South win in a quagmire

almost 3 years in bdtruth

It’s somewhat of a rarity in Broken Hill but it’s something teams have got to be ready for when the Heavens do decide to open; wet weather football.Memorial Oval became the ever-menacing Arctic Park once more as Central and South did battle for the two points. With a missed opportunity last week against North, the Magpies were left knocking on the door of the winner’s circle on Saturday, falling to the 2019 reigning premiers by 25 points.The match was sodden, it was scrappy, down and dirty - Coach Darren Smith said it was a tough game to win.“Central’s had a good game plan, they scruffed it up a bit, we struggled at first,” Smith said post-game.“It was a scrappy game and if we’ve got to win ugly, we will win ugly.”It was a close fixture throughout the afternoon, with Central managing to go toe-to-toe with the visitors. Despite South’s dominance at the stoppages with the likes of Marc Purcell, Lachlan Mackenzie and Todd Davidson in dominant form - the Magpies still found routes to goal with Josh Hanford playing one of his best games of the season so far. The brief return of Jaylon Wingfield bolstered the black and white’s transition from half-back - but his appearance was only a one-off. Coach Greg Wellington saying the side is not far away from getting that long-awaited win. “They’re close to clicking. We’ve got to fine-tune our skills - that’s what’s letting us down,” Wellington told the press.“I can see that they’ve got it in them. South’s a quality side. I think if we had that kind of performance last week, I think we would’ve got over the line. “A little bit deflated. It’s not enough now to be competitive - we want that win. We want that taste of winning.”With a ten-point lead to start the third quarter, South tried to put the game beyond the reach of Central by the final change. But a few wayward shots and a good running goal from Hanford saw the favourites carry just an 18-point advantage into the last quarter. A bright spark for the Magpies was fledgling, Nick Devoy.The youngster snagged three goals, including two in the last quarter fight back to be one of Central’s standouts of the day. Cody Schorn was pushing up the ground in a different role than we’re used to seeing - he still managed to jag three goals to his tally - Adam Slattery the only other multiple goal-scorer for South. The Roos sit atop the A-Grade ladder on percentage while Central remains the cellar dwellers. Here’s hoping for dry conditions for this weekend’s double-header at the Jube.

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