OCEAN HILL ESTATE - PEEL THUNDER COLTS PERFORM STRONGLY AGAINST SUBIACO LIONS

Fresh from a strong performance against the Tigers, the Thunder Colts returned to Bendigo Bank Stadium to take on Subiaco last Friday night. 

The Thunder made 10 changes to the team that beat Claremont, bringing in Lachie Beverly, Rob Hutson, Deon Welhan, Jake Willis, Andrew Butler, Tom Rutherford, James Wiltshire, Aaron Hancock and Quinn Parsons for their first taste of Colts football. 

Kicking into the breeze in the first quarter, the Thunder had the early ascendancy, but due to some excellent pressure around the ball, couldn’t take advantage on the scoreboard. The Lions gained the upper hand in the midfield through the middle of the quarter and kicked 2 of the last 3 goals to lead by 6 at the break. 

The Thunder started the 2nd term strongly and found a strong avenue to goal in Ben Middleton, who attacked the contest with purpose and kicked 2 for the quarter. Jackson Perry and Tyson Powell were busy around the ball while key defender, Durak Tucker was having an engaging contest against Jack Mayo. The Thunder had kicked out to nearly a 3 goal lead before a late Subiaco goal saw the margin reduced to 9 points at half time. 

Subiaco dominated field position in the 3rd, getting well on top in the midfield and locking the ball almost exclusively in their forward half. Some resolute defending by Lee Chapman, Lachie Beverly, Jye Kimpton and Durak Tucker managed to restrict the damage before 2 late goals to James Sturrock and Tyrone Thorne had seen the Thunder extend the lead to 12, despite Subiaco leading the Inside 50 count 17 to 6 for the quarter. 

Kicking with the aid of the breeze in the last, the Thunder regained the ascendency in the midfield and were able to put a score on the board, outscoring the Lions 4.4 to 1.0 in the last to run out 34 point winners. Better players for the Thunder were Tyson Powell, who worked hard through the midfield, James Sturrock, who provided plenty of run on his wing, Jackson Perry, who found plenty of the ball inside and outside and Ben Middleton, who provide a strong aerial presence and finished off his good work with 3 goals. Lachie Beverly and Kilian Rawson both came in and built strong cases to play in round 1. 

The Thunder Colts list the moment is healthy, with all bar one likely to be available for selection this weekend. 

Pleasingly, 10 of our 17 year olds got to play in a game that had a fair amount of heat around the contest. All now have a clearer understanding of what is required to play at this level. We now host East Perth this Saturday at Bendigo Stadium before taking on the Sharks in Round 1 on Good Friday.