BRENDAN LINES
A LATE surge from Gawler Central tested Nuriootpa’s resilience as it hung on for a 14-point victory in Saturday’s Barossa, Light & Gawler A-grade football clash at the Dog Track.
Holding down third place on the ladder, Nuri’s run towards September is unfolding in the same fashion as 2018, according to coach Henry Slattery.
“I’ve thought about that often as well; I suppose it’s pretty similar to where we were last year, and we played our best footy in the second half,” he said.
It took until the 21-minute mark for the scoring account to open, with Robert Long (two goals) kicking the first of the game for the hosts.
Aisea Raikiwasa (24 disposals) and Brad Hoepner with a massive 38 disposals, were the big accumulators across half-back who kept Nuri firing all day.
It was Hoepner’s late goal in the first term that gave Nuri the lead by just three points at quarter-time.
After another goal to Long, Central’s momentum came to a screeching halt as Nuri was handed a controversial set-shot at point-blank range.
After Nuri seemingly played on from a free kick in its forward 50, the umpire called Central’s Andrew Wright for overstepping a mark, resulting in a goal to the visitors.
Shaking off its disbelief, Central got back to work as Nick Hooker scored to close the gap down again to three points late in the second quarter.
But Nuri’s endless rebound off half-back set up opportunities for Billy Nicholls and Beau Shinnick to help their side take a 15-point lead into half-time.
Nuri continued to have much better run and carry, as Hoepner and Aisea Raikiwasa’s combined 17 disposals and 10 marks in defence in the third term set up 12 inside 50 entries.
Jackson Baldwin and Brad Sheridan both added goals as Nuri extended its lead to 26 points at three-quarter-time.
Central midfielders Wright (16 possessions) and Cam Reynolds (14 possessions) were a strong link in its scoring chains, as the team rallied for a final tilt.
Hooker scored two more majors and Luke Edwards a single, which kept Central in the hunt.
But Nuri’s willingness to break forward out of defence continued, as a late goal to Shinnick finally kept Central at bay.
It was a win Nuri can take some confidence in, as it mounts a run towards September.
“I suppose it’s like a horse race really, you want to finish well on the home straight,” Slattery said.
“It’s all about the confidence you take into the second half of the season, you want to finish on a high.
“I thought our back line was huge; Aisea Raikiwasa, Brad Hoepner, Shawn Gibson and Carson Clark, they just mopped up really well off the half-back-line and provided plenty of options, plenty of run, and used the ball really well also.
“But, I think from a whole team perspective we did a really good job and our forwards provided a good contest without Sam Gordon.”
