Sport
4 August, 2026
Trentham delivers major blow to Natte Bealiba
The Trentham Saints severely dented Natte Bealiba’s finals aspirations with an autho-ritative 43-point victory.
While inaccuracy in front of goal plagued Trentham’s ability to put the game away sooner, it proved to be a small blip on the radar, as their control around the contest and structure behind the ball made it incredibly difficult for the Swans to generate any forward momentum.
Despite the defeat placing them four points adrift of the top eight, Natte Bealiba will likely have one last opportunity to sneak into finals with a round 18 victory against Newstead if eight-placed Maldon loses to Trentham this weekend.
The Saints weren’t giving the Swans any favours on Saturday, as captain Joel Dovaston immediately found James Regan from the first centre bounce, allowing the key forward to put Trentham a goal ahead inside a minute.
Superstar Joel Cowan doubled Trentham’s lead in the blink of an eye, finding himself completely unmarked inside 50 for Alister Ferrier to spot with a chipped kick out of a contest.
Regan and Cowan’s quickfire double threatened to make the contest a blowout, but Natte Bealiba managed to stabilise themselves as quickly as they fell behind.
They began denying Trentham easy clearances while Kyen Burrill-Grinton and Stephen Ross helped the Swans move the football more freely.
After Natte finally got on the board at the 18th minute mark, goals from Rhys Smith and Jake Keogh gave Trentham a 21-point lead at quarter time.
With Cowan and Cody Young dominating at the stoppage while Samuel Bartels and Dylan Holden constantly halted Natte’s attacking passages, the Saints dominated at the restart, recording six unanswered scoring shots in the first 10 minutes.
However, a series of questionable decision-making inside 50 and flubbed kicks at goal gave the Swans a lifeline.
After Regan broke Trentham’s sudden goal-kicking woes with a sharp set-shot, two quick goals by Keogh on the eve of half time bolstered the Saints’ lead to 40 points.
Jordan Fraser provided a glimmer of hope for the Swans with an excellent goal on the run to start the second half with a bang before Dovaston restored Trentham’s 40-point advantage.
While Natte defenders Jake Postle, Jack Borchard and Brayden Mills fought valiantly to limit the damage, Trentham’s 2.8 in the third term was enough to put the game to bed at three-quarter time, leading by 52 points.
Late goals from Daniel Groen and Borchard allowed the Swans to win the final quarter and preserve some potentially valuable percentage, but the Saints completed their objective of staying inside the top four with a strong victory.
Ruckman Zachary Gervasoni was outstanding for the Saints all afternoon, named among Trentham’s best players alongside Cowan, Jacob Greenwood, Dovaston, Smith and Matthew Milburn.
Postle was a clear choice for Natte’s best players after doing an outstanding job defending Regan, joined by Thomas Roughead, Borchard, Burrill-Grinton, Fraser and Nathan Holt.