Thunder overhauls Richmond in key win

NT THUNDER recorded a come-from-behind Round 11 VFLW victory against Richmond at Punt Road Oval yesterday, its third in succession.

The Territory’s mid-season form slump – which included consecutive losses to the Southern Saints and Collingwood in Rounds 7 and 8 respectively – is now a distant memory, with yesterday’s 7.4 (52) to 4.5 (29) victory keeping the club’s top-two hopes alive.

Coach Tim Weatherald said it wasn’t a perfect performance. Nevertheless, he was happy with how Thunder responded from a five-point half time deficit.

“We probably didn’t play as well as we would have liked, but it was a good win,” Weatherald said.

“Richmond is a young, enthusiastic side and they got the ball into their forward 50 and we couldn’t get it out in the first half.

“They fought a really good ball and in that first half, 70 per cent of play was in their end of the ground. Our defence held on really well, we just couldn’t get out of there and give our forwards much of a chance.

“In the third quarter, we started to win some real good clearances through Jasmyn Hewett and Ebony Marinoff in the midfield. They got the ball into our forward line, who looked dangerous all day.”

Weatherald pointed to Hewett and Marinoff as the NT’s best.

“Jazzy was very good again through the ruck, she gave us first use and Ebony, in only her second game for the club, really controlled the midfield there and used her left foot really well,” he said.

“Her tackling pressure has always been really good but she got her hands on a lot of the ball and was great through the midfield.”

Thunder faces the Casey Demons and Williamstown over the next fortnight, before finishing the regular season with matches against Collingwood and Hawthorn.