South Bunbury remain undefeated after defeating Carey Park on Saturday afternoon in the White Ribbon Match at Kelly Park, in round nineteen of the Dale Alcock Homes South West, SWFL premiership season.
There were several flare ups in the match, the first after just ten seconds, as both teams looked to assert their dominance in the match. The Panthers stunned the Tigers with three goals in seven minutes, with Luke Hutchinson running into an open goal to kick the opener, followed by set shot conversions to Ty Verhaaf and Ryan King.
That stung the Tigers into action, kicking the next five goals to finish the opening quarter eleven points in front.
The second quarter had Tyson Lane putting the Tigers further in front in the opening minute, but a strong mark shortly after to Ryan King in the goal square restored the quarter time margin. Lachlan Riley who was playing a good game kicked the Tigers back to a 17 point lead, only to have Cameron Baker reduce the margin again with a set shot from twenty metres out. Jace Cormack and Bodhi Nordahl would kick goals later in the quarter, which was then halted when Jay Crossman left the ground on a stretcher with a knee injury.
The home side gave their fans hope at the start of the third when Harry Jones goaled from a free kick, but that only sparked a flurry of goals from the Tigers to stretch the margin again, with Kade Szyszka kicking a clever goal.
A spectacular mark to Jacob Orsi on the members wing was a highlight for the Panthers, who now need a major miracle to play finals, with Donnybrook a game clear in fifth place, and more importantly 35% to the good of Carey Park. For the Panthers to make finals, Bunbury will need to thrash Donnybrook on Sunday, and Carey Park will also need to do the same when they play the Dons in the final round.
Match Centre
South Bunbury 5.1.31 9.3.57 12.5.77 15.8.98
Carey Park 3.2.20 5.2.32 7.4.46 9.6.60
Goals: South Bunbury – Jace Cormack 3, Richard Bourne 2, Blaine Johnson 2, Tyson Lane 2, Lachlan Riley 2, Mitchell Bain 1, Bodhi Nordahl 1, Ethan Nordahl 1, Kade Szyszka 1. Carey Park – Harry Jones 2, Ryan King 2, Cameron Baker 1, Luke Hutchinson 1, Brady Lenaghan 1, Zakary Tetlow 1, Zane Verhaaf 1.
Best: South Bunbury – Lachlan Riley, Richard Bourne, Bodhi Nordahl, Ethan Nordahl, Kade Wallrodt, Kade Szyszka. Carey Park – Reece Payne, Zakary Tetlow, Brodie Morris, Harry Jones, Jude Harrop, Jaxon Bell.
Ground: Kelly Park
Umpires: Damien O’Donoghue, Matthew Stewart, Daniel Ebert
Reports: Luke Hutchinson (CP) for using abusive language towards Field Umpire Matthew Stewart
Crowd: 796
Jace Cormack played another good game for the Tigers. Photos courtesy of Wayne Hislop.