Labrador withstood a third quarter challenge from the NT Thunder and then ran all over the opposition to post a handsome 55-point victory at Cooke-Murphy Oval today.
Saturday 5 June 2010
Labrador withstood a third quarter challenge from the NT Thunder and then ran all over the opposition to post a handsome 55-point victory at Cooke-Murphy Oval today.
The Tigers were outstanding in the first half in a game played at a cracking pace, but a 40-point lead was whittled back to 17 midway through the third quarter.
However, the home side steadied with the last two goals before the break and then rammed on seven goals with the wind at their backs in the final term, winning 20.12 (132) to 12.5 (77).
Rover Todd Featherstone was clearly best afield with a dominant performance in the midfield, while Peter ‘Spida’ Everitt booted four goals and was clever in the ruck.
Shaun Tapp was outstanding in defence for the Thunder, but the Tigers rotation of Tim Notting, Fred Sleeth, Russell Alleway and Everitt proved too big a task for the other backmen to handle.
To make life even harder for the Thunder, Mark Vigus chipped in with four goals and has been a big asset over the last fortnight, while the elusive Scott Trembath contributed three.
Credit to the Thunder, they came out firing after halftime and a reshuffle that saw Cameron Ilett move forward to try and break the shackles applied by in-form tagger Curtis Allen and Tapp also go into attack paid dividends.
Ilett and Tapp stood up on a number of occasions and with Brett Goodes winning plenty of ball, the Thunder made a spirited run.
“We were in control at halftime and out of control halfway through the third quarter,” admitted Labrador coach Jarrod Field, who threw Alleway to centre-half-forward after a stint on the bench and injected veteran Nathan Gurcuillo around the ball with telling effect to steady the ship.
“It is a great result to beat the Thunder by 55 points, we’re very happy,” said Fields, whose side goes in the bye weekend for the State game with a 7-2 record.
Ace Thunder forward Darren Ewing was restricted to two goals, including one in the dying minutes of the game, by the dashing Nick Stockdale, who was been a revelation since moving to the defensive goalsquare.
Ilett finished with three second half goals and Tapp two in solid contributions, while skipper Jarred Ilett tried hard throughout.
The Thunder had trouble getting past dashing half-back Steve Wrigley and composed Dustin Mills, who initiated numerous attacks for their side.
“We needed two Shaun Tapps out there,” said Thunder coach Murray Davis. “The guys showed a bit of character to fight back after halftime…but they (Labrador) just had too much strikepower.”
Kenrick Tyrrell battled manfully in the ruck against Everitt and wily veteran Adam Cooke, while Bradley Palipuaminni generated plenty of run and opportunities for his side.
The Thunder were forced into making eight changes to the side that beat heavyweights Southport in Darwin last weekend, then lost key playmaker Zephi Skinner in the opening five minutes to a hip injury.
