NYAH-Nyah West United defeated Woorinen to claim their second win of the season, taming the Tigers in their first hit-out in front of a home crowd.
The Demons’ pressure was too much for Woorinen, NNWU leading at every break to win 16.14 (110) to 12.7 (79).
NNWU’s midfield dominance was on full display throughout the 31-point win, stifling Woorinen’s precise ball movement, and showing off their own rapid movement and style of play.
The pairing of the Demons bigs and their speedy midfielders cut Woorinen apart, with co-coach Nick O’Neill and his former co-coach Corey Daniels both kicking four goals for the day.
Fellow tall Brandyn Grenfell added three more goals to the tally, rotating between full forward and ruck duties with Blake Larkings.
But it was young speedster Mitchell Grinham who stamped his authority on the game, racking up disposals and breaking lines with speed and poise all day.
Coach O’Neill said a change in position freed up Grinham.
“We put Mitch on the wing today, and I think it looks like that will be his new position from now on,” he said.
“Our outside run is pretty good, some of the best in the comp. If we win the one on one and get that ball out cleanly, then good luck to the opposition.
“Not just Mitch, but all of our young kids are just great, they put in a lot of hard work and it really pays off.
“I think we have a great mix of blokes here, both younger and older guys who are really buying into the club at the moment.”
Ethan Curran was another who performed well, winning the hard ball and putting in hard work at stoppages, as was Charlie Boulton who’s performance was capped off with two goals.
While NNWU were composed with ball in hand, Woorinen were anything but, often forced into long kicks in hope due to the Demon’s pressure.
Woorinen coach Marcus Demaria expressed his disappointment.
“They beat us in every facet of the game,” Demaria said.
“We only played five minutes of the second quarter on our terms, and that was it. They owned us for the rest of the time.
“Everything that we want to pride ourselves on, they did well.
“They were hard in the contest, they’d win the ball and be clean with their exits.
“They were good in the air, they were precise in their foot skills and we were the complete opposite.
“Perhaps we got a bit carried away with ourselves last week, so I guess it’s back to the drawing board.
“There’s a lot of things to improve on. Usually we are really well set up behind the ball with our press, but we were very disorganised today.”
Jye Barry and Josh Domaille, as usual, were two of Woorinen’s best performers, while Matthew Gardner, Henry Thompson and Taylor Cameron were standouts in defence.
But it was often transition from the backline that Woorinen was lacking, as the Demons trapped their opposition in their attacking fifty and forced them to kick down the line.
O’Neill said the stifling approach was key in getting the upper hand on the Tigers.
“Our zone is really about working on trapping them back there,” he said.
“We knew that the work we have been putting in was going to pay off for us
“They’ve been good at short kick style for a while, so we knew if we could put the pressure on them to kick long it’d really play into our hands.
“It was the kind of thing where we just had to hang on to the lead, and we knew we would be able to run over the top of them.
“That pressure in the middle has been something we’ve been working pretty hard on, if we can beat them to the ball and get those clearances then the rest of our game will fall into place.”
Trailing by three goals at three quarter time, Woorinen saw mass positional changes, with Doug Beames moving to the forward line and Tom Langford and Clayton McCartney put into the middle to inject some pace.
But their hopes of a spirited comeback win would fall away swiftly, as O’Neill kicked the first two goals of the quarter to quash any Woorinen hope.
NNWU will travel to Tooleybuc this Saturday to take on the also undefeated Saints, while Woorinen will be hoping for a bounce back win when they host Cohuna.
FINAL SIREN
| NNW UNITED | 4.3 | 7.9 | 11.10 | 16.14 | 110 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WOORINEN | 3.2 | 7.3 | 9.5 | 12.7 | 79 |
VOTES
3 – Mitchell Grinham (NNW United)
2 – Nick O’Neill (NNW United)
1 – Brandyn Grenfell (NNW United)
