The Blackwood Football Club got its eighth victory of 2018 recording a 39 point victory in Round 12 of the Mortgage Choice Hills Football League. The win celebrated dual Moulden Medalist and past Division One Mail Medalist, Troy Edwards 200th senior appearance for the Woods.
After a weekend off, both sides came into the match refreshed and ready to play. The Woods made three changes to their unsuccessful side from Round 11 with Liam McCarthy, Jan Warbout and Ryan Williams returning. For Warbout, it was his first match of 2018.
The home side started kicking towards the club room end of the venue and made a great start. Controlling the play in the first five minutes, the Bulldogs were able to kick two majors, both through speedy half forward, Andrew Vines. Finding space, Vines was able to snap the ball on his left boot much to the delight of the small home crowd. Making some uncharacteristic mistakes in the first five minutes, the Woods kicked into gear in the middle part of the quarter kicking three goals in quick time. The first came through Ben Macreadie who was able to mark on the lead and convert truly. Liam McCarthy and Ryan Dijksman then showed their class snapping two goals for deep in the new scoreboard pocket to give the Woods a four point lead at the first break.
After some stern words from coach Damien Salievic at the first break, the Woods kicked into gear in the second quarter. Lifting their pressure against the opposition ball carrier, the Woods were able to cause the Bulldogs to turn the ball over on regular occasion. Onkaparinga got the first major of the term after three minutes with Scott Friend finding space in the forward 50 to kick his sides third major of the match. The Woods then controlled the scoreboard for the remainder of the quarter kicking six goals in a 15 minute onslaught. Goals to Nick Homburg, Dijksman (x2), Phil Hopton, Steve Woods and Macreadie extended the lead to 39 points at the main break. Whilst the Bulldogs were competing hard, skill errors and turning the ball over was proving costly.
The home side came out the better side after half time as they were able to get ontop around the midfield. With the help of some free kicks, the Bulldogs were able to outscore the Woods five goals to two in the quarter, bringing the margin back to 19 points at the final break. It was a frustrating quarter for the travelling Woods with players losing control giving away free kicks for disputing umpiring decisions, much to the dismay of coach Salievic at the three quarter time break. He urged his players to get back in control and start focusing on football. “We lost control that quarter, if we want to be the side we want to be, we can not afford to do that.”
Answering the call from coach Salievic, the Woods got the first goal of the term after only 14 seconds. Getting the centre break through Ryan Dijksman, Edwards was able to handball to Liam McCarthy who snapped truly to kick his second goal of the major. Restoring dominance the Woods adding two more goals through Ben Macreadie and Phil Hopton to draw the margin back beyond six goals when the final siren sounded.
For the Woods it was the second time they had reached 100 points in season 2018 with the game matching the trend across competition in Round 12 with sides averaging 22.6 shots on goal. In the end the final result was one which wasn’t unexpected before the match, whilst the Bulldogs were competitive in periods throughout the match, the class of the Woods rose to the top and they did enough to win the game. After the match coach Salievic suggested their was still plenty of areas to work on. “We’ll talk about what we need to improve on during the week, but it was good to get the win after a weekend off.”
For the Woods, Ben Macreadie was awarded the MAC Best Player with his four majors whilst Jacob McCarthy, Ryan Anderson, Phil Hopton and Ryan Dijksman also caught the eye of the coaching staff being awarded the best players.
Final scoreboard
Blackwood 3.2 9.6 11.8 14.16 (100)
Onkaparinga Valley 2.4 3.4 8.6 9.7 (61)
Goals – Macreadie 4, P. Hopton 3, Dijksman 2, L. McCarthy 2, Homburg 1, Kenny 1, Woods 1
Best – Macreadie, J. McCarthy, Anderson, P. Hopton, Dijksman
