ROBE 9.9 (63) d PORT MACDONNELL 8.11 (59)
THE battle of the seaside clubs at the Bay proved to be a nail-biter with Robe holding on to win a low-scoring contest by a mere four points.
It was a lucky escape for the reigning premiers but a heart-breaking loss for the undermanned Port MacDonnell lineup.
The win kept the Roosters in third place while the Demons remain is sixth place and are losing touch with the ladder leaders.
Coming into the match, the Demons had a lengthening injury list with Trent Ebejer looking to be out of action for several months due to a broken collar bone.
There are also worries in the Robe camp as inspirational coach Jack Kelly is again on the sidelines with a back injury.
This is the ailment which curtailed his senior career with Sturt in the SANFL.
The visitors had the first use of the strong breeze which favoured the clubrooms end.
They scored 3.6 while conceding 1.1 and so it could be said the home side won the opening term.
The sun came out after quarter time and this seemed to inspire the Port MacDonnell team.
It played arguably its best 30 minutes of football in 2019 to slam on 6.3 while allowing Robe to score just one goal.
The Demons had runners and winners all over the ground while the Roosters were made to look like anything but a premiership side.
The sun went behind the clouds after half-time, rain fell and the game became a battle of defences.
Robe wiped off most of that 16-point half-time deficit by three quarter time and then inched ahead by the final siren,
Port MacDonnell’s meagre second half tally of 1.7 proved costly.
The difference between the sides was probably Zack Deane who posted a game high tally of four goals in the second half.
Robe Football Club vice-president Roger Sweetman said his team were well served by the combination of Tom Wachtel and Jonny Agnew in the midfield while Deane worked hard all day in various positions.
Port MacDonnell heads to Glencoe in round eight while Robe hosts the undefeated Hatherleigh.
GLENCOE 15.24 (114) d KONGORONG 8.5 (53)
THE Murphies showed some ill-effects of their scheduled bye in their ultimately successful trip to the home of the Hawks.
Despite the wind advantage, the visitors managed only four goals from 10 scoring shots and conceded three goals in the first term.
The breeze was difficult to contend with, but inaccuracy bedevilled Glencoe for the remainder of the match.
The Murphies took a lead of 12 points into quarter time.
The Hawks squandered their use of the wind advantage favouring the Kongorong Primary School end in the second term when they booted one behind only.
Meanwhile, at the war memorial gates end, the Murphies peppered the goals.
The visitors could have put the game beyond the reach of the home side but scored 2.11.
Honours were shared in the remaining two terms, but Kongorong did not have a multiple goal scorer.
Kongorong was always going to be challenged by the three-pronged attack of Brodie Foster, Alex Hentschke and Adam Gregory.
Between them, they scored 10 of their team’s 15 goals.
Glencoe was best served by on-ballers Dylan Childs and Tom Edwards along with Gregory who enjoyed a seven-goal haul.
Foster was well held by reliable defender Aaron Lightbody who was named the best player for the Hawks.
Harry Evans and Shaun Phillips also did well for their team.
Foster booted a solitary major and a number of behinds to take his season’s tally to 40.
The former Penola and South Gambier star is almost on track to become the MSEFL’s first centurion in a decade.
The last to do so was Robe’s Phil Smith in 2009 with 103 goals.
Foster must average six goals per game in his remaining 10 home-and-away matches to bring up the coveted three figures,
Although the Murphies are well on track to reach the major round, the MSEFL records do not acknowledge any goals kicked in the finals.
The round eight scheduling has Glencoe back at home to round seven losers Port MacDonnell.
Owing to the scheduled round eight bye and the South East zone carnival on June 8, Kongorong players have a no-doubt welcome three-week break from the playing arena.
KALANGADOO 21.11 (137) d NANGWARRY 7.5 (47)
THE Magpies were the “party poopers” as they defeated the Saints by 90points on the very day they hosted a special reunion.
Nangwarry was marking the passage of around 20 years since it defeated Kalangadoo at Glencoe in the 1999 grand final to claim its fourth, and most recent, premiership.
A number of the premiership veterans including playing coach Lee Capewell were in the crowd but they saw a polished and committed Kalangadoo side which was determined to make amends for their round six nightmare loss at home to Hatherleigh.
On that occasion, there were 19 Magpies who failed to score a goal and this is a rare and unwanted record.
That feeble goal kicking performance was exceeded in the first term as Kalangadoo went on to have 12 individual goalkcikers in its score of 21.11.
After starting well, Kalangadoo took control of the match in the second term and took a lead of 55 points into the long break.
There have been many occasions over the past five seasons when Nangwarry would have lost heart when facing such a deficit,
That was certainly not the case on Saturday when the Saints came back on to the oval for the second half.
Although the home team managed only one goal in the third term, they conceded a respectable tally of just 3.5.
Kalangadoo asserted its dominance in the final term but did not bank as much percentage as it would have liked.
The final margin of 90 points was still a white-wash but Nangwarry has mostly been beaten by margins well into the three figures since 2014.
In another statistical quirk, no opposition player exceeded the three goal tally of former Nangwarry coach Craig Hicks.
He scored three goals and this was a feat matched by Michael Krieger, Ethan Maney and 50-gamer Scott Agnew.
The evergreen Hicks was named as Nangwarry’s best while past best and fairest winner Ben Deamer and recruit George McWaters also excelled.
It was the fifth time in six matches that McWaters has made this list.
Kalangadoo’s best were Andrew Stone, Sam McManus and former Nangwarry skipper Matt Fatchen.
Among the other better performers for the visitors was Nathan Reeves who was playing his 50th game in a black-and-white jumper.
Another welcome appearance for the Magpies was made by key ruckman Jonny Mules who has not played since the opening minutes of the team’s April 27 win at Glencoe.
The Saints had booted a creditable tally of eight goals at Mount Burr in round six and so its score of 7.5 can be seen as sustaining its form.
Its sets up Nangwarry as a chance of ending its five-year losing drought against winless Tantanoola at Tigerland.
Kalangadoo heads to home to host Mount Burr and it wants to retain the prestigious Harry Bott Memorial Shield for the third consecutive season.
The coveted trophy honours the memory of the late Kalangadoo Football Club president and Mount Burr storekeeper.
The Mozzies had the bye in round seven but their clubrooms were crammed on Saturday night at a charity event.
It was a successful fundraiser for player Harley Linnell who suffered serious injuries in a motorbike mishap last month.
HATHERLEIGH 17.10 (112) d TANTANOOLA 6.13 (49)
THE Eagles may have had several first-choice players on the sidelines but they still managed a comfortable 63 point win at home over the similarly undermanned Tigers.
Hatherleigh was the short-priced favourite for this match as it was playing at home, seeking a sixth consecutive win and was facing an opponent which had yet to win a game in 2019.
Nevertheless, the result of the match was not known until well into the second half as the Tigers were determined to put up a strong showing against their arch cross-town rivals.
By the time the third term arrived, Tantanoola was still in with a rough chance of an upset victory.
Brandon Pitts and Jordan Brennan were prominent for the visitors along with the ever reliable Braydn Reilly, assistant coach Sam Haniford and ex-skipper Hayden Brown.
Reilly and Brown have made the best players list in every match of 2019.
The Eagles set up their win with a dominant third quarter.
Coach Gerard McGrath marshalled his troops while teen Will Chay made the most of his attacking role.
Chay has played much of his senior footy in defence but the opportunity to play as a key forward was embraced by him.
His return of a game-high six goals is understood to be a career best.
At the other end of the oval, Hatherleigh defenders again did their part.
The Eagles have a strong percentage and this is due in part to their conceding an average of only 36 points per game.
Tantanoola’s first victory of 2019 might come in round eight at Tigerland against fellow winless Nangwarry.
Hatherleigh travels to the home of the reigning premiers at Robe.
