NEW NORFOLK 10 12 72 – CLAREMONT 14 13 97
Goals:
New Norfolk: J. Bearman 3, J. Clifford 3, W. Banks, B. Lovell, J. Poulson, C. Triffett.
Claremont: C. Curtain 4, J. Williams 3, J. Adams, B. Bester, L. Plummer, L. Adams, Z. Evans-Fenton.
Best:
New Norfolk: J. Clifford, T. Purdon, T. Bailey, Z. Kelly, W. Banks.
Claremont: M. Allison, J. Adams, J. Williams, L. Green, H. Bielleman, B. Braunack.

WAYNE WALKER

THE Claremont Magpies turned up the heat in a first quarter five-goal blitz that put the New Norfolk Eagles on the back foot for the remaining three quarters of the contest to run out 25-point victors at Abbotsfield Park on Saturday.

The Magpies were well led by the experienced on ball duo of Martyn Allison and Luke Adams and had a clear edge in the air with Jake Williams and Richard Hanley winners in the ruck contests.

The Eagles could only manage one goal in the first term and were under enormous pressure for the remainder of the game playing catch-up football.

Early in the first term young Eagle Jack Miller took a spectacular mark at centre half forward flying high above a pack of players as the Eagles went forward with an early minor score from a snap shot by Ben Lovell.

The Magpies quickly rallied with a goal to big follower/forward Jake Williams who slammed through the Magpies first.

Busy Magpie forward Lachlan Plummer found veteran Clint Curtain in front of goal for the Magpies second major.

Key match-ups early in the game had Blake Lockley picking up Eagle forward Caleb Triffett, Magpie Craig Bennett was on Eagle Ben Lovell, Josh Farrow started the game once again on the forward line with his opponent being Brodie Fewkes.

Braeden Braunack had the task on Eagle small forward Josh Clifford.

Claremont attacked once again from the centre bounce area and found Williams who converted for his second goal to give the home side an early 20-point lead.

The Magpies continued to enter their forward-50 finding Luke Adams who kicked truly and moments later when Bayley Bester booted another, the Eagles looked to be in trouble.

(Quarter time: Claremont 5G. 3B. 33 points to New Norfolk 1G. 4B. 10 points)

Second quarter action saw Claremont open up with an early goal, but the Eagles answered with Caleb Triffett kicking the footy to big Eagle forward Ben Lovell who flew for a mark in a pack.

As the ball hit the ground Josh Clifford was at the fall of the ball and bodied his opponent out of the contest to snap the Eagles second goal for the match.

New Norfolk won the footy from the next centre bounce and found Lovell who marked 35 metres out as the Eagles registered their third major which cut the Magpies lead back to 18 points.

Claremont small forward Lachlan Plummer added another for the home side but moments later the speedy Will Banks kicked a great goal on the run from 40 metres out to give the Eagles a boost as they trailed by only 14 points (42 points to 28 points) at the halfway mark of the term.

Claremont continued to win the centre clearance work and quickly added five unanswered goals to stretch their lead to 44 points as the game looked to be out of the Eagles reach.

Just before half time, a goal to big key forward Caleb Triffett and another from the hard running Josh Clifford kept the Eagles just within reach at the half time break trailing by 30 points

(Claremont 11G. 6B. 72 points to New Norfolk 6G. 6B. 42 points)

At the half time break, coach Tim Butterworth demanded a better effort from his players, but the Magpies again got the jump on the Eagles early in the third term with goals to Curtain and Hanley.

The Eagles got one back with a free kick from a high tackle on Jaythan Poulson in the goal square.

Classy on-baller Jye Bearman snapped two goals in the term as the Eagles edged a little closer at three quarter time to trail by 24 points

(Claremont 13G. 9B. 87 points to New Norfolk 9G. 9B. 63 points)

Both sides had their fair share of the footy in the last term but neither side could gain any momentum, only adding one goal each for the quarter. The Eagles had no answer for the Magpie on-ball unit of Allison and Adams.

Lucas Green was good all day and big Jake Williams had a great game and also booted three goals. The Eagles were well served by Tyler Purdon who continues to impress.

Josh Clifford played a great game applying pressure to the opposition with his hard running and tackling and also booted three majors.

Tyron Bailey was a consistent four quarter performer. Zayden Kelly shows that he can hold down a key position on the backline against key forwards and the speedy Will Banks continues to break the lines when handling the footy giving his side plenty of run.

The Eagles were missing a few key personnel including Rohan Heron, Jacob Daley, Brayden Chaplin, Riley Higgins, and Josh Hills (who may be out for some time).

They can look forward to a number of these players returning soon plus the likes of Nathan Eiszele, Sam Webb and some others who have been playing well in the Reserves.

The Eagles will now be looking forward to the Huonville Lions at the Boyer Oval in what should be a big encounter for both sides.

Three from three as Ladies top ladder

Zoie Crawford

NEW NORFOLK 13 13 91 – ST VIRGILS 1 2 8
Goals:
New Norfolk: M. Green 4, C. Ford 4, J. Mansfield 2, Z. Crawford, A. Robilliard, M. Tomkinson.
St. Virgils: S. Burridge.
Best:
New Norfolk: S. Farrow, Z. Crawford, O. Harris, C. Ford, N. Roach, J. Mansfield.
St. Virgils: A. Reid, A. Singles, F. Langford, C. McDermott, T. Davis.

THE lady Eagles travelled to the bike track at New Town for their first away game of the season against St Virgil’s.

After two massive home ground wins, the girls knew it would be a big test as St Virgils are a skilful and physical side and last year’s SFLW runners up.

The first five minutes proved this to be the case, with hard contested footy until the lady Eagles were able to finally score the opening goal with a brilliant handball out of traffic from Mel Green to Zoie Crawford.

The first half was much of the same, with every possession having to be worked hard for.

The lady Eagle backs were locking down on every St Virgil’s forward entry and some gut two-way running from the Eagle midfield group enabled them to go into half time with a healthy 48-point lead.

After the half time break, the physicality continued but the lady Eagles didn’t back down. Mia Temple and Laura Wigg were tenacious with their attack on the football.

They won several free kicks for their tackle pressure and commitment to the contest.

Chloe Ford and Liv Harris again showed why their pace is going to give every team headaches this season and Sophie Farrow once again played a true Captains game.

It was another strong performance by the Eagles as they kept their opponents scoreless for the first three quarter.

The lady Eagles have now won their first three matches and sit on top of the SFLW Division 3 ladder with a healthy 40,000 per cent.

Saturday sees them at home again against OHA.