ROUND 14 - COLTS GRITTY WIN OVER THE SHARKS

The Peel Thunder Colts side moved to the top of the 2017 Redimed Colts Ladder with a gritty win over East Fremantle on Saturday.

In a physical, tightly fought match, the Thunder prevailed 7-10 52 to East Fremantle 3-7 25 to leapfrog the Sharks at the top of the ladder.

The Thunder had 11 changes from the previous week with 9 players playing state football, and a couple of injuries and exams allowing the coaching staff to give opportunity to some players who had worked hard all year without a lot of reward in terms of games played, with Eaton product Josh Scott coming in for his debut.

The game began as an extremely hard fought contest with both midfields pressure at a high level. A number of skill errors resulted as a result of the intensity of the contest, however the Thunders best passage of play resulted in a Jacob Ingham set shot to get the side on the board. Wesley Steele then converted from close range a couple of minutes later. A couple of quick goals from the Sharks saw them level the scores, however a late Jaidon Kearing goal saw the Thunder take a 5 point lead into the first change.

The second quarter began with a great snap to Lachlan Cullen after some strong work out of the midfield by Sturrock and Havelberg. Michael Stevens then hit the scoreboard for the first time after a strong mark in the goal square. The Thunder managed to keep the Sharks goalless for the quarter, with Brandon Gregory, Sayln Stein and Jakeb Shine all playing outstanding roles in the back half. The Thunder took a 18 point lead into the main break.

James Sturrock kicked a lovely goal on the run to start the Thunders third term, and after some strong work up the ground Stevens kicked his second on the run from the goal square. Another outstanding defensive quarter by the Thunder restricted the Sharks to 2 behinds only and the boys went into the final break with  33 point lead.

Unfortunately the boys couldn’t hit the scoreboard with a goal in the last quarter, but kept the Sharks to 1 goal to finish with a 27 point victory.

In an outstanding team effort the side laid 103 tackles and won the contested possession which was a focus of the coaching staff all week and the playing group followed this instruction to a tee.

Best performers were Kyle Havelberg who was a force in the midfield all day with 20 possessions (18 contested) and 20 tackles. Jakeb Shine had a great game across half back and led from the front. Billy Chambers was excellent in the ruck and gave the midfielders first use all day. James Sturrock again was strong on the wing (21 possessions, 5 tackles and a goal), while Michael Randall (20 possessions, 7 tackles), Jake Howes (23 possessions 5 tackles), Jacob Ingham (18 possessions 7 tackles) and Zac Moody (19 possessions 12 tackles), all fought hard in the middle of the ground. Down back Sayln Stein continued his impressive form, while Brandon Gregory was strong at full back.

Goalkickers were- Stevens 2, L. Cullen, Sturrock, Kearing, Steele and Ingham.

This week sees another big challenge for the Thunder with the boys coming up against Claremont at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Saturday with a 5:00pm bounce down.

WRITTEN BY: JOHN DEITZ - TALENT MANAGER