Round 8 of Football and Netball competitions got underway today with the Rovers hosting Tocumwal at Memorial Park.

Rovers teams and fans were eager to get to today since it had been 21 days since their Round 6 matches against Mathoura.

A Grade went into their game against competition leaders Tocumwal who had a 6-1 record after seven matches and were looking to make it 7-1, it was a high scoring match between the two sides and both sides came away with two points after a thrilling 53 all draw.

Whilst A Grade would of wished for the win, the draw shows that they can match it with the best the competition has to offer.

B Grade went into the match against their Tocumwal opponents with a perfect 6-0 record and they prevailed to win their seventh straight game in a high scoring match, the Rovers won by 7 with the scores reading Rover 56 to Tocumwal 49.

C Grade have improved their 5-1 record for the season to 6-1 today with a comfortable 9 goal win over their Tocumwal opponents, the scores at the end of the game read Rovers 38 to Tocumwal 29.

C Reserve aimed to win their fifth straight game today and they succeeded with a five goal win over their Tocumwal opponents, the scores at the end of the game read Rovers 26 to Tocumwal 21

The Junior sides played very well against their Tocumwal opponents and below is the results of their games.

The Under 17’s have now made it seven wins from seven matches with a comfortable 59 to 18 win, the 41 goal win is the perfect result going in to next weeks bye.

The Under 15’s Rovers side were aiming to win their second match in a row after their Round 6 win but went down to Tocumwal by 8 goals, the scores at the end read Rovers 24 to Tocumwal 32.

The Under 13’s have made it seven wins from seven matches with a nicely done 34 goal win against their Tocumwal opponents, the scores at the end of the game read Rovers 42 to Tocumwal 8.

Football

Rovers Football sides were in action against their Tocumwal opponents and overall the teams had a good day.

The Seniors were out to win four in a row and they secured it by staging a last quarter comeback to defeat Tocumwal by 2 points.

Scores were level at Quarter Time with both sides kicking in the first quarter before Tocumwal kicked 4.1 to 2.4 to lead by 9 points at Half Time.
Tocumwal  kicked 2.1 to 0.1 in the third quarter to lead by a seemingly handy 21 points at Three Quarter Time before the Rovers found something special to kick 4.1 to 0.2 to snatch the game at Full Time reading Rovers 8.8 – 56 to Tocumwal 8.6 – 54.

B. Jones kicked two goals whilst S. Cuffe, A. Bond, A. Hogan, A. May, N. Hay and D. May all kicked one goal apiece in the win.

The Reserves entered their match against Tocumwal undefeated after their six games before the byes and at the end of todays match the Rovers are still undefeated after defeating Tocumwal by 12 points

It was a 2.0 to 0.2 opening term for the Rovers before Tocumwal outscored the Rovers 2.0 to 0.3 to trail by just one point at Half Time, the Rovers then kicked 2.1 to 0.0 in the third to be 14 points in front with Tocumwal scoring the only two behinds in the last quarter to cut the final margin to 12 points.

L. Fleming, D. Kirby, C. Thomas and B. Ezard all kicked a goal each in the match for the Rovers.

The U/17’s went into the game looking to add another win to their 6-0 record and they ended the game with the record now reading 7-0 after comfortably beating Tocumwal by 68 points.

The Rovers kicked 11.10 – 76 to 1.2 – 8 with R. Norris, J. Caniglia and R. Murray kicking two goals apiece whilst J. Allitt, N. Hay, J. Weir, J. Campbell and J. Edwards all kicked one goal apiece in the win.

U/14’s went into todays game aiming to make it two wins in a row but were pipped by Tocumwal by just five points in a low scoring game.

It was a game where goals were hard to come by with just 3.5 kicked by both sides with Tocumwal kicking two of the three goals of the match, their second goal was the sealer in the last quarter.

B. East was the only goal scorer for the Rovers with J. Thomson, H. Gardiner, T. Blake, L. Bassett, B. Townsend and D. Bassett considered the best of the Rovers in the game.

Thoughts

Solid results for the Rovers in Netball with five wins, one loss and a draw from the matches played by the Rovers today.

All Netball teams should be happy with their results as they played their games with determination and skill in cold conditions and after getting through 21 days of non competition Netball.

Rovers Footballers played well on a surface that had just over 30mm of rain on it since the middle of the week but played competitive football in all matches throughout the day.

Combined the Rovers teams played eleven matches for eight wins, two losses and a draw which is pretty good day for the Rovers and their fans.

Rovers Talk readers can rejoice as both the Football and Netball seasons are back underway and the Rovers host Tocumwal at Memorial Park.

Netball

Before the byes, A Grade won two games in a row for the first time this season and so their game against Tocumwal is an opportunity to win three in a row but it won’t easy as Tocumwal is top of the ladder with a 5-1 record compared to the Rovers 4-2.

B Grade probably wished there was no byes because the side won all six of their matches and when a team is that hot you wouldn’t want the season to stop, their opponents have had a mixed bag of results with three wins, two losses and two draws from their seven matches.

C Grade have five from six matches and they are coming up against a Tocumwal side that has a 6-0-1 record from their seven matches so this match is a first vs second encounter with the Rovers having the opportunity to jump up to top spot on the ladder, a Rovers loss could mean Strathmerton passes them on percentage should Strathmerton beat Yarroweyah in their match and picks up a ten percent boost in their percentage.

C Reserve just like C Grade have a 5-1 record and are sitting second on the ladder with Tocumwal right behind them in third spot with a 5-2 record from their seven games, the winner of this match can jump to the top of the ladder providing that ladder leader Blighty loses to Jerilderie in their match.

The Under 17’s have a 6-0 record and they are looking to make it 7-0 at Tocumwal’s expense, Tocumwal is sitting in sixth spot with a 3-4 record but are just .10% off Mathoura who is holding the last of the finals spots at this time.

The Under 15’s won their last game to improve their record to 2-4, Tocumwal is sitting third with a 6-1 record but it should be remembered that the Rovers side has played competitively this season and so the four win gulf between the sides should not discourage the side from achieving a win in this game.

The Under 13’s have won all six of their matches this season and are taking on a Tocumwal side that is 4-3 after their seven matches of the season, a Rovers win will keep them two games ahead of the competition whilst a loss will put them still comfortably in front.

Football

Rovers Seniors are sitting in third spot on the ladder with the side 4-2 for the season, their Tocumwal opponents are running fifth with a three wins, three losses and a draw record but there is only two points between the sides due to Tocumwal not yet having their bye.

Rovers Reserves are sitting second on the ladder after notching up six wins from six matches before the byes and can pass Picola United due to them having the bye this week, Tocumwal is sitting in six position with a 3-4 record from their seven matches.

Rovers Under 17’s were undefeated in their six matches before their byes and they come up against a Tocumwal side that is running seventh with a 2-5 record which is a massive gap between the sides not even halfway through the season.

Rovers Under 14’s are sitting fourth on the ladder with a 4-2 record and will have to work hard as Tocumwal are just ahead of the Rovers with a 5-2 record making this a very interesting match as the Rovers can pass Tocumwal if they defeat them on Saturday thanks to the Rovers having a higher percentage.

Thoughts

It’s going to be an interesting day of matches as ladder positions can change hands throughout both the Football and Netball competitions and that is always interesting to see especially if it is in the Rovers favour.

The weather will be colder than what all sides are used to thanks to the approach of Winter and/or rain before the games but there is no doubt all Rovers sides will be well prepared for the cooler conditions.

Rovers Talk will be back on Saturday Afternoon/Night will all the results and thoughts on all the action.