TIGERS CLA W WIN
THE Hermit Park Tigers have fired the first salvos in Townsville AFL’s fiercest rivalry, beating the Thuringowa Bulldogs by 11 points.
In what could be a glimpse into the battles that lie ahead, the Tigers leapt to an eight goals to three halftime lead before Thuringowa came surging back by restricting Hermit Park to just five behinds in the third quarter.
That effort led to a thrilling final term that saw Thuringowa boot two majors to Hermit Park’s one, but the Tigers did enough to hold on and in the process cement second spot on the Townsville AFL ladder with a 9.15 ( 69) to 8.10 ( 58) win.
Top place will likely remain occupied by the University Hawks for at least another two rounds after the Hawks trounced Curra Swans 18.25 ( 133) to 3.4 ( 22) at Harold Phillips Oval.
Hermit Park had extra reason to celebrate at Tony Ireland Stadium on Saturday night, with club junior Ryan Agita playing his first game in Tigerland in seven years.
Agita, a Queensland junior representative who left Townsville to play in the Gold Coast competition, was named best on ground for his standout performance and he played alongside brother Stannis, who also had a strong game.
Agita’s return will undoubtedly strengthen Hermit Park’s premiership campaign, although coach Jamie Fogg says plenty of work remains to be done until the final product is ready.
“We’re definitely happy with our first half but it was disappointing we couldn’t finish them off; we really should have won by a bigger margin,” Fogg said.
“It was tight to begin with but we challenged the guys to play selfless footy in the second, and they did.
“But credit to Thuringowa for fighting back, and we just seemed to drop off after halftime.
“There’s still a lot to work on and get better, but we got the four ( competition) points and had no injuries.
“We’re where we need to be right now.”
Off- season recruit Daniel Lyon and Jason Di Betta kicked two goals each, while Declan Wode, Joel Sim, Luke Hilderbrandt and the Agita brothers also booted goals.
Bulldogs coach Chris Butcher said his team would reach its full potential.
“I think if we had another five minutes we would have got home; we had all the momentum,” he said.
“It was just for that 9- 10 minutes in the second quarter that really cost us.
“We have a very young list and they’re coming together more each week.”
The Bulldogs went through last season’s premiership- winning season undefeated but now hold a 2- 2 win- loss record.
University overcame Curra’s early fire to lead eight goals to one at halftime, and the result was never in doubt from there as the Hawks booted 10 more as Josh Cass, Michael Lahey and Phillip Burger each bagged three goals.