CROCS STILL RULE IN NTFL
DISTRICTS WAY TOO GOOD V SAINTS
SOUTHERN Districts again n showed they are the team to o beat when they outplayed a brave St Mary’s side at TIO Stadium last night.
The Crocodiles won their r seventh game from eight starts and put last week’s surprise loss to Waratah behind them with an 11.10 (76) to 4.5 (29) win n that had finals football written all over it.
Shane Thorne’s dribbled goal two minutes into the second quarter broke a goal drought that looked like it would never be broken.
Both defences had been well on top in the first quarter, three behinds to Districts and a single point to the Saints telling the story.
Sam Smith was again dominant in defence, grabbing several towering marks and offloading to teammates.
Smith’s name was missing from this week’s AFL Draft list, but his first concern last night was helping Districts rebound from the loss to Waratah.
“That was an awesome effort by all the boys out there, we really played our style of footy today,’’ Smith said.
“As for the draft, it was disappointing for all the NT boys, but they’re all strong characters and they will bounce back hard.’’
Thorne was Districts’ best forward in the goalless run, measuring several foot passes to teammates and creating a
and Lionel Ogden for forwardsupply line Michael players line Mummery. with Will Clinton Farrer Gallio and
ond Farrer when booted the advantage his side’s rule secwas applied after he was infringed and Jess Koopman a third as Districts took a firm grip on the game. BEST
Old timers dived for the record books at half-time when Saints failed to score a goal in two quarters of football.
The club’s lowest score was the losing grand final return in GOALS the 1967-68 flag decider. A 1.2 (8) total on a rain soaked Gardens Oval almost 50 years ago was a score the champion club had put behind it until last night.
But any doubts were dispelled by the brilliance of Ben Rioli, who casually booted a checkside goal from the boundary line.
“That was an awesome effort by all the boys out there, we really played our footy” SAM SMITH