Round 2 Football Report

MIRBOO NORTH FOOTBALL REPORT

by Rover

Seniors

Boolarra 10 – 8 – 68 d Mirboo North 5  –  4 –  34

BOOLARRA doubled Mirboo North's score in its 34-point victory over the mighty Tigers in honeyful 27c sunshine, at Boolarra Recreation Reserve on Saturday.

In doing so, the Demons also retained the George Lewis Memorial Trophy, played between the two clubs every season.

Mirboo North selected teenager, Ollie Mahoney, for his first game of senior football.

From the outset, the pace was a cracker, with supply chain interruptions the only way to slow down run and carry implementations.

It was a spirited opening quarter by both teams, that saw the home side take a five-point lead into the first break.

First to score a goal was Mirboo North's Douglas Black at the three-minute mark, before the Demons twice found the wide opening later in the term.

After Riley Gillian — who was making his first appearance for Mirboo North since 2021 — booted two goals and playing coach, Damien Turner, added another, the Tigers hit the front, 17 minutes into the second quarter.

Woe to report, that was Mirboo North's last major until late in the final quarter.

Soon after, tall and talented youngster, Nathan Giardina, marked and goaled for the Demons, before James Holmes and Joel Mason's conversions helped Boolarra grab a 13-point advantage at halftime.

In the space of six minutes, the Demons had lifted the pressure on their opponents, with instinctive, composed and surgical football, as they increased their forward line focus on flexibility, pace and balance.

As a result, Boolarra proved it's never the wrong time to make the right delivery decisions in a game of Aussie Rules football.

There was more pain for Mirboo North in the third quarter when Boolarra added 3.2 to the Tigers' two behinds. 

Pick of the crop of these majors came from Holmes, when his long left-foot torpedo punt set shot on the boundary line, curled through the big white sticks like it had eyes.

Holmes had earlier played a full game in Boolarra's reserves, where he kicked two goals.  

The Demons were forced to play one man short for 15 minutes, when Dillon Leys was yellow carded for an indiscriminate bump on Mirboo North skipper, Hudson Kerr. 

Fourth quarter goals came via playing coach Brendan Mason's right boot for the Demons and Mirboo North's Beau Peters from close range.

Jesse Chila, Jacob Blair, Aaron Scicluna and Archie Woodall kept plugging away for the Tigers, as they had done all afternoon.

Although the heat had long gone out of the game, it was still 26c in the middle of the oval when the final siren sounded.

Mirboo North returns from the Easter break on Saturday 26 April, when it hosts the Tarwin Sharks at Tigerland.

Boolarra Goals: N Giardina 2, J Holmes 2, J Mason 2, B Mason, D Leys, T Salerno, M Twomey  

Boolarra Best:    B Flanigan, S Noy, M Porykali, B Mason, N Giardina, T Potter

MN Goals:  R Gillian 2, D Black, D Turner, B Peters  ​      

MN Best:    J Chila, J Blair, A Scicluna, H Kerr, D Black, A Woodall.            

Reserves

Mirboo North 9 –  10 –  64 d Boolarra 9 –  6 –  60  

*Please note, no reserves goals and best players featured as correct details were not available at the time of publication

Mirboo North broke a 13-game losing streak, dating back to round five of last year, in its nail-biting four-point victory over Boolarra.

Both teams took the 27c temperature in their stride, as every player on the field fought tooth and nail for his side, in search of victory.

Skipper, Mitch Richardson was a tireless achiever for the mighty Tigers in the ruck,

whilst Luke Gervasi, Ethan Hall and Isaac Shinebeg, also shone for Mirboo North.

Mature-age recruit, Jesse Evans, was another Tiger with a productive presence in the visitors'  back 50, who helped stymy the Demons' quest for victory.

Best performers for Boolarra included Thomas Holley, Jedd Felmingham, Corey Meers and Joshua Hussey. 

Even though Brendan Van Heurck's name didn't appear on Boolarra's team sheet, the bearded burbler still managed to feature among the Demons' goal kickers.

Such mysteries sometimes occur in reserves football, but there's always a reason for everything.

Thirds

Yinnar 12 – 8 –  80 d Mirboo North  6 – 4 – 40  

After Mirboo North led by four points at quarter time, Yinnar found its bearings with a 5.3 to one goal second term, that gave the Magpies a halftime lead of 23 points.

By the end of the game Yinnar had doubled Mirboo North's score and banked a 40-point victory.

Tobias McDuffie was a stand out for Mirboo North with five goals, whilst Zane Fleming, Archie Evans, Tom McGrath and Finn Bourke, also made their presence felt for the Tigers.

Best players for the Magpies included Kobey Ross, Jay Rogalsky and Hudson McCulloch.

Xavier McCafferty and Billy Durea booted four and three goals respectively for Yinnar.

MN Goals: T McDuffie 5, S Berquez.

MN Best:   Z Fleming, A Evans, T McGrath, F Bourke, S Berquez, T McDuffie