2006 SEASON RESULTS
Click on 2006 season to return
Round 1 - Sunday April 2, 2006
Riverina Football League
Venue: Leeton Showground 2.10pm
Umpires: Brett Webb, Sam Roberts and Paul Smith (RUA)
Leeton-Whitton ..... 3.4 .. 8.12 .. 9.16 .. 14.21 (105)
Griffith ..................... 8.5 .. 9.7 .. 11.9 .. 11.13 (79)
LEETON-WHITTON: Matthew Flagg, Graeme Dale, Ben Dryburgh; Daniel Sullivan, Travis Irvin, Kurt Bullock; Simon Piltz, Jamie Broadbent, Brad Boots; Richard Meakin, Steve Iannelli, Craig Nettelbeck; Matthew Lang, Damian Lang, Simon Hillier; Aaron Nettelbeck, Matthew Sharman, Drew Dunscombe; Travis Doyle, David Harrison, Giles Lee.
GRIFFITH: Myles Bunn, Simon Spiers, Roger Heenan; Blair Alban, Josh Ward, Matthew Kenny; Ben Ford, Matthew Bunn (capt.), James Toscan*; Rodney Duncan, Jeff Mickan, Ashley Gardner; Nathan Petersen-Gray*, Craig Conlan, Dean Crack*; Michael Wilson, Daniel Meade*, Michael Duncan; Kris Duncan, Sam Hickleton*, Joel Brown*
GOALS
Leeton-Whitton: D Lang 5, M Lang 3, C Nettelbeck, D Harrison, M Sharman, T Doyle, D Duncombe, S Iannelli
Griffith: C Conlan 4, M Duncan, R Duncan, J Mickan, A Gardner, D Meade, D Crack, N Petersen-Gray
BEST PLAYERS
Leeton-Whitton: D Sullivan, M Sharman, D Dunscombe, K Bullock, S Hillier, A Nettelbeck
Griffith: N Petersen-Gray, J Ward, C Conlan, M Duncan, D Meade
SENIOR DEBUT: Joel Brown, Dean Crack, Sam Hickleton, Daniel Meade, Nathan Petersen-Gray, James Toscan
A summary of match report, with thanks
The Griffith Swans didn't exactly get off to a flying start to the 2006 season yesterday, going down to Leeton-Whitton after holding the lead till the last term. But there is good news for the team according to Swans captain-coach Luke McLean, who sat out the game with a niggling calf injury, saying there was plenty of positive signs for the side and they stuck to their game plan.
McLean admitted it was positive in some respects for him to sit out the game as he could see what his new group was capable of.
The Swans got off to a strong start when they kept to their plan of running the ball around and using a lot of handballs.
They managed to get a good lead of eight goals, five behinds to Leeton-Whitton's three goals and four.
But the Swans seemed to use all their strength in the first 20 minutes and although they held the lead at half-time they only managed to put one more between the posts in the second term. Leeton-Whitton started to take advantage of the Swans' low scoring and grabbed themselves five goals and eight behinds.
At half-time the Swans turned into the wind but seemed to find more strength than they had in the second term and clocked up another two goals and two behinds and kept the Crows to a single goal - they could have got more but inaccuracy was plaguing Leeton-Whitton and they collected four behinds instead. Going into the last term, Griffith held a narrow lead of just five points.
Leeton-Whitton surged in the last term and managed to run over the Swans, collecting five goals and as many behinds and keeping the Swans to just four behinds, leaving them 26 points short at the siren.
McLean said they might have stuck to their plan of handballs too much and let the weather push them around.
"We just couldn't hang on at the end," he said. "I think Leeton played well, they probably played smarter than us, but both teams are definitely evenly matched." (By Amelia Elliston - The Area News, Monday April 3, 2006).
OTHER MATCHES - SAT: Narrandera 14.15 (99) def by Eastern Hawks 25.12 (162), SUN: Coolamon 11.6 (72) def by Turvey Park 20.11 (131), GGGM 20.7 (127) def MCUE 10.13 (73)
Reserves: Leeton-Whitton 13.20 (98) def Griffith 13.3 (81)
Goals: G Argus 4, A Hukins 2, B Sergi 2, A Pavese, M Firebrace-Jones, W Tyndall, T Matheson, L Cavallo
Best players: T Matheson, A Cappello, W Tyndall, G Foley, L Cavallo
Under 18: Leeton-Whitton 9.14 (68) def Griffith 8.4 (52)
Goals: L Cooper 3, O Acar 3, M Tyndall, K Hicken
Best players: L Cooper, C Harrison, J Gastin, J Smith, D McGreal, R Johns
