Spitfires Edge out the Roos
June 26, 2006
Spitfires Surge Home over the Saints
June 26, 2006
Spitfires Beat the Blues
June 26, 2006
Spitfires Topple Hawks & Soar to Top Spot
June 26, 2006
Spitfires Clip Eagles Wings
June 26, 2006
Spitfires Downed in a Thriller
June 26, 2006
Spitfires Edge Out the Saints
June 19, 2006
Town Triumphs in BP Challenge Cup
June 12, 2006
Spitfires Beat the Blues
June 5, 2006
Spitfires Clawed by Elliott Hawks
May 30, 2006
Sluggish Spitfires Beaten by Eagles
May 23, 2006
Spitfires Bounce the Roos
May 16, 2006
Spitfires Slay Saints
May 9, 2006
Spitfires Runners-up in Lightning Carnival
May 2, 2006
ALI CURUNG
EPENARRA
CANTEEN CREEK
After an inspiring win to celebrate Jason Dunemann's 100th game last week, it was on to the top of the table clash with defending premiers the Elliott Hawks. The Spitfires were looking for some revenge after a 46-point thrashing last time they met.
Yet again the Hawks showed they either have no idea, or are just plain cheaters, when they were discovered to have too many players on the field. Thanks to the quick arithmetic of the ever-astute Steven Spence, the Spitfires called for a head-count in the 4th quarter, and the Hawks lost their score up untuil that point. It would not have mattered either way, as the Spitfires would have won regardless, although the margin would have been closer. On top of that, Elliott's Johnathan Jackson again showed his true colours when he head-butted Spitfires captain Andrew Baker behind play, proving again that he is a 'dirty' player. If that was not enough, after the Hawks found out that he had been reported, then they accused acting coach Randall Gould of using abusive language, and also accused Andrew Baker of racial vilification.
C'mon - this is footy - what do you expect to be called after head-butting someone behind play? I can think of a million things worse than being called a dirty mongrel. (Yes that's right - it was dirty mongrel that he was called - not mongrel dog as they alleged). They can't even get the story right! Regardless, perhaps we should send them 22 netball skirts? But then again, that might be too rough for them too? So, with such a serious allegation, the AFL Barkly does the right thing and asks AFLNT to investigate the matter. Well, that put the wind up the Hawks, and showed what they are really amde of. After the AFLNT went to the expense of sending down an investigator to interview people in relation to the two allegations - the Hawks coach and players refused to speak with him. The investigator went out of his way to stop in Elliott on his way back to Darwin, and only the coach showed up to speak with him. Makes you think that the allegations the Hawks made were a whole lot of crap, and they were too gutless too be interviewed and found out to be a bunch of sooky-la-la liars.
EAGLES
ALI CURUNG
EPENARRA
town
After two losses in a row, the Spitfires were very keen to get back on the winners list and stay in touch with the ladder leaders when they took on the Canteen Creek Blues. In a tough, scrappy encounter, the Blues held a one point advantage at quarter time, with both teams only managing one goal apiece. The Spitfires had gained a 7-point lead at half time, with Anthony Draper kicking all three goals in the match so far for the Spitfires. In a quirky coincidence, Gary Bob had both goals for the Blues - which meant that all goals had been kicked by a player in the #6 guernsey.
The Spitfires were keen to stretch their lead, and finally played a good third quarter this year, kicking four goals to stretch the lead to 25 points at the final break. The defence was doing a fantastic job, shutting down the Blues attack, with only Gary Bob troubling the scorers with 3 goals. Kevin Haines was repelling everything the Blues threw at him, and the Blues must have thought it was the impenetrable Great Wall of China standing in front of goal. The Blues struck first in the last quarter with two goals, but the Spitfires steadied the ship to get some goals of their own, and hold on to win by 12 points. Final scores were Spitfires 10-9-69 to Canteen Creek 8-9-57.
Anthony Draper kicked 4 goals, while Jason Dunemann kicked 3 goals. This weekend is the annual Town versus Country representative match. Many of the Spitfires will be in action alongside their Eagles counterparts, and hopefully they can square the ledger and get a victory for the Town side after Country won the inaugural match last year.
After a disappointing effort last week, the Spitfires were keen to make amends when they took on the Elliott Hawks in round four. The Hawks started the game well, and kicked accurately in the first quarter, but the Spitfires fought hard to be only 10 points down at quarter time. The Hawks stretched their lead 28 points in the second quarter, with the Spitfires fighting hard, but poor disposal of the ball was starting to be costly, and making it hard to score goals. It continued in the third quarter, with the Hawks racking up 5 more goals, and the Spitfires only managing to get one on the board to be 55 points adrift at the last break. AS they did last week, the Spitfires rallied, finishing the game full of running to win the final quarter, but the damage had been done, with the Hawks easing to a 46-point victory. Final scores were Elliott 17-12-114 to Spitfires 10-8-68.
Dale Walsh and Jason Dunemann both kicked three goals for the Spitfires. This week the Spitfires take on the Canteen Creek Blues, who are yet to win a game this year, but can never be under-estimated with the goal kicking prowess of Gary Bob always a danger.
The Spitfires took on the Eagles in round three, with both teams looking to keep their unbeaten record for the season intact. And with Michael Baker playing in his 100th game for the mighty red & black, the Spitfires had plenty of incentive to make it three wins on the trot. They started well, snaring the first goal of the match, but they wasted their other opportunities in front of goal, and the Eagles straight kicking saw them in the lead by a solitary point at quarter time. The Eagles turned up the pressure on the Spitfires in the second quarter, and despite getting plenty of the ball, the Spitfires failed to score a goal, leaving the Eagles with a handy 21-point lead at half time. The Spitfires didn't lift their game in the third quarter, again failing to register a goal, and the game was virtually over with the Eagles 46 points in front going into the last quarter. The Spitfires finally got another goal on the board in the final quarter, and finished the game strongly, but the resurgence had come far to late, and the Eagles could afford to coast through the last quarter, and win the game by 28 points. Final scores were Eagles 10-16-76 to Spitfires 6-12-48.
Shannon Johnson was the only multiple goal kicker for the Spitfires with 2 goals. This weekend will be another tough match against the defending premiers the Elliott Hawks, and the Spitfires will need to improve markedly from this week to get back on the winners list.
After a good win last week, the Spitfires were keen to notch another win, but knew not to underestimate the dangerous running potential of the Ali Curung Roos. The first quarter was dominated by the Spitfires, and they lead by 17 points at quarter time, but the spitfires lead should have been more but fro some inaccurate finishing in front of goal. The second quarter was very similar, with the Spitfires kicking more behinds than goals, which kept the lead to 21 points, and the Roos still very much in the match. For the second week in a row, the Spitfires third quarter was one to forget with only a solitary goal. But this time it was the Roos poor finishing in front of goal that proved costly, and the Spitfires still had a 12-point lead at the last break. The last quarter was fantastic by the Spitfires, finishing the game full of running and determination to kick 7 last quarter goals, including four goals in the final six minutes of the quarter. Final scores were Spitfires 15-13-103 to Ali Curung 9-8-62.
Anthony Draper bagged 4 goals, while Shannon Johnson & Dale Walsh kicked 3 goals each, with Dale Walsh kicking the last three goals of the match. This weekend the Spitfires take on the Eagles in a top of the table clash. It is a game the Spitfires will be very keen to win, with Michael Baker set to play his 100th game for the Spitfires. Sadly we bid farewell to James Nelson (Doc) who has made a big impact in his brief stint with the Spitfires, but wish him all the best in his upcoming exam. Hopefully we can convince him to return for some September action.
The Spitfires were keen to exact some revenge on the Epenarra Saints after twice losing to them in the Lightning Carnival, including the grand final. And confidence was high that over four quarters the Spitfires would be too strong for the Saints. A blistering start by Shannon Johnson, with 4 goals in the first quarter, had the Spitfires out to a 27-point lead at the first break. A great team effort in the second quarter, with five individual goal kickers, increased the Spitfires lead to 43 points. The Spitfires came out after half time, and you wouldn't have thought it was the same side - with a lack of discipline, and a lack of intensity - combined with inaccurate kicking to score only a solitary goal for the quarter. Luckily, Epenarra didn't make the most of this opportunity, thanks to the Spitfires rugged defence, and the lead was still a healthy 34 points at the last break. The Spitfires shrugged the disappointing third quarter aside to pile on six last quarter goals, and win comfortably by 58 points.
Final scores were Spitfires 17-15-117 to Epenarra 9-5-59. Shannon Johnson kicked his season off with 6 goals, while veteran Jason Dunemann and debutant Owen Paterson kicked 2 goals each. It was a pleasing first up result for the Spitfires, with five players making their debut for the Spitfires - Anthony Draper, Michael Giacometti, Owen Paterson, Jacob Warner & James Nelson. There is a good mix of experience and youth this year, with some players still yet to turn 16, but others into their 30's (and a couple in the 40's) as well.
This week the Spitfires play Ali Curung at 4pm.
The 16th annual BAFL Lightning Carnival was held over the April 22-23 weekend, with 10 teams competing for the title - the most teams for many years. Teams vying for the title were Elliott Hawks, Epenarra Saints, Canteen Creek Blues, Sporties Spitfires, Eagles, Ti Tree Roosters, Bushies Bulldogs (Alpurrurulam), Wilora Lions, Ali Curung Roos & the Irrultja Power, who all converged on Tennant Creek for an exciting weekend of football. The Spitfires, under the guidance of new coach Russell O'Donnell, competed well over the two days, winning 3 pool games, and losing a close game to Epenarra, to finish second in their pool, and qualify for the semi finals.
The Spitfires were drawn to play the undefeated Ti Tree Roosters in the semi final, and completely outplayed their more fancied opponents to win comfortably 1.7.3 (54) to 0.1.2 (8). And from the way some of the Ti Tree players carried on, they obviously fancied themselves too - and thought they were much better than any team from up our way. Well they got taught one lesson - you have to play well to win. So stop blaming the umpires, stop your swearing, and stop carrying on like sooky-sooky-la-la cry babies. It is a disgraceful sight to see when one of your players tries to get the rest to walk off the field just because you are losing. On top of that, one of the other main instigators (and he knows who he is) is actually banned from the AFL Barkly, along with the rest of his Willowra team mates from the 2003 season. The Spitfires feel sorry for the Ti Tree players that did nothing wrong and had to put up with some of their team-mates acting this way.
The Spitfires opponents in the grand final were the Epenarra Saints, who had beaten the Eagles by 6 points in the other semi final. The Spitfires continued on from their semi-final win to dominate play and lead by 13 points at half time, and looked like they would go on to win. But that all changed in the second half, with Epenarra kicking two supergoals in the space of a few minutes to gain some momentum, and finished the game full of running to win by 16 points, and relegate the Spitfires to runner-up two years in a row. Final scores were Epenarra 2.5.0 (48) to Spitfires 0.5.2 (32). Best players in the Grand Final were awarded to ex-Spitfire Kane Peterson (Epenarra) and Asman Rory (Spitfires).
It has been very pleasing to see good numbers at training to start the year off, with many new additions, and several juniors who are set to make a big impact over the season. The Spitfires will get the chance to exact some revenge on Epenarra when they meet again in Round 1 this weekend at 2pm.