Round 11 Preview – Local Hostilities Resume

It’s a rare occurrence in the Senior competition to have the two top teams coming off a last start loss, but that’s exactly the scenario that’s playing out as we head into round 11.

Last week’s C.ex Group Cross Conference fixtures saw both Sawtell Toormina Saints and Coffs Breakers beaten on the road. This week both clubs find themselves back in the comfortable embrace of their home surrounds looking to bounce back quickly and return to winning ways.

Sawtell have a one game gap at the top of the ladder and will be keen to retain that advantage when they play host to the Grafton Tigers. Last week’s loss against Tweed Coast was partly due to the fact that they were without the services of 12 regular players who were unable to make the long trip for various reasons. The vast majority of these players are available again and the Saints should be able to put an outfit on the park that will be too strong for Grafton.

For the Tigers, last week’s result was a case of more of the same, but belied what was a significantly improved performance. The Tigers gave an excellent contest all round the ground and it was superior polish in the execution that proved the difference for Ballina. The big challenge for Grafton this week is that Sawtell have also got the polish so the Tigers will need to go to another level again to be in with a chance of causing an upset.

Coffs Breakers matched it with the powerful Byron Magpies for significant periods of last week’s match but couldn’t sustain the intensity for the full four quarters. This will be the area they’ll be looking to improve in against Port Macquarie Magpies who are on a high after claiming their second win of the season last week.

Breakers will be confident that they have too much firepower for the resurgent Magpies but will know that they can’t let Port into the game. Port appear to be getting on top of their earlier goal scoring woes and are starting to apply good scoreboard pressure, so Breakers will look to dominate the midfield and cut-off supply.

Last week the plaudits went to Port’s defensive unit who kept them in the match during the first half. The contest within the contest will be the match up of Port’s defence against Breakers’ strong attack which has posted several big scores this season.

Round 11 Fixtures – Saturday 24 June 2017

Sawtell Toormina Saints v Grafton Tigers, Richardson Oval, Sawtell at 2:20pm

Coffs Breakers v Port Macquarie Magpies, Coffs Coast Sport and Leisure Park 1, Coffs Harbour at 2:20pm