Round 5 - Sunday May 15, 2011
Riverina Football Netball League
Venue: Griffith Exies Oval 2.10pm
Umpires: Ron Wilson and Mark Rowe (RUA)
Griffith ...................... 4.4 .. 10.7 .. 14.9 .. 16.16 (112)
Leeton-Whitton ..... 1.3 .. 6.5 .. 9.8 .. 12.10 (82) 
GRIFFITH: Dean Catanzariti, Glen Snaidero, James Smith; Jack Tyrell, Matthew Noonan, Jonathon Gastin; Cameron Harrison, Michael Duncan, Dean Crack: Toby Blissett, James Toscan, Tom Buckley; Beau Runnalls, Jeff Mickan, Kris Duncan; Michel Harris, Guy Orton, Che Jenkins; John Evans, Theo Valeri, Tim McMahon
GOALS
Griffith: T Blissett 4, D Crack 2, M Duncan 2, Theo Valeri 2, T Buckley 2, B Runnalls, K Duncan,

J Tyrell, J Toscan
Leeton-Whitton: G Commins 4, L Frazer 3, B O'Garey 2, R Maguire, N Hunter, B Killeen
BEST PLAYERS
Griffith: M Duncan, C Jenkins, G Snaidero, G Orton, T Blissett, T Valeri, J Toscan, M Noonan
Leeton-Whitton: B O'Garey, B Dryburgh, B Curley, B Dunn, C Garvey, R Maguire
A summary of match report, with thanks
It wasn’t pretty, but the Griifith Swans notched their fourth win this Riverina Football League season with a hard-fought 30-point victory over arch-rivals the Leeton-Whitton Crows at Exies Oval yesterday. While kicking efficiency and converting their chances in front of goal have been the hallmarks of the Swans’ season to date, Griffith was drawn into a scrappy encounter in the local derby. The Crows showed that they will be more than nuisance value this season as they took charge through the middle of the ground for much of the game.

But Griffith’s determination to get their hands on the ball and their abundant targets around the field proved too much as they cemented their place in the top four. While conceding any win over the Crows is a good result, Griffith coach Damien Scott admitted his side did not perform consistently enough. “That’s the worst we have kicked, we still got over our one hundred points, but normally we’ve been kicking 15.5 but today was on par,” Scott said. “And they were goals the guys would normally kick with their eyes closed, and I think it was just a case of them going back (on the mark) and not going through the routine and stabbing at it”.
The Crows started scrappily and had trouble coming out of their own defensive-50, something the Swans failed to capitalise on, however, an early goal to Beau Runnalls helped lift the side to a handy 19-point lead at the first break. Griffith injected fresh legs into the battle and rising star Toby Blissett regularly bobbed up around the field to help lift the home side.  However, in a sign of the tension always involved with games between the two clubs, Leeton’s David Harrison was sent from the field after an incident with Kris Duncan.

Ill-discipline hurt the Crows chances of scoring an upset all game as they gave away three 50-metre free kicks, all led to Griffith goals, and were down a man in the second half when they had another player sent to the sidelines. Despite the distractions, the Crows kicked three goals to pull within 20 points in the shadows of half-time, during which Scott made some much-needed changes for Griffith.

“We changed the forward set-up and couple of on-ball changes, but we just had a bit of trouble of getting 

our hands on the football first,” he said.  Guy Orton continued to get through plenty of work off the ball for other players in the midfield as Mick Duncan kept racking up the possessions as Griffith looked to fend off a fast start to the third quarter by Leeton. Liam Frazer continued to be a target up forward for the Crows, but the stifling pressure of Glen Snaidero and Matt Noonan kept him largely under wraps as they kept the Crows at an arm’s length for the rest of the game. (By Scott Hazlewood - The Area News, Monday May 16, 2011). 

 

OTHER MATCHES - SAT: Coolamon 14.15 (99) def Wagga 3.8 (26), Ganmain-GGM 18.8 (116) def Mangoplah-CUE 3.6 (24), Narrandera 11.12 (78) def by Collingullie-AK 14.9 (93); Turvey Park, bye.

Reserves: Leeton-Whitton 15.7 (97) def Griffith 10.14 (74)
Goals: J Fallon 2, T Webb 2, A Cappello 2, N King 2, C Boye, M Tyndall
Best players: J Fallon, T Webb, A Cappello, C Lugton, C McGann, M Tucker
Under 17: Leeton-Whitton 10.13 (73) def Griffith 5.9 (39)
Goals: P Whittard, B Prendergast, M Lewis, Tom Valeri, C O'Reilly
Best players: N Witherspoon, T West, T Shannon, P Whittard,  Tom Valeri, S Nascimben