Football
27 June, 2024
Demons face Panthers in important match
Laharum hosts Rupanyup in the match of the round in round eleven of the Horsham District Football Netball League.
The Demons, fresh off the bye, have been the improvers of 2024 and are eyeing a finals berth. The Panthers, currently sitting in fourth place, will look to bounce back following their loss last week.
The teams match up well, and the Panthers may find it hard to penetrate the Demons defence, which has stood tall all season.
This is more of an important game for Laharum than it is for Rupanyup. Laharum is in fifth place, one game behind Pimpinio and Rupanyup, and two games clear of an improved Edenhope Apsley, who are starting to charge.
Edenhope Apsley hosts Kaniva Leeor, and with the Cougars sitting last, if the Saints win, they could only be one game behind the sixth spot.
The Saints should welcome Fraser Thompson, Ben Campbell, and Toby Ferguson back, making them a stronger team.
Saints Coach Adi Campbell said everything is starting to work for them.
"We have that midfield connection that is doing alright, and our backline to forward line movement is really starting to work for us," Campbell said.
The other intriguing match is between the Swifts and Pimpinio at North Park. The Baggies are in second place, one game clear of Noradjuha Quantong, who is on the bye. If they win, they will suddenly be two games clear, sitting comfortably in the top two.
The Tigers bounced back last week and will be looking to test themselves against one of the premiership contenders. The key for them is trying to either stop Paul Summers from getting his hands on the ball or stop the delivery to him.
The forward is coming off a massive ten-goal haul, which included 18 shots on goal, and is sitting on 66 goals for the season.
Tigers coach Guy Smith said you need to look at his delivery.
"When someone is kicking so many goals, the answer to stopping him could be stopping the hand that feeds him, which will limit his impact," Smith said.
Kalkee will look for its third win of the year when it travels to play Natimuk. The Kees have been plagued by injury but have improved greatly since the start of the season.
Steve Schultz, the Kees' co-coach, said that despite having half a team of senior players out, they are still battling hard.
"The youth have been thrown into the deep end, and despite the circumstances, they are playing hard and doing a reasonable job," Schultz said.
"To win games, we need to come to play and have 21 contributors, and with a young team, it's hard to get that consistency, but everyone is filling in the best they can, and we can definitely win this weekend if we come to play."
The final match of the round sees Harrow Balmoral host Taylors Lake. The Lakers lost by triple figures last week, and with Harrow Balmoral back to their best, another tough match is on the cards.
Brait Headon, who tore his ACL two weeks ago, is out for the rest of the year. Southern Roos coach Jai Thompson said they will use Scott Addinsall and Stuart Macfarlane again to help cover his role.
"Brait is a super important player and is a tough one to cover, so we have a few options, with those two given the possibility to maintain that role, as they did a good job last week," Thompson said.
The youngsters are also doing a solid job for Harrow Balmoral with Mitch Grant and Maddox Blake hitting the scoreboard with six and four goals last week respectively.
"It's good to see the young ones developing and finding their groove at this level," Thompson said.