Round 6 - Saturday May 17, 2008
Riverina Football League
Venue: Griffith Exies Oval 2.10pm
Umpires: Tim Beard and Paul Smith (RUA)
Griffith .................... 6.2 .. 11.4 .. 14.8 .. 20.14 (134) 
Eastern Hawks .... 2.2 .. 2.4 .. 5.6 .. 5.7 (37)
GRIFFITH: Glen Snaidero, Simon Spiers, James Smith; Matthew Kenny, Brendan Giason, Jonathon Gastin; Luke Piccolo, Myles Bunn, Jason Bertacco; Shaun Curran, Jeff Mickan, Andrew Cappello; Jeremy Way, Craig Conlan, Kris Duncan; Jack Geddes, Michael Duncan, Brett Owen; Ben Ford, Michael Johns, Daniel Keenan* 
EASTERN HAWKS: Kassidy Argus, Jay Peace, Chris Parr; Chris Pedler, Levi Pollett, Stephen Thompson; Nathan Scott, Danny Bromham, Brent Campbell; Sam Jackson-Ryan, Brenton Roberts, Ryan Campbell; Josh Newson, Shaun Ryan, Rhys Grieve; Andrew Craig, Eddie Whyman, Craig DePiazza; Nick Gannon, Damien Cheney, Darren Cuthbert
GOALS
Griffith: J Way 5, C Conlan 3, K Duncan 3, J Bertacco 3, S Curran 2, M Duncan, M Bunn, B Giason, M Kenny 
Eastern Hawks: S Ryan 2, E Whyman, R Grieve, C DePiazza, D Cuthbert 
BEST PLAYERS
Griffith: J Bertacco, L Piccolo, M Duncan, S Spiers, J Way, C Conlan, K Duncan 
Eastern Hawks: C Pedler, L Pollett, E Whyman, J Peace, R Campbell, J Newson 
SENIOR DEBUT: Daniel Keenan
A summary of match report, with thanks
While the recent rain brought good news to the farmers of the Riverina, another drought was also broken over the weekend.

The season-long losing streak from the Griffith Swans has been broken, with a thundering 98-point victory against Wagga's Eastern Hawks at Exies Oval on Saturday. The win has motivated the home team and validated their playing strategy, after going five games without a victory. Swans coach Gerard Toscan was elated with the result, and said the team was able to focus for the entire game.

"Everything we put in place at the start of the season all came together on Saturday," he said. "I feel really proud of the guys who stuck to the task from the first bounce and stayed focused right through to the end of the game. Toscan said the team has been brought down in previous games by lapses in concentration. "When you go back, we were right in every one of those games," he said.

"We would have a lapse for a quarter, like against Coolamon they jumped us from the start, and we were playing catch-up.

"A 25-minute lapse in the third quarter cost us the game against Narrandera." But Saturday's scoreboard revealed just how switched on the players were for the entire game. "We knew at the start of the season if we didn't perform, if we lapsed for too long, we would be blown off the park," Toscan said. "We also knew if we put it together, we would have some scoring potential."

But while the team altogether gave a great performance, Toscan singled out some players for their great work. "Luke Piccolo is a young guy who had a ripper game. He's a real goer," he said. "Jason Bertacco had a fantastic running game."

He also mentioned Mick Duncan and Craig Conlan as standout players. Toscan believes Saturday's victory will motivate the players in the game against North Wagga next week. "You can't hand out confidence in a bottle," Toscan said.  "It's hard to get confident after losing all these games, but this will really encourage them.  (By Nick Pearson - The Area News, Monday May 19, 2008).

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OTHER MATCHES - SAT: Coolamon 23.13 (169) def North Wagga 9.9 (63), Narrandera 13.5 (83) def Wagga 7.10 (52); SUN: Ganmain-GGM 12.8 (80) def Turvey Park 8.13 (61), Leeton-Whitton 12.4 (76) def by Mangoplah-CUE 17.11 (113). 

Reserves: Eastern Hawks 11.5 (71) def Griffith 9.6 (60)
Goals: R Johns 2, C Harrison 2, M Hogan, D McGreal, N Kite, B Woolner, R Bridgen 
Best players: M Tyndall, C Lugton, C McGann, M Vardanega, R Brigden, D Pasin 
Under 18: Griffith 11.10 (76) def Eastern Hawks 4.7 (31)
Goals: G Snaidero 4, J Wade 2, B Hutchinson 2, H Heath, S Wood, B Jaffrey
Best players: S Wood, B Hutchinson, G Snaidero, B Jaffrey, D Bruce, M Vittuci