The Blackwood Football Club recorded its tenth victory of 2018, a 60 point victory over the Mt Lofty Devils in Round 15 of the Mortgage Choice Hills Football League last Saturday afternoon. On a blustery day the Woods controlled much of the match having 27 scoring shots to 17 with an even spread of goal kickers. In a round that saw tough conditions with the wind having an impact on skill level the Woods were used the ball better kicking at 51.9 percent accuracy compared to only 23.5 percent for the Devils.
Making one change to the line-up, the Woods welcomed back tough-nut Daniel Benson in the place of Troy Edwards who picked up an injury in last weekend’s loss to the Barkeroos. Kicking up the hill with the aid of a breeze in the opening period, the Woods made most of the attacking movements. James Catford got the first goal of the quarter for the hosts inside two minutes. It was all Blackwood as they pushed hard winning the ball around the middle on regular occasion. Three additional goals to Ben Macreadie, Phil Hopton and Ryan Dijksman saw the Woods take a 26 point lead into the first break.
Happy with the first quarter performance, coach Damien Salievic urged his players to continue playing a good brand of football. “When we do the simply things well and play great team football you can produce those results. The challenge is to keep is going in the next quarter.”
Switching directions for the second period the Woods were made to work much harder. Star Devils onballer Sam Miles and Michael Pope began to get their hands on the ball in the early part of the term to help the Devils gain some field position. Using the breeze to their advantage, the visitors were able to outscore the Woods kicking three goals to two in the second period. Blackwood went into half time leading by three goals with the game feeling like it was much closer than that.
The Woods came out from the rooms determined to put in a good performance in the third period. Statistics showed they had only won one of the last eight third quarters played. The Woods went about changing this during the term running rampant on the Devils. Kicking seven goals to one for the term the Woods completely controlled the play. With the pressure of the Devils dropping off the Woods were able to win the ball from the middle and give the like of Jake Atkinson and Phil Hopton plenty of supply. The pair combined for five of the seven goals in the term. At three quarter time the Woods lead by 10 goals with coach Damien Salievic suggesting they must continue to have their foot on the pedal. “We must continue to take the game on and turn this into a big victory.”
Going against the breeze in the final term proved to be a difficult task for the Woods as they were once again outscored by their Devils opponents, two scoring shots to seven. Blackwoods only goal of the term came through crafty forward Ryan Dijksman in the 12 minute. He was able to find space in the forward 50 and put the ball through the middle to kick his third major of the match. When the final siren blew, the Woods had recorded a 60 point victory, their second biggest of season 2018.
In the rooms after the match, Salievic said it was a good victory over a quality side. “Mt Lofty are a competitive team, it was good to record a victory today. We still have plenty of areas to improve and must continue to build momentum in the coming weeks.”
Overall, the class of the Woods was able to do enough to secure the victory. The Woods were able to make the most of their opportunities going forward when they had the breeze having 21 shots at 52.4 percent compared to 13 shots at 30.8 percent. The Woods have been slowly building across the season working on playing consistent football across the whole match being a key focus. The statistics show games are really even across the competition with the Woods only having two matches to date in 2018 (Round 5 and 6) where they have had more scoring shots in every quarter. This compares to five for Hahndorf and two for Mt Barker.
Final scoreboard
Blackwood 4.5 6.6 13.12 14.13 (97)
Mt Lofty 0.3 3.6 3.7 4.13 (37)
Goals – Atkinson 3, Dijksman 3, P. Hopton 3, Macreadie 2, Bennetts 1, Catford 1, J. McCarthy 1
Best – Darcy, Thompson, Dijksman, Anderson, Kenny
Other HFL results
B Grade – Blackwood 4.9 (33) defeated Mt Lofty 2.9 (21)
Under 18s – Blackwood 7.8 (50) defeated Mt Lofty 6.8 (44)
Under 16s – Blackwood 13.4 (82 defeated Mt Lofty 1.7 (13)
Under 14s – Blackwood 8.6 (54) defeated by Mt Lofty 0.0 (0)
