IN THE return game from the long weekend, North’s second home game of the season saw them take on unbeaten Currie.
North had Jeramy, Justin and Jye Summers playing their first game together this season, along with their cousins Samuel, Abraham and James Shires.
Jack Worrall and Benny Buckets (Ben Cleeland) took the first ruck, and North started strong. Jeramy Summers marked on the lead inside North’s 50 but was slightly off target. He made an impact early with an intercept moments later, keeping the early ball secured on North’s forward line.
James Shires lined up next for another behind. Currie went forward but gave it up easily with a chip kick directly to Justin Summers. A returning James Jakowenko passed to Jeremy Walker, who weaved through traffic and scored Currie’s first goal.
North dominated possessions in the first quarter but straddled the fence, while Currie was direct and ruthless, with fewer possessions and higher accuracy both at goal and downfield.
Loki Bell solidified Currie’s lead with another goal. North got their first through James and Abraham Shires, quickly followed by a second from James Shires. North improved their accuracy and stacked on another late in the term, catching the Currie backline off guard.
Tom Graham took a run to the forward line and made a nice unmanned chest mark, halting North’s momentum with a Currie goal.
Campbell Keeler, in a good one-on-one contest with Matthew Button, took the mark but chipped it into a contested forward line, resulting in Charlie Raff getting a quick behind as they went into the first break with Currie leading by one point.
Raff (back) in pursuit.
North started the second quarter quickly, with Justin Summers lining up early. He didn’t make the distance, and his brother Jeramy did the groundwork but hit the post for a behind. Jeramy returned moments later with a mark and this time made sure of it.
North went forward again but found Tyler Smith with a strong defensive mark. Currie took it up the ground with less surety and conviction than in the last quarter and were kept to a behind.
Currie found the goals shortly after and got two quickly. Warner brought it out of the centre again, and Bradley Martin lined up for a goal on a slight angle and converted.
North got their opportunity forward, but with no one close to home, Justin was forced to dribble kick to nothing, and it bounced out.
They kept it locked in their forward line, and Matthew Button, with a thunderous kick from the 50 mark, sailed one through for North. By halftime, both sides were pretty evenly matched, with Currie increasing their lead to 8 points.
The intensity increased in the third quarter, with a lot of argy-bargy. After a long battle in the Currie forward line, Jakawenko sent one through for Currie. He followed it up with a one-handed mark as it came out of the centre, passing it low inside 50 to a Tom Graham chest mark, and a behind.
Jakowenko didn’t let it out easily and took an intercept mark from the kick-in, passing to Keeler, who missed Jak Youd but found North’s Justin Summers. Raff kicked one right in front from a free and 50.
The ball was contested when Martin ran forward at the centre, got a lucky bounce, dodged one, then another, and scored for Currie.
It must have been awkward when Jeremy Walker, in a contest with his student Harrison Lincoln, got the mark but gave away the free to Lincoln. North went forward with it and found their only goal at the third-quarter siren, leaving them down by 42 points.
The final quarter started with long shadows. Rainbow had been strong all day for North in the backline and took one cleanly to send it back North’s way. Currie, after a long stint in the forward line, got a behind.
On the kick-in, North went clean to James Shires, to Button and back to James Shires near the wing. He backed himself but was off target for a behind. Michael Laskey passed to Jak Youd on the kick-in, which was turned over by Fanning in the centre.
All the play was around the middle, with turnover after turnover and no one quite finding their way deep. Tempers spiralled at a centre bounce, the shoving from earlier spilling over into an altercation and the North hill supporters were vocal.
Play returned to Currie’s end, but only behinds on the board. Laskey passed to Graham, which was interfered with right in front of the North faithful. Graham kicked from the pocket for a goal, seemingly loving the haters, as he converted the goal seamlessly.
Currie chipped it around unimpeded in front of the goal, setting Luke Morris up with a kick and goal. Raff rescued one deep in the North forward line before Jye Summers returned the favour at the opposite end.
It was an exhibition match in front of the netball courts for the Bulldog cheer squad. In the final quarter, it was deep in North’s defence, but the Maroon cheer squad didn’t seem to notice, getting louder and louder as the game edged toward full-time.
At the final siren, it was a convincing 64-point win for Currie, who remain undefeated this year. Despite a tight start and a sharp North firing out of the blocks, they perhaps overused the ball at times and lacked the organisation to stay with Currie for the full four quarters.
Both teams are not without quality markers as they enter the back half of the season, with plenty of football left to play. I wouldn’t wager the sheep station on August just yet