The Blackwood Football Club has suffered it’s third defeat of 2017 going down by thirty-three points to the Hahndorf Football Club. Ironically the losing margin was exactly the same margin the Woods won by the previous weekend in the Qualifying Final. The loss sees the Woods now face a cut-throat Preliminary Final on Saturday the 19th of September at Balhannah Oval.
Entering the semi-final clash against the Magpies, both sides were statistically one and two in the competition of 2017. Having the top two attacks and defences, the match was set up to be a hotly contested affair. The key statistical difference was going to be who could kick straight in front of the big sticks.
Blackwood made one change to the previous weekends line-up with Lucas Herbert coming into the side. For the Magpies they had the previous weekend off so they were at full-strength. Captain Kurt Thompson had the first win of the day, winning the coin toss and electing to kick to the Primary School end of Uraidla Oval. Blackwood made the early running kicking the first two behinds of the match. With the Woods unable to convert early, the Magpies moved the ball up the outer flank to find David Hankin in the eighth minute. Having been kept quiet in the two minor round games, he converted truly to give his Magpies the first goal of the match. The Woods got an immediate reply through forward Ryan Dijksman kicking a neat left footed snap from the pocket in the tenth minute. Dijksman has stepped up his game in 2017 increasing his scoring output from 2016.
Hahndorf got the next major through power forward Darcy Hourigan after he was hit up with a nice mark from the long-sleeved Matthew Buckley. Son of club legend Daniel Benson then got the second major of the board for the Woods kicking a nice running goal. As good players do, Hourigan then entered the game kicking the next two of the match including a long range goal on the siren to give his side a twelve point lead at the first change.
Kurt Thompson raps up a Hahndorf opponent
Haydn Kenny tackles Dylan Matsen
Blackwood coach Damien Salievic urged his players to lift during the first break. He suggested the side lift their skill level during the next quarter and continue to play the Woods brand of football. For Hahndorf, coach Craig Smith contained to re-enforce the message stated before the match. He said his players must be aware on defence with the Woods trying to spread their zone. Hahndorf got off the perfect start in the second quarter with former Adelaide Crows player Matthew Jaensch kicking a goal after only two minutes. It was a struggle in the opening part for the Woods who were getting beaten around the contest which resulted in the defenders having to work extra hard. With Scott Bricknell moved onto Darcy Hourigan to quell his influence, the other Hahndorf forwards lifted to the occasion. Luke Roberts and Dylan Matsen scored goals in the sisxth and sixteenth minutes to see the Woods facing a six goal deficit. Just before half time Matt Tuck bobbed up and kicked his first major of the match to result in the Woods trailing 3.7.25 to 8.6.54 at the main break.
With the large crowd in attendance refreshed during the main break, the crowd was hoping the Woods could work their way back into the match during the premiership quarter. During the opening few minutes of the quarter the Woods lifted their work rate through the middle. With star prime movers Nick Homburg and Ryan Anderson beginning to gain touches around the middle, Michael Minuzzo was able to get the first goal of the term in the seventh minute. This brought the Woods back a four goal margin and their was a feeling around the ground they were going to get back into the game. Enter Hourigan once again. With Hahndorf allowed to move the ball with time through the middle they managed to find Hourigan in front of the goal. He went back and converted truly to dull the charge of the side from Blackwood. In a tight term Blackwood rued their inaccuracy in front of goal kicking 1.3.9 to 2.2.14 for the term. When the three quarter time siren sounded the Woods trailed 10.8.68 to 4.10.34.
Nick Homburg looks to break away from an opponent
James Catford moves the ball down the field
The final quarter started slowly once again for the Woods with Luke Roberts kicking the perfect front and centre goal for the Magpies after only two minutes. For a big man to crumb the pack and kick a snap shot on his non-dominate left foot was a skilled bit of play. The Woods day got summed up in the next minute of the game when they went to move the ball to two free players on the outer side of the ground. The kick failed to hit its target on the full and as a result took a funny bounce splitting the centre of the two Blackwood players to find a Hahndorf player who was making his way over area. After this moment the large travelling crowd for the Woods knew it wasn’t their day. The bounce resulted in Darcy Hourigan bagging his fifth goal of the match for the Magpies, his eighty-sixth goal for the 2017 season. Hourigan has been a nemesis for the Woods averaging 4.3 goals per match in the eight games he has played against the Woods.
Blackwood managed to get three late goals through Lucas Herbert, Homburg and Harry Wake to pull the margin closer. When the final siren sounded the Woods went down by thirty-three points, 7.12.54 to 12.15.87. For the losing Woods, defenders featured predominately in the best players with Captain Kurt Thompson being named best player, along with Haydn Kenny, Adam Ridley, Brad Jones and Daniel Bennetts
Ryan Anderson crashes down after attempting a mark
Daniel Bennetts spoils the ball from an opponent
Summary
Overall, the Woods were soundly beaten on the day with Hahndorf able to control the ball from the midfield to give their forwards more opportunities. At three quarter time the Woods trailed by 34 points despite only having four less scoring shots. Inaccuracy in front of the big sticks has been a problem for Blackwood in the second half of the season kicking at 47.8% to rank seventh in the competition. The first quarters are also critical for the Woods, during the minor rounds the Woods won 75% (12 of 16) of opening quarters averaging twenty-five points for. This compares to finals, where the Woods have not won an opening quarter only averaging eighteen points for. Despite going down in the game, coach Damien Salievic remained positive in the rooms after the game. He stated “he have put in a lot of hard work across the season to earn the double chance. We must do everything to prepare well for this upcoming game and going into the game with a positive mindset to focus on playing our brand of football for longer.”
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