Finals intensity grips round 11 of Senior Competition

The most exciting match of the season to date resulted in a draw between the Port Macquarie Magpies Women and their Sawtell Toormina Saints counterparts.

The match was a see-sawing affair throughout, highlighted by a number of lead changes and a thrilling finish with all 39 players giving their all to claim the win that just wouldn’t come for either team.

Port lead by a goal at the first break but Sawtell clawed this back in the second to go to half time holding a slender one point lead. The third quarter was characterised by strong endeavour, both teams kicked a goal but neither could get the jump on their opponent, and Sawtell’s lead had doubled to two points at the last break.

The fourth quarter was a war of attrition with a ferocious attack on the footy and desperate defence from both teams. Neither was able to capitalise with a goal but the key was Port holding Sawtell scoreless for the quarter and adding two behinds of their own to tie the score.

Amy Foo from Port kicked two goals, Bec Minichilli matched her for Sawtell, and Fiona Bagley (Port) and Justine Bowman (Saints) added one apiece.

These two teams are building a fierce rivalry which will be a genuine highlight of the rapidly approaching Finals Series.

Port Macquarie Magpies 3.4 (22) drew with Sawtell Toormina Saints 3.4 (22)

The Senior match between these two clubs was another close, hard fought affair that ultimately saw the Saints head home with a 22 point win.

Sawtell led throughout but weren’t able to establish a decisive break at any stage. Had Port’s finishing been straighter there would have been even less breathing space for Sawtell which only had two more scoring opportunities than the Magpies.

The Saints will be happy to have returned to their winning ways and will be keen to get back to Richardson Park next week after consecutive away matches. Coach Brandt Lee will be pleased with the spread of goal kickers which highlights the team first ethos. Connor Perks and Luke Matthews each kicked three majors, Mitch Napier and Josh Little both had two, and there were four other individual goal kickers to round out the scoring.

Prior to the start of the season Port identified this run of three home matches as a key phase of their season and will be hugely disappointed to have come out of it with just one hard fought win against Grafton. Coach Tom Marmo leads from the front where he kicked four goals, and was joined on that tally by Samuel Johnson. The presence of Jesse Schmidt was badly missed with no other player able to kick more than one goal.

Sawtell Toormina Saints 15.9 (99) defeated Port Macquarie Magpies 11.11 (77)

The Grafton Tigers battled manfully at home against Coffs Harbour Breakers but couldn’t quite match the intensity of the reigning premiers who seem to be building towards a strong finals tilt.

The Tigers have been good over the past month and have been unlucky not to have claimed the victory that they desperately crave. Chris Curthoys was a surprise inclusion considering the injury he sustained last time out, and former premiership player Lee Anderson continued his late season run in the team.

Signs looked positive for the Tigers as they held a one goal lead at quarter time, but the Breakers showed their class in the second and third quarters where they outscored their hosts by three and four goals respectively. Grafton fought back to win the last quarter by two points but it was too little, too late as the Breakers claimed a 50 point win.

The premiers weren’t at full strength and had Under 17 players Noah Dalton and Harry Mapleson joining the Senior ranks. They were well led by captain Chris Frangos and the always busy Luke Valdes who was leading scorer with three goals. Josh Lansdowne, Brett Vella, Clancey Dickson, and Jacob Sincock kicked two goals apiece to provide great scoreboard support.

For Grafton, Lee Anderson and young Clancy O’Neill kicked three goals each. The main difference was that, where Breakers had four players who each kicked two goals in a support role, the Tigers only had Kieran Francis who was able to manage this mark in support of the leading targets.

Coffs Harbour Breakers 17.17 (119) defeated Grafton Tigers 10.9 (69)

For full results click here.