Humble Pies hit the spot
at TIO Stadium PALMERSTON have broken through for their first win of the NTFL season with a strong 27-point win over Central Australia at TIO Stadium last night.
The Pies surged ahead early with a five-goal-to-none first term setting up the 13.6 (84) to 8.9 (57) victory in the Redtails last Premier League trial game for the season.
Cameron Cloke was the difference up forward, providing a strong marking option and finishing with six goals.
Palmerston coach Dean Rioli said keeping it simple enabled the side to play their best footy and hold off the pace of the opposition.
‘‘It’s fantastic for the guys (to get a win). We’ve tried something this season that was going to take a bit of pain by playing so many kids and trying to get as much game time into them in,’’ he said.
‘‘Our strength is, if we keep it simple, we can play some good footy. I was a bit worried, because they really dominated the second quarter and I knew they had their run going. But the aim for us was to make sure we came back out and try to hold them off, and we did that.’’
The Pies started with a bang when Keidan Holt- Tubbs goalled after two minutes, followed by a strong contested mark and goal from Cloke. They had six in a row when Pierce Liddle converted early in the second for a 34-point lead.
The Redtails got themselves on the board with two in a row to Lindsay Turner and Matt Campbell, reducing the margin to 24 points at half-time. The match opened up in the third.
But Lochlan Dhurrkay bobbed up for a major and Cloke’s fifth steadied the ship for the Magpies as they went into three quarter-time 25-points clear. They put the result beyond doubt early in the last when Aaron Lonergan received a 50m penalty and goalled from the square, shortly before Cloke bagged his sixth goal.
Central Australia finished their eight-match trial with a win against the Buffaloes.