as a Grand Final appearance, Friday Night Football at Ellem Oval against the Grafton Tigers provided another big stage and Sawtell duly delivered.
Sawtell overpowered the Tigers and had the game in the bag by half time, holding an 84 point lead. The Tigers improved after the long break but were never at the races. Whilst Grafton posted five majors in this period it was their inability to stop the flow of goals at the other end that saw the final margin to 133 points.
Aaron Clarke, playing just his second match of the season, kicked 7 goals, and Jed Ellis-Cluff kicked 6. Dan Pritchard, Hamish Bird, and Mark Couzens were also multiple goal kickers. Jake Cosmai wandered forward to kick a goal and needed a map to find his return to the backline, and Brad Collon booted his first major.
Mark Blundell kicked 4 of the Tigers 6 goals for the game, with Captain/Coach Luke Stanford and Jake Bagnall being the other contributors.
Sawtell Toormina Saints 26.15.171 defeated Grafton Tigers 6.2.38
It was a similar story in Port Macquarie, where the travelling Coffs Breakers were in a match winning position at the half. Port Magpies saved their best footy for the last quarter but it was too little, too late as Breakers ran out convincing winners by 55 points.
The Magpies battled hard all day but were hurt by their inability to create clear cut scoring opportunities. When they did, inaccuracy was a major issue and they didn’t post their first goal of the game until the last quarter.
Breakers, on the other hand, were clinical in kicking 4 goals straight for the first quarter. This set the tone for the day, with the third quarter being the only time the radar was off, resulting in them amassing 14 goals 7 for the match.
Chris Frangos was a key contributor from the half back line, getting great support from Luke Valdes with 4 goals, Jacob Sincock, Mackinlay Pearce, and Tyrone Jones. Brendan Norton, Fraser Duryea, and Damien Dickson were the other multiple goal kickers, making great use of the service they received from Luke Symons whose impressive season continues on.
Port had the three Carroll brothers (Liam, Lewis, and Fraser) in the line-up together for the first time in several seasons but their family reunion celebrations were short lived. Sam Johnson was the only Magpie to manage multiple goals with 2, with Fraser Carroll, Brad Smith, and Dom Byrne being the other goal kickers.
Coffs Breakers 14.7. 91 defeated Port Macquarie Magpies 5.6.36
Next week sees the second round of C.ex Group Cross Conference fixtures with North Coast teams looking for some revenge against their Northern Rivers rivals who won three of the four clashes in the first round. Breakers are at home to the Tweed Coast Tigers, Sawtell host the Ballina Bombers, Port make the long trip to Byron, and Grafton head up the highway to Lismore.
