Aaron Degreef

SATURDAY brought outstanding conditions for footy, with Barossa District finishing the season strong with a 22-point win over Nuriootpa in Barossa Light & Gawler A-grade competition.
Nuriootpa started the scoring through Scott Bentley, who punted through two consecutive goals before Barossa quickly returned the favour with both Brae Mcconnell and Declan Kennedy snagging one each.
This run was consolidated by Bulldog Ethan Gant who secured the ball, rapidly accelerated, and banged it through.
Ryan Watson kicked the fourth goal for the Dogs by collecting the crumbs and tumbling it through for a major score.
However, the Tigers clawed their way back in front with Timothy Dimasi guiding in a set-shot, and Bentley dodging a defender and bending in his third.
To begin the second term, Launce Kent kicked his first after receiving an accurate stabbing pass from Leigh Ryswyk.
Ryswyk then went on to kick his own goal from 50 out after accepting a quick handball from Nathan Casboult.
Nuriootpa temporarily turned the tide in its favour when Mitchell Norton received a free kick in the goal square, which fired up the Tigers and enabled Dimasi to kick his second.
To end the quarter, Gant similarly snagged his second off a set-shot he easily converted to head into the main break leading the Tigers 7.4 (46) to 6.6 (42).
During the third stanza, Barossa began to repeatedly flex its muscles with a total of six goals.
Darren Shillabeer kicked his first by scooping up a bouncer and sliding it through from a tight angle, and he followed this up by playing on from the boundary line and snapping another goal.
Ryswyk wanted in on the action as well, and he received his opportunity by taking a diving chest mark and converting the set-shot.
This triad of goals was completed by Kent, who was given an over-the-top handball and was able to walk into an open goal square for his second.
Nuriootpa stemmed the tide for the remainder of the quarter with Aseri ‘Magic’ Raikiwasa proving to be instrumental with his two set-shot goals.
The final quarter was evenly matched between both teams, but the damage had already been done.
After a lengthy back-and-forth across the midfield, Raikiwasa used his previous momentum to kick his third goal.
Gant then showed off some skills with a rapid burst of speed and a very straight shot from a tight angle.
The Tigers reasserted themselves with James Bentley and Jackson Baldwin snagging a goal apiece, but this effort was undone by Casboult kicking a set-shot to seal the deal after being awarded a 25-metre penalty.
After the game, coach Shayne Stevens was happy with the win and reflected on the season.
“As the year went on, we started to play more man on man contested football… and began to execute on our kicking skills, which made us competitive with the top teams,” he said.
“I won’t be continuing on as coach of Barossa District, but I’ll still be involved in football in some way.”