NYAH Nyah West United have moved to the top of the Central Murray Football ladder, after claiming their third consecutive win on Saturday with victory over Tooleybuc-Manangatang.
A bag of seven goals from powerful full-forward Brandyn Grenfell led the Demons to continue their undefeated start, defeating the Saints 13.16 (94) to 9.6 (60).
The win leaves NNWU as the only Central Murray team with three wins to this point, and Grenfell’s standout performance leaves him atop the goal kicking tally with 14 goals in his side’s three matches.
NNWU co-coach Nick O’Neil said “it’s great to have a target like (Grenfell) down forward”.
“When you’re in doubt, you can sort of just send it long and he’s there,” he said.
“It’s also important that we have those boys at his feet, and they’re able to pitch in with a couple of goals as well when the ball is hitting the deck.
“He brings great value to the club and he brings a lot to the boys around him.”
Grenfell turned on the class in the latter stages of the game, as he found a way to negate the close attention of Saints full-back Jackson Morris.
Morris did well to keep a handle on Grenfell for much of the game, but the Saints were undone in the final term when the big Nyah forward snagged four of his seven goals.
O’Neill said his side had been working hard early this year on their fitness and the ability to overrun teams late in the day.
“Our game relies on us holding the opposition up, and when they come at us we just go and see if they’re able to run with us.”
“We knew that this game would be the sort of game we had to grind out, but we also knew we had the ability to run over the top of them.
“We were a little bit slow for a lot of the first three quarters, we were allowing them to get to the ball first. So we just thought we needed to attack it and the game opened up a bit for us.”
NNWU’s outside speed was on full display once again through the likes of Dominic Gallo and Charlie Boulton, who both kicked two goals.
Brothers Jordan and Lucas Iudica also impressed for the Demons, winning the hard ball and extracting it forward.
The Demons ferocity at the contest was a big positive, with Tooleybuc-Manangatang ruckman Connor McDonald consistently getting the upper hand with the tap.
McDonald worked tirelessly for the Saints, often roving his own taps, finding space and breaking tackles.
Harrison Maher and Jesse Wilson stood tall in the Saints backline, propelling their team forward whenever they could through patient switches and short kicks.
Tooleybuc-Manangatang coach Brad Morris said he was pleased with his side’s ability to work out of tight spaces in the stoppage.
“Their speed out of the stoppages was an area that we had identified as one of their strengths,” he said.
“They were good at that all day, but when we did put the work into that area I feel we slowed them down a bit.
“We sort of negated them around the stoppages which allowed us to work ourselves right into an even spread.
“It probably got away from us a little bit towards the end, they just had that extra gear to close out the game.
“But we were happy with how we were tracking for three quarters, there are definitely some positives there that we just need to work on building from.”
The Saints will be hoping to continue that work as they travel to Cohuna next weekend to take on the Kangas, while Nyah will aim to keep hold of top spot when they host Mallee Eagles.
FINAL SIREN
| Tooleybuc-Manang | 2.2 | 5.2 | 9.5 | 9.6 | 60 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NNW United | 3.3 | 6.8 | 9.9 | 13.16 | 94 |
VOTES
3 – Brandyn Grenfell (NNW United)
2 – Jordan Iudica (NNW United)
1 – Connor McDonald (Tooleybuc-Manangatang)
