Round 18 - Sunday August 22, 2010
Riverina Football Netball League
Venue: Griffith Exies Oval 2.10pm
Umpires: John Hilton, Peter Ross and Rob Johnston (RUA) 
Griffith .............. 3.2 .. 4.3 .. 7.5 .. 8.6 (54)
Turvey Park .... 1.4 .. 7.9 .. 12.12 .. 19.15 (129)
GRIFFITH: Ben McRae, Craig Lugton, Dean Catanzariti; Jonathon Gastin, Matthew Noonan, Theo Valeri; Matthew Kenny, Mathew Crack, Luke Piccolo; Luke Humphries, Jeff Mickan, Cameron Harrison; James Fallon, Matthew Hogan, Michael Duncan; Shaun Curran, Tim Matheson, Dean Crack; Jesse Ryan, Thomas Valeri*, Brad Woolner
GOALS
Griffith: M Duncan 3, C Lugton 2, M Crack, D Crack, M Hogan 
Turvey Park: J Brooks 7, J Elliott 5, C Cerato, M Ness, D Johnson, D Toose, D Campbell, J Hoey, D Brown 
BEST PLAYERS
Griffith: J Mickan, M Crack, M Duncan, D Crack, M Noonan, D Catanzariti 
Turvey Park: J Fletcher, J Brooks, D Campbell, D Toose, L Pollett, T Beckmans
SENIOR DEBUT: Thomas Valeri
A summary of match report, with thanks
In almost a carbon copy of every game they’re played for the past two months, the Griffith Swans faded after making a promising start, this time losing to Turvey Park 19.15 (129) to 8.6 (54). The thrashing didn’t look on the cards early on as the Swans used their home ground advantage and the knowledge it was their last game for the season to open up a narrow 10-point lead.

But as has happened so often this year, the gulf in overall class between Griffith and the top sides in the Riverina Football League became evident the longer the game went on. Swans coach Matt Noonan echoed these sentiments, saying there were promising periods of play from his side but not enough of them to seriously challenge the Bulldogs.

“We played alright in patches but just weren’t good enough for four quarters,” he said. “Early on we’d be there with a goal but then they’d get one and they always stayed three or four ahead of us. We gave ourselves chances but we just weren’t able to use them.

We fell away again as the game went on. The writing was on the wall early with ruckman Shaun Curran again succumbing to injury, failing to take part in the rest of the game. Veteran Jeff Mickan picked up the slack in the ruck and held his own to go with solid performances from Craig Lugton, Cameron Harrison and Matt Crack.

But Turvey Park’s forward line was on target all day with Jack Brooks starring with seven goals, with James Elliott (five goals), Jeffrey Fletcher, Dane Campbell, Daniel Toose, Levi Pollett and Tim Beckmans also outstanding in the Bulldogs’ win.  
Noonan praised the efforts put in by his side for their last game in what has been a long and disappointing season.

“I was happy with how the boys played today, they put everything they had in,” he said. “They (Turvey) were missing a few players and they played alright but I wouldn’t say they were at their best.” With the loss consigning the Swans to last place in 2010, the club’s future is in limbo until the Farrer League grand final on September 11, with Griffith facing the real possibility of being relegated.

(By Scott Hazlewood - The Area News, Monay August 23, 2010).

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OTHER MATCHES - SAT: Coolamon 20.12 (132) def Narrandera 2.3 (15), Wagga 6.6 (42) def by Mangoplah-CUE 10.7 (67); SUN: Ganmain-GGM 22.16 (148) def Leeton-Whitton 7.5 (47).

Reserves: Turvey Park 11.9 (75) def Griffith 6.7 (43)
Goals: P Crawford 3, M Tucker, T Stevenson, A Cappello  
Best players: M Tucker, J Tyrell, P Crawford, R Best, M Tyndall, A Cappello 
Under 17: Griffith 9.9 (63) def Turvey Park 9.5 (59)
Goals: K Hillier 5, C Moore 2, J Parr, P Whittard  
Best players: J Parr, P Rose, B Watts, K Hillier, C Moore, T Blissett