The Deniliquin Rovers seniors went down to very classy Katandra side in round 11 of the Picola and District Football League at Memorial Park on Saturday.
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Rovers kicked with the aid of the breeze in the first quarter.
They were quickly off the mark when Kaiden Joss kicked the first goal of the match, after intercepting a defensive Katandra pass.
But from that point on, Katandra dominated with precise use of the ball and kicked five straight for the quarter against an inaccurate Rovers who kicked 1.3.
The Rovers were hampered when ruckman Brendan Hope injured his hamstring.
The accuracy in front of goal was a feature of the Katandra game and this continued into the second, with the Roos defending hard against the breeze, and Katandra middling four from their five shots at goal.
The third quarter was Rovers’ best for the game, with the home side kicking a further three goals to Katandra’s four.
But the eight goal break at three-quarter time was always going to be a huge ask.
The game blew out in the last quarter as the undermanned Rovers side struggled to keep up with Katandra.
They ran the ball well and disposals were first class.
Final score: Rovers 5.10 (40) def by Katandra 21.4 (130).
Rovers should certainly be pleased with thier efforts, but ball use was the big difference between the two sides.
The young Rovers side was competitive in general play, but consistently turned the ball over.
Meanwhile, Katandra were very precise and delivered the ball well into their forward line, which made kicking goals much easier.
Better players included Jack O’Callaghan at centre half back, youngster Will Martin who played well in the backline, Ray Murphy played well on the ball, Alan Bond on a half back flank, Jim Falcone who continued his good form and James Gilligan whose marking was important.
The side should welcome back several players who were missing this week, and the potential of the many youngsters in the team was evident again this week.
Tidying up their ball use and reducing the number of turnovers will improve results enormously going forward.
The Deni Rovers reserves had a lot to play for on Saturday.
Katandra were sitting above them on the ladder, and the day was a chance to knock on the door of the top four.
While starting started against the wind, the Rovers were able to kick the first two goals of the game quickly through Matt Horne.
Katandra started to win the ball around the ground and soon gained control kicking five goals with the wind behind them.
The Rovers had to tighten up and kick long with the wind, but were out ran by a quicker side.
Katandra kicked four goals, and Brock Thomson kicked the Rovers’ only goal for the quarter.
Rovers battled hard, however the run and spread of Katandra players was to much for them.
It allowed Katandra to kick 10.5 to the Rovers’ one point in the second half.
Final score: Rovers 3.2 (20) def by Katandra 19.9 (123).
Not withstanding the defeat there were some highlights for the boys.
Liam ‘Bones’ Fleming took the field for the first time this year, and increased the record of most games played by a Rovers player by one.
Trav McCully also played his first game, and was able to play along side his son Jay, who has been amongst the best in the seconds all year.