Mulwala’s credentials as a genuine top eight team were on the line against Numurkah at Lonsdale Reserve after a good performance at Nathalia last round.
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Senior SCORES
Mulwala 2.5 4.5 10.8 10.9 69Numurkah 1.3 5.6 5.7 8.10 58
Goals: Mulwala: Dylan McNamara 3, Adam Rouel 2, Damian Cook 1, Bradley Wilson 1, Sean Johns 1, Jackson Gash 1, Zach Scott 1.
Numurkah: Dylan Taylor 2, Rhys Cason 2, Joshua Hoffmann 2, Michael Herlihy 1, Zach McKeown 1.
Best: Mulwala: Beau Clarke, Damian Cook, Lachlan Rouel, Tom Dow, Bradley Wilson, Glenn Dominick.
Numurkah: Shane Miller, Bradley Crowther, Clancy Lester, Jamie Fulton, Michael Herlihy, Grant Gallus.
Numurkah have been one of the dominant teams in the Murray League over the past few years and are showing faith in their local players to build their team around.
Mulwala had a late change with Lach Davis out of the selected team and his speed through the middle of the ground would be missed in the rotations.
Conditions favoured the scout hall end with the breeze a clear advantage and Sean Robinson took responsibility at the coin toss giving Mulwala the opportunity in the first term.
The duel in the middle between ruck men Hamish Hosking and Mitch Price was going to have a huge bearing on the outcome of the game.
It was entertaining from start to finish with Hamish taking the points on the day and his efforts all over the ground setting up Mulwala’s win.
Sean Johns started well and with good support coming from Gash and Dow in the middle Mulwala were on the attack early but were finding the Blues defence difficult to penetrate.
Mulwala’s pressure around the contest was good but inaccurate kicking for goal in the first term left the gate open for Numurkah.
A return of two goals five from the number of inside fifties was under par and is a common issue for the senior group.
The back six have developed an excellent understanding of each other’s skills and weaknesses and are teaming well to make it difficult for the opposition to score and Numurkah were finding it hard during the first term.
Beau Clarke’s marking was an impressive feature of his game and his spoiling made it difficult for the Blues leading targets to get a set shot at goal.
Numurkah started to close in on Mulwala’s lead with the aid of the breeze and took a seven-point lead into the long break even though the Lions had the majority of the play.
Sean Johns had been dominant through the middle of the ground with hard running and he was winning plenty of the contested situations but that all came to a halt when he injured his hamstring whilst streaming through the middle of the ground.
Losing Sean reduced the mid field rotations even more for Mulwala and it was a case of other players needing to step up and share the load.
Mulwala came out a more organised and determined unit in the third term, hitting the score board early through Dylan McNamara, who managed to slot three for the quarter.
Additional goals to Brad Wilson from a very intelligent bit of play by sub Zach Scott who centred the ball from deep in the forward pocket.
Zach was rewarded minutes later with a goal of his own which saw him swamped by the senior group to celebrate his first goal in senior football.
The Mulwala back line completely shut the Blues forwards out of the game through the third term and during the early part of the final term, locking them on their half time score for the majority of the second half.
Late in the game the Blues were able to kick a couple of assisted goals to give their supporters a glimmer of hope.
Mulwala was determined to finish their run of games prior to the bye with a win and closed the game out maintaining possession at critical times to claim a very important four points and stay in touch with the top teams.
The younger members of the Mulwala playing group are starting to develop some real belief in their ability to compete with the top teams and with plenty of skill development to come across the season exciting times await.
The coaching crew are doing an excellent job of developing the local playing group and the bye will enable them to have a break and regroup for the second set of games for the season.
Good luck to all the Mulwala players representing the MFL this week.
Reserves
Mulwala 23.15.153 defeated Numurkah 3.3.21.
The Mulwala players were keen to bounce back from their performance last round and Numurkah are a team who have struggled in the first five games, so it was a perfect chance for the boys to get back on the winners list.
The addition of a few players to the group added some depth and the boys opened up scoring goals at will from the opening bounce until game end.
It was a dominant performance from all the players involved with Andrew Maskell and Nathan Beasley controlling things down back, making it difficult for Numurkah to score and setting up attacking moves from the half back line.
In the middle Cam Carling was in everything winning clearances and using his speed to break through the Blues defence.
Cam was gaining great support from Flynn Fletcher, Josh Ednie and Cooper Chung who collected possessions at will, using the Blues players as witch’s hats.
Charlie Magro was in good touch marking strongly, winning the contested ball and hitting his targets with accurate kicks.
The Magher boys were covering plenty of territory with Cam’s marking a really positive feature of his play and his ability to kick goals also handy.
Josh Bland managed to get through traffic regularly in the middle of the ground and hit Cam Nye on the lead on many occasions during the contest.
Cam Nye was a focal point inside the forward fifty and would have needed to ice his trusty left foot at the end of the game due to the number of shots on goal he had.
Beau Nixon was giving the Mulwala mid fielders first use of the ball at every contest which enabled the team to score over twenty goals for the game.
Sam Willett celebrated a great goal on the run after he drifted down from the back line to show the forwards that he could contribute as well.
Mulwala had no passengers on the day and Numurkah had no answer to Mulwala’s four quarter dominance.
The Mulwala boys will need to make themselves available for the long drive to Moama after the bye to take on the one of the top teams in the reserves competition.
Goals: Mulwala: Andrew Miller 5, Cam Nye 5, Cooper Chung 4, Andrew Maskell- Dunsta 2, Aaron Magher 1, Cameron Magher 1, Cameron Carling 1, Joseph Bland 1, Dylan Leadingham 1, Sam Willett 1, Lachlan Wood 1.
Best: Mulwala: Cameron Magher, Cameron Carling, Joseph Bland, Andrew Miller, Cam Nye, Andrew Maskell-Dunsta.
Thirds
Mulwala 13.5.83 defeated Numurkah 8.3.51.
Goals: Mulwala: Liam Martin 4, Zach Scott 2, Addison Psaltiras 2, Joshua Ednie 1, Daniel Hoskings 1, Brock Conway 1, Thomas Adkins 1, Flynn Fletcher 1.
Best: Mulwala: Zach Scott, Brock Conway, Kyle Abikhair, Flynn Fletcher, Blayze Young-Mail, Daniel Hoskings.
No report submitted.
Fourths
Mulwala 4.8.32 defeated by Numurkah 9.0.54.
Goals: Mulwala: Tyler Jones 3, Xavier Watson 1.
Best: Mulwala: Tyler Jones, Dillon Kirchen, Alec Williams, Xavier Watson, Brandan Reid, Jaxen Wheeler.
No report submitted.