Sport
24 April, 2023
Tigers storm home from five-goal deficit to beat Newstead
An enthralling encounter saw Lexton recover from a 33-point quarter time deficit to overhaul Newstead by eight points at Lexton Reserve on Saturday afternoon. At quarter time, it looked to be Newstead’s day, with a new-look Kangaroos team playing...
An enthralling encounter saw Lexton recover from a 33-point quarter time deficit to overhaul Newstead by eight points at Lexton Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
At quarter time, it looked to be Newstead’s day, with a new-look Kangaroos team playing with an intent and urgency that looked more akin to a finals challenger than one that recorded five wins in 2022, kicking five goals while rendering the Tigers scoreless.
But slowly and steadily, the Tigers started to will themselves in. Some changes around the ground saw dividends for Lexton, and they kicked four of the next five goals of the game to reduce the margin to 12 points at the long break.
The Tigers kicked the first goal of the second half to reduce the margin to a goal, but in what proved to be a goal for goal quarter, there was a good response from Newstead, who kicked two goals of their own to maintain the lead that they had been holding throughout the day.
At the final break, Newstead were sitting nine points up, and were able to extend their lead by kicking the opening goal of the last quarter.
But the Tigers continued their theme of never saying die, and led by five-goal hero Darren Cook, were able to claw their way back by kicking the final four goals of the game to pinch the game away from a brave Kangaroos outfit, who proved that they will be a team on the improve this season.
Final scores saw Lexton win 11.7 (73) to 9.11 (65).
The result continued a bit of a theme from last year for Lexton in that they were a good second-half team, coming from behind on three occasions last year at half time to win, including a famous comeback from 51 points down against this week’s opponents, Avoca.
On four other occasions, the Tigers were able to career away after leading by seven points or less at half time.
And just last week, the Tigers made a furious last quarter charge from 22 points down at the last change, but fell just four points short.
Lexton coach Dylan Lewis was thrilled with the work of Adrian Verhoeven, who, in his 100th game, had a great battle with Newstead big man Adam Pollock. Jack Peacock, Joshua Sargent, Cook, Dylan Hinchliffe and Keltyn Rinaldi, who contributed with three goals, were also singled out for praise.
For Newstead, Cordie McKendry, Aidan McConachy, playing-coach Joel Smith, Jedd Pedretti, Harrison Harbrow and Mason James were among their best, while Tyler James kicked four goals, and Pollock three.
While happy with the win, Lewis acknowledged that with a young group, there will still be moments where the Tigers will be down, and have to fight their way back as a result.
“It’s good to get the four points. We are a team that feels we are never out of the game, especially this year with a younger group. We have a lot of run in the legs and coupled with some mature bodies, it’s a really good mix. We can score in bunches and quickly. We weren’t quite there last week, and fell four points short against Harcourt, but happy to get the win,” he said.
“It’s going to be a rollercoaster for sure, you do get that with a young group. Last week, we had nine players on debut with the club, and three of those guys played their first senior game. We feel like a new side. There’s a few guys who have been at the club over the last few years that are injured, and we are probably missing five or six. Those young guys were really impressive over preseason and they are getting the rewards now, which is great to see.”
Lewis said the main changes between their 33-point deficit at quarter time and the win revolved around increasing their urgency and risk-taking, moving Shaun Field from half-back to half-forward throughout the day.
“The main one we were looking at was with Shaun Field. We started him off half-back and had him playing an intercept role,” he said.
“He was really good — we probably would have been seven or eight goals down without him, and then we snuck him down forward, which we’ve done in the past, and he was unreal. He didn’t have that much of an impact with goal assists, but he just got his hands on the ball. He only played three games last season, and he feels like a new recruit too.
“It’s good to have a bit of versatility, to have guys that can play multiple positions.”
Lewis also paid tribute to Verhoeven in his milestone game.
“Adrian had the tough job on Adam Pollock, who is a big man and a very experienced footballer, especially in this league, and Adrian is a bit of a go-go gadget — he’s rangy and quite quick, and he is a hell of a match up,” he said.
“His effort and intensity is unrivalled. He goes out and does his job every week, but he always goes out and does the job regardless. It was a great reward for him on his big day.”
While Lexton will be favoured to beat the 0-2 Avoca next week, Lewis isn’t taking the Bulldogs for granted, especially given they were outplayed by them for three quarters last season, before engineering their famous great escape.
“It’s a tough block of games coming up. Avoca, regardless of their ladder position, will always get up for us. They’ll be keen to get one back after the result last season. It will be good for our young side to see how they respond to the pressure they’ll no doubt put on,” he said.
“The teams like Natte Bealiba, Carisbrook and Harcourt are where we are striving to be. But the comp seems hard to pick at the moment and it’s exciting for the league, it can be anyone’s game. “Last year, we finished sixth and that was a fair assessment of where we were at — the top five were on another level and a class above us. We’re hoping we can push to around there.”
