Tigers trumped in NAIDOC Round
MIRBOO North’s fourth annual Indigenous round saw Morwell East defeat the Tigers
by 12 points at Tigerland on Saturday.
Prior to the match, Christine Johnson carried out a Welcome to Country and formal Smoking
Ceremony, where traditional Indigenous land owners were recognised.
Two traditional dances were also performed by Naomi Murphy’s Dreamtime Dance Troupe.
Mirboo North’s jumper was designed by Gippsland Aboriginal artist Marilyn Fenton and the Morwell East players wore their 2019 brown and gold Indigenous strip.
The match began scrappy, with dropped marks, ground ball fumbles and wayward disposals frequent.
A rarely-seen choppy northerly wind favored neither side and it took 15 minutes before Mirboo North teenager, Harrison Mahoney, booted the opening goal.
At quarter-time Morwell East had two majors on the board and led by four points.
Brayden Darby-Lock and Zachary Mangion were lively in the second term and got on the scoreboard to extend the visitors’ lead to 22 points.
Still unable to bed down its game plan in a defining way, Mirboo North was indecisive.
Tristan Salerno, Jacob Vuillermin, Julian Blackford and skipper Damien Turner were under extreme pressure in the team’s back 50, the Hawks rebounding their defensive clearances.
Mirboo North’s was able to create some opportunities through the pressure, but inaccuracy saw their half-time score stand at 1.8 to the Hawks’ 6.3.
The home side added 3.1 in the third term, but Morwell East also kicked three majors, and the Tigers trailed by 27 points at the last change.
After the Hawks had run rings around them for most of the first three quarters, the Tigers lifted their tempo and surged with a run of five consecutive last-term goals.
Darryl Mayman, Mitchell Wightman, Clancy Bennett, Jacob Blair and Hudson Kerr had lifted their work rates and most of the play was suddenly in the Tigers’ forward half.
When Brayden Wilson snapped Mirboo North’s ninth major 14 minutes into the term, the Tigers were a point in front and appeared unstoppable.
The Hawks refound their composure though.
A brilliant 40-metre major from the boundary line by Rob Michaelides was followed by a chest mark and goal from Darby-Lock and the Hawks were safely home, 79-67.
It was the team’s first success at Tigerland since its 10-point win in 2010.
– Rover
Seniors: Morwell East 12.7.79 d Mirboo North 9.13.67.
Reserves: Morwell East 10.9.69 d Mirboo North 6.10.46.
Thirds: Mirboo North 9.4.58 drew Hill End 8.10.58.
Fourths: Mirboo North 5.8.38 d Morwell East 5.6.36.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Jul 23 2019. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
