It was a great day for footy on Saturday when the Deniliquin Rovers hosted Blighty in a contest for the Warner Tasker Cup.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
A highlight of the Picola and Distict Football League season for the two local sides, a large crowd attended the game at Deniliquin’s Memorial Park.
This created a great atmosphere on what was a very warm, sunny day.
The first quarter was a scramble, with Blighty applying plenty of pressure.
Causing the Rovers to make mistakes with their ball use, this gave Blighty repeated entries into their forward line.
But the Redeyes failed to make the most of the opportunities.
Rovers dominated possession but wasted plenty of scoring opportunities.
The Blighty backline led by Kev Maroney were holding their own, stopping numerous scoring opportunities made by the Rovers.
Ray Murphy kicked the first of his six goals for the match to get Rovers on the board, but at quarter time the game could have gone either way with the Rovers only just ahead 2.5 to Blighty’s 1.2.
The second quarter was slightly better for the Rovers, who added 4.4 to Blighty’s 2.0 to establish a 25 point lead at half time.
Blighty started the second quarter like the first, but as the quarter wore on they tired out and lost a bit of run and pressure.
Youngsters in Tyson Willis and Logan Leiper were very prominent in the quarter and provided plenty of scoring opportunities for Blighty.
Murphy and Rovers coach Alex Hay were standout players on ball and were winning plenty of possessions, and using the ball well.
Deni started to extend their lead in the third quarter, and used their pace and fitness for the first time in the game to add 5.7 for the quarter whilst keeping their opponents scoreless.
The Redeyes continued to try hard and never gave in, but the lead had blown out to 62 points at three quarter time.
One of the highlights of the quarter was a great mark by Rovers youngster Liam East, who soared above the pack to take mark of the day.
Harry Turner and Tyson Willis were both dangerous up forward and kicked several goals each for the Roos.
The final quarter saw the game really open up with the Rovers side using plenty of run.
As a result, they were able to kick 9.1 for the quarter.
Their direct play was in contrast to early in the game and they put the ball into positions which made it easier to kick goals.
As a result their accuracy was much better.
The final result was a 111 point win, which probably didn’t reflect the pressure that Blighty had applied for most of the game.
Rovers thirds players Cam Wills, Tyson Willis, Liam East and Logan Leiper all played well.
As did Connor Didcock who made his senior debut in a very youth orientated team who were missing several senior players through injury.
Murphy dominated the game with his centre breaks setting up many scoring chances.
In addition to his six goals, Murphy was responsible for many score assists and he was awarded the Warner Tasker Medal as best on ground.
Hay was close behind, winning many kicks and his disposal was a clear stand out.
Brendan Hope became the sixth Rovers player to play 200 senior games, and played his usual big hearted game.
James Kirby played well in the ruck but Hope assisted when he went onto the ball at half-time, and he won plenty of hit outs and kicks around the ground.
Willis and Leiper rounded off the Rovers’ best player list with encouraging performances.
It was great to see such a big crowd follow the boys into the change rooms to watch them sing the Rovers song and watch them celebrate.
Despite losing by a large margin, Blighty coach Kyel Bain said there were some positives to take out of the game.
“I reckon we showed a lot more promise than the week before, especially around the ball and through the midfield.
“Our fitness let us down and a few skill errors, but we kept fighting and working hard.
“Our best on was Kev Maroney who played a great game down back cutting off quite a few entries and he ran all day.
“Next went to Andrew Simpson who played the majority of the game through the midfield with no swaps.
“Kev Thomspon an Litchy (Aaron Litchfield) both worked hard all day through the middle even with a few little injuries.”
Final score: Deniliquin Rovers 20.17 (137) defeated Blighty 4.2 (26).
Rovers awards: Cin’s Remedial Massage - Tyson Willis; Keet’s Hair - Liam East; Evolve - Logan Leiper;
Rovers goal kickers: Ray Murphy 6, Tyson Willis 4, Tom Blake 3, Harry Turner 3, Cam Wills 2, Lachie Trotman, Alex Hay.
Blighty goal kickers: Brock Thomson, Brett Napier, Travis Tambling, Jack Charlton.
Contributed content