NYAH-Nyah West United sent a reminder to their opposition as to why they are the reigning premiers on the weekend, with a hard-fought six-point win over the Mallee Eagles.
In a match that ebbed and flowed all afternoon, it was the Demons who sent a statement that they are still one of the teams to beat despite a slow start to their premiership defence after starting the season with one win from their first four matches.
NNW United were back to the Demons of old as they outran and outworked the Eagles on the outside, with Corey Daniels, Jordan Iudica and Alex Birch all returning to the side.
It was a performance that had been a long time coming for NNW United co-coach Jason Murphy, who was pleased to see his team claim their first big scalp of the season.
“It’s good to sort of get into the season; we wanted to get in and knock over one of these top three teams and to do so is really satisfying,” Murphy said.
“It (the win) sort of gets us back in the conversation a bit, which is good.
“We spoke about it at three-quarter time, that this is the feeling we’ve been searching for over the first couple of months.
“We were in a big game and in it up to our ears and we were just enjoying being back in that competitive space again, it was exciting for our playing group and we started feeling that magic again, which is what we’ve been looking for.”
Although the midfield battle proved to be an even one between the two clubs, it was in the Demons’ front half where they had the advantage according to Murphy, who praised his team’s ability to defend across the ground.
“Historically we match up with them (Mallee Eagles) pretty well. There’s not a lot between the two teams when we play usually and one of the key differences was that we were able to keep them in our front half,” Murphy said.
“That was sort of something that we really honed in on during the week, that we needed to lock the ball in our forward half so we could keep their back line under pressure.
“We wanted to keep them working hard all day and our press worked really well.”
While Murphy and the Demons were happy with their effort, the same can’t be said for the Mallee Eagles and their co-coach Harry Allen, who lamented his team’s lack of pressure after the game.
“It was pretty disappointing on our end,” Allen said.
“It was similar to the Woorinen game in that we were flat and lacked any real pressure and presence around stoppage, which is something we pride our game on.
“We just lost our shape in transition that they (NNW United) were able to get through at times.
“It got better in the second half and we nearly grabbed it, but ultimately left our run too late.
“They had some players return and showed signs of the side that won the flag last year, they played a solid game and credit to them, they came to play.”
The loss of key defender Jayden Post to a hamstring strain early in the match forced the Eagles to shuffle the magnets, which undoubtedly had an affect on their structure in defence.
The Eagles weren’t the only ones to suffer on the injury front however, with NNW United speedster Brayden Bigham also succumbing to an ankle injury that will require scans to determine its severity.
Jaydyn Stirling was a standout for the Demons across half back, with his ability to win the contested ball as well as use it effectively when he won it seeing him earn best on ground honours.
It wasn’t just his ability to find the ball that made him among the most influential players on the ground, but also his job in nullifying the dangerous Matt Rankine when he played forward that was equally impactful on the final result.
Joel Walsh also returned to his intercepting best, while Dom Gallo, Ben Shadbolt, Ethan Saville and Nick O’Neill were also among the Demons’ better players.
The Eagles were well served by Harry McGregor and Clinton Cummins in defence, along with Zac O’Meara who played on the ball alongside Harry Allen and Darcy McGregor, while speedy forward/wingman Jonah Devlin also produced one of his best senior games in the blue and gold.
SCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| Nyah-Nyah West United | 2.6 | 5.7 | 7.10 | 10.10 | 70 |
| Mallee Eagles | 2.3 | 4.4 | 5.7 | 9.10 | 64 |
VOTES
3 – Jayden Stirling (NNW United)
2 – Joel Walsh (NNW United)
1 – Harry McGregor (Mallee Eagles)
