Coolamon holds off Bulldogs as Lions and Swans both record strong victories

The two sides were locked in an arm-wrestle during the opening half, however it was the defender-turned-forward Nick Buchanan who surged the Hoppers ahead in the third term.

Buchanan kicked three of the Hoppers five goals in the third quarter which saw them take a seven-point lead into the final change.

The young Hoppers outfit then held their nerve in a tight final quarter to run out 12.8 (80) to 11.6 (72) winners over the Bulldogs.

After an impressive display last weekend against Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong, Hoppers coach Gavin McMahon was delighted his side could grab their first win of the season.

"It's just a really good reward for effort for our boys and for the Coolamon community given the off-season that we'd had," McMahon said.

It was a hard fought victory for the Hoppers and McMahon agreed that the Bulldogs definitely made them earn it.

"Yeah absolutely," he said.

"Turvey are a good side and they are last years premiers, they might've been down a couple of players from their premiership side but it's a pretty evolved system that they've got.

"They knew what they were doing and they certainly had us under the pump for a fair bit of that."

Buchanan finished with the three goals for the Hoppers and McMahon was pleased he could receive a nice reward for all his efforts over the off-season adapting to a new position.

"Buc's been working his backside off and he's really embraced the switch from defence to forward," he said.

"He played a lot of his junior footy as a forward and it was only once he started playing senior footy that he was put back.

"It was nice for him and he's another one that really stuck fat with the footy club in October when there was lots of players heading off elsewhere.

"He dug in and said he was a Coolamon player, so I'm really pleased for him to get a result today."

Aiden Macauley, Allister Clarke and Tim Coenen were some of the dominant performers for the Hoppers in their victory.

McMahon said that Macauley had an outstanding game and believed he was one of a few players that had a huge influence on the result of the contest.

"Doc was spot on and he's just winning everything at the moment," he said.

"He played very well and it was just a really strong effort for the boys across the board, they all probably shone at different times which was really nice.

"But we've got heaps to work on too and there was plenty that made us shake our heads at different times."

After finding themselves down at half-time, McMahon said he was really pleased by the response from his young side to get their noses back in front with a quarter to play.

"All we wanted to do this week was make sure we improved on our effort and how long we stayed in the game for this week," he said.

"I think last week it's fair to say we probably played two to two-and-a-half quarters, to have them come back in the second and for the boys to find their feet and really fight their way through that contest was a really good improvement for us from last week."

Harry Stapleton was a clear standout for the Bulldogs in defeat as he booted five goals while Tyler Cunningham and Hayden Smith were also among their better players.

Full Time

Coolamon 4.1 6.4 11.5 12.8 (80)

Turvey Park 3.1 8.3 10.4 11.6 (72)

GOALS: Coolamon: N.Buchanan 3, M.King 2, D.mullen 1, B.Hodgson 1, C.Mckelvie 1, B.Glyde 1, C.Mattingly 1, O.Perrot 1, A.Macauley 1; Turvey Park: H.Stapleton 5, W.Ford 2, A.Wolter 2, O.Jenkins 1, L.Leary 1

BEST: Coolamon: A.Macauley, A.Clarke, T.Coenen, M.King, B.Hodgson, O.Perrot; Turvey Park: H.Stapleton, T.Cunningham, H.Smith, A.Wolter, W.Voss, L.Warren

Griffith secured their first victory of the season as they proved far too strong for Leeton-Whitton at Exies Oval.

Kahlan Spencer had a strong day up forward for the Swans kicking four goals as they ran out 13.18 (96) to 7.4 (46) winners over the Crows.

After a disappointing performance last weekend against Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes, Swans coach Greg Dreyer was pleased his side could respond at home and notch up their first points of the new season.

"We were focused on a few things and I thought what we spoke about during the week we did really well," Dreyer said.

"We didn't kick particularly straight and we've still got a few things to work on obviously, but it was much improved from the first round."

The Swans kicked 4.6 in the opening term and that set the pattern for the rest of the day in front of the sticks as they finished at 13.18 after the four quarters.

Dreyer didn't believe the conditions were too tricky and instead conceded there were a couple of other factors at play.

"We are still searching for that combination with the recruits we have," he said.

"They are all good quality players but they hadn't played a trial game with us, so they are learning.

"We are probably down a bit of confidence with a couple of blokes, once you get those combinations evolving we'll get better and improve.

"There's still work to be done obviously."

Spencer finished as the Swans leading goal-kicker with four majors and Dreyer said he was impressed with his efforts up forward.

"He played a good role today Kahlan," he said.

"He's had a really strong pre-season this year, so we are expecting him to step up again even though he's been a good player for us for a long time.

"His preparation has been good and he played a really good role through the midfield, he did a good job."

Sydney recruits Riley Lucas, Cooper Kilpatrick, Tom Baxter and Tom Tyson all were significant contributors in the victory.

Dreyer said he was really impressed by the performance of Lucas down back in their victory over the Crows.

"He's settled in nicely at fullback and centre half back," he said.

"He's got some good composure and he reads it well, he's just a good defender and he makes good decisions.

"We're really pleased with him even though it's only two games in."

For the Crows, Jade Hodge continued his strong start to the season in front of goal with another bag of six while Tom Meline was also a good contributor in a losing side.

Full Time

Griffith 4.6 6.9 9.17 13.18 (96)

Leeton Whitton 2.0 5.0 5.1 7.4 (46)

GOALS: Griffith: K.Spencer 4, J.Girdler 2, O.Bartter 2, T.Tyson 2, T.Baxter 2, C.Kilpatrick 1; Leeton Whitton: J.Hodge 6, R.Dunn 1

BEST: Griffith: R.Lucas, C.Kilpatrick, K.Spencer, T.Baxter, T.Tyson, D.Peruzzi; Leeton Whitton: T.Meline, J.Hodge, J.Fisher, A.Crelley, M.Axtill, M.Rainbird

Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong are on top of the Riverina League ladder following a 67-point win on the road over Narrandera.

The Lions went into quarter-time up by 15 points which set the platform for their 14.18 (102) to 5.5 (35) victory that featured the surprise return of star midfielder Matt Hamblin.

The Lions now sit at 2-0 and coach Sam Martyn was delighted his side could put together another strong performance.

"Yeah it was really pleasing for the most part," Martyn said.

"Again there's plenty to work on and I think we'll be a much-improved side in five to six week's time compared to now.

"But some of our passages of ball movement were really pleasing and we were able to hit the scoreboard multiple times.

"We'd love a few more numbers I guess in that goals column though as opposed to points, but we were able to work on the things we talked about at training in terms of being a bit more direct with less hand-balling and creating a bit more space at stoppages.

"It all sort of came together and I thought Narrandera had a never say die attitude, for the entire game they made it a bit of a fight.

"Especially towards the end they just weren't willing to concede points, there were a lot of numbers inside our forward 50.

"But to our boys credit we tried to hold our structure and system and inflict as much damage as we could."

Tom Sase enjoyed a strong return last weekend in the Lions win over Coolamon and Martyn said he had another good game in front of goal against the Eagles.

"Tommy Sase had a really good game and kicked three," he said.

"Then Tommy Banuelos could've had an absolute field day, I think he was at 1.6 to start the second half.

"Multiple times he was able to beat his direct opponent, he just couldn't quite convert on the scoreboard.

"But you are really pleased with his effort and his ability to be able to create those opportunities for himself.

"Dan Foley was again really present and he was another good target for us forward, I think we had multiple goal-kickers as opposed to just one person being a dominant target this week."

The forwards weren't the only ones impressing Martyn as he said there were some strong contributors all over the ground.

"I thought Zac Burhop had a really good game off half back," he said.

"His run and carry was really prominent and it set up a lot of our attacking raids.

"Matty (Hamblin) it was fantastic to have him back, it was unexpected but he trained on Thursday really well.

"He knows his body better than anyone else and he declared himself fit, so I was never going to keep him out.

"Then a few of our unheralded defenders, I think Josh Walsh nullified all their talls and Tom Quinn kept (Edward Puruntatameri) Dunn to one.

"Connor Krebser kept (Brayden) Rioli to two as well I think, so I thought they did a tremendous job too.

"Just making sure that when they did get inside 50 that it was a real contest."

A late omission provided an opportunity for 16-year-old Lucas Hatty to make his first grade debut against the Eagles.

Martyn thought Hatty played extremely well in his first game and said it was a credit to the work the teenager put in over the pre-season.

"Lucas was exceptional I thought," he said.

"He acquitted himself to first grade footy really well and I think it's a testament to the work he did in pre-season.

"He was very close to playing round one and he went back and honed his craft in the 17's and put in a best on ground performance.

"When Jack Sase unfortunately pulled out this morning with sickness it was a no-brainer for us to pull up Lukey.

"He played on a wing and I think the boys were really trying to feed him in that last quarter to give him his first goal.

"He definitely acquitted himself to first grade football and it just gives us another option and player that improves our depth.

"I'm really happy with the way Lukey played."

Full Time

GGGM 4.4 8.7 12.10 14.18 (102)

Narrandera 2.1 3.2 4.4 5.5 (35)