The Deni Rovers put in their most complete performance of the year to overwhelm Yarroweyah on Saturday and record a winning margin of 193 points.
Rovers were in control from the start and kicked seven goals, five to Yarroweyah’s two goals in the first quarter.
Hayden Barker, in his first game of the season, was in great form, kicking three first-quarter goals and was part of a very potent forward line with Josh Flight at centre-half-forward, Tyson Willis and Alan Bond all presenting problems for the Yarroweyah defence.
Rovers suffered two injury blows in the second quarter, with Barker suffering a calf injury and Tom Dowling injuring an AC joint.
Both would seem to be missing for a few weeks, but it didn’t halt the Rovers’ goal-kicking spree, with nine goals being added for the quarter to establish a lead of 95 points at the long break.
Cam Wills had a great game on the ball, and any Yarroweyah attacks were repelled by a strong backline led by Liam East, Brady Trottman and Jai Ezard.
The trend continued in the third quarter with eight goals added, although, to Yarroweyah’s credit, they managed three goals of their own.
The superior fitness of the Rovers side resulted in the floodgates opening in the last quarter and they added a further 11 goals and six behinds to their opponent’s one goal one.
Unlike the two earlier games this year, the side did not relax at any stage and maintained the pressure for the entire game.
All players played their roles in a fine team performance.
Barker will be a significant loss with his football smarts and accuracy in front of goal-important assets.
Better players in a very even effort were Cam Wills, Liam East, Tyson Willis, Allan Bond, Jackson Muldoon-Leetham, who is gaining confidence after an injury that curtailed his season last year and Kaiden Joss, who played his best game for the year.
Coach Alex Hay returned to the side after injury and was soon in the thick of the action, winning many disposals.
The Rovers face a tough match next weekend when they travel to Jerilderie to take on the Demons.
Jerilderie disposed of Rennie with a much bigger margin than Rovers achieved the week before, and they are always a tough opponent at home, so Rovers will need to continue their good ball movement and decision-making to maintain their unbeaten record.
Goal kickers - Josh Flight 9, Tyson Willis 9, Hayden Barker 4, Allan Bond 4 - all presented well and were very dangerous up front.
Final score: Deni Rovers 35.21 (231) def Yarroweyah 6.2 .(38).
Reserves:
The reserves had a percentage-boosting victory with a 135-point victory over Yarroweyah.
They were very direct in the first quarter and kicked five goals three.
The only flat spot was in the second quarter when they were very indirect, which meant that shots for goal were being made from deep in the pockets and as a result, two goals eight were scored for the quarter.
A few words of wisdom from the coaches got the team back on track, kicking eight goals and two behinds in the third and a further five goals and three behinds in the last quarter.
Better players: Ben McCalman, Scott Howard, Cooper King, Nick Stubbings, Aden Birmingham and Tim McDonnell.
Leading goalkickers were Scott Howard with four goals and Cooper King with three.
Final score: Deni Rovers 20.16 (136) def Yarroweyah 0.1.(1).
Thirds:
On a warm day, the Rovers matched up on a very good Yarroweyah side.
In a tight contest early, the Rovers managed to settle more quickly and get their running game going, eventually kicking three goals to nil in the opening quarter. It included one from fourths recruit Stuie Benger.
It was another tight contest in the second quarter with no side able to get on top, both scoring one each.
But the Rovers’ back six stood tall and repelled Yarroweyah’s attacks, running the ball out through the likes of Andrew Croker, Ben Hayes and Nick Fanning.
The third quarter was yet again another close one, with Yarroweyah scoring the only goal for the quarter.
But the Rovers started to get their running game going and Ethan Connolly, Luke Holloway and Jesse Jervis were using their speed to run and carry.
Fletcher Campion moved to full forward and was a big focal point, not getting out marked and locking it in the Rovers forward line.
With the Rovers lead being only 15 points at three quarter time, the game was still in the balance.
Andrew Smith kicked a goal early to bring up his third for the game, and Dexter Hardman also hitting the score board, and the Rovers midfielders were getting plenty of clearances through Jack Van Lieshout’s ruck work and Alex Harvey’s hard running finishing the game strongly.
The Rovers hung on to win by 16 points, as both sides kicked 2 goals each for the final quarter.
A big thank you to the fourths boys who stepped up to the thirds to help out - Stuart Benger, Jake Harvey and Alex Ledwidge.
Final score: Yarroweyah 4.3 (27) def by Deni Rovers 6.7 (43).
Goal kickers: Andrew Smith 3, Alex Harvey, Stuart Benger, Dexter Hardman.
Best players: Nick Fanning, Andrew Smith, Luke Holloway, Alex Harvey, Ethan Connolly, Jack Van Lieshout.
Awards: BLT Fabrication – Nick Fanning, Fanmac Ag & Logistics – Andrew Smith and Luke Holloway, Hardman’s Intersport – Alex Harvey, Wired Entertainment – Ethan Connolly, Subway – Jack Van Lieshout, Henry Learmonth and Reagan Macdonald.
Fourths
From the first bounce, the pressure shown by the young Roos was phenomenal.
Bentley Hardman was in form once again, showing his speed out of the centre clearances.
Sam Conallin supported him in the middle with great passages of play into the forward line where the small forwards dominated.
Stuart Benger kicked it up a gear in the second term providing strong leads from the goal square to boot three majors for the term.
Precision kicking from Callan Glenn, Jobe Unwin and Mikey Benger into the forward line contributed to the four-goal term.
Roving work from Cormick Hardman aided the tall forwards.
The dominance continued after the half-time break with Dannon Leetham surging into the goal kicking line-up with two for the quarter.
Tom Way and Ollie Dunmore provided great defensive pressure when Yarroweyah tried to enter their forward line.
Lincoln Meharry provided a strong ruck contest to win the ball for the roving Roos.
The final term didn’t slow down, in fact it sped up with a six-goal term to finish off the game.
Regular defensive players were given the opportunity to go forward and try and kick the elusive goal.
The Strong siblings combined well from the midfield into the forward with Lara Strong kicking her first goal.
Dannon again provided some strong leads to the accurate delivery of Bentley.
Final score: Yarroweyah 0.1 (1) def by Rovers 17.16 (118).
Goal kickers: Dannon Leetham 5, Stuart Benger 3, Jett Lynch 2, Xander Strong 2, Cormick Hardman, Callan Glenn, Lara Strong, Bentley Hardman, Reece King.
Best players: Bentley Hardman, Sam Conallin, Dannon Leetham, Xander Strong, Callan Glenn, Lincoln Meharry.
Awards: Riverside Bookkeeping Services – Jett Lynch, Barber & Threadz – Xander Strong, BLT Fabrication – Dannon Leetham, Cruizin* Diner – Mikey Benger, McDonald’s – Taj McCully, Subway – Reece King, Alex Ledwidge and Sam Conallin.
Fifths
The fifths travelled to Yarroweyah on Saturday morning with the weather perfect for football.
This is the first time in a few years we had even numbers from both clubs.
Yarroweyah started the game better, taking our guys a quarter to get going.
With great skills from both sides it was turning into a really close game, with both teams not giving an inch in the last quarter.
The older Deni kids - the likes of Connor Sampson, Jett Boyer, Braxton Leetham, Lenny Leetham, Callan Glenn and Will Reid - really stepped up, leading the way to a great little victory.
Awards: William Reid, Braxton Leetham, Callan Leiper, Jaxon Beames, Connor Sampson, Lennix Leetham and Jett Boyer.