By Gary Stocks

After a sluggish opening to the season, the true North Beach rebounded with a convincing round two victory against Trinity Aquinas last Saturday.

Having slipped to a one-point home loss to Collegians to kick off the season, the Beach were snarling against TAs at Bill Grayden Reserve and played an irresistible brand of football on the way to a 73-point romp.

After a relatively even first half, the Beach rattled on 10 goals to two after the main break and took charge in virtually every position on the ground.   

There appeared to be a vast difference in the approach to the game within the playing group, from opening round to last Saturday’s encounter, as well as the injection of a little more experience to the line-up.

Jimmy Nunan’s inclusion certainly added some fibre to the defensive unit, while John Turner was efficient through the middle, Joe Boys was outstanding as an athletic ruckman, Cale Potts was resilient at centre half-back and the experience of Shane Paap and Dean Brennan was also evident.

The tackling pressure was a feature of the effort all over the ground, while the work inside the forward 50 from Jackson Harwood, Ben Wilson and Josh McGinnity was important.

The A-Reserves backed up from a first round victory with another convincing performance against TAs in a game that heralded the return of star forward Mitch Holbrook. He and Lee Brooks, in conjunction with Greg Pires, were always dangerous and kicked eight of the team’s 12 goals between them.

While the seasoned campaigners were in good touch – Simon Pearce and Chris Perkin joining the forward trio as having a strong impact on the game – it was also encouraging to see colts graduates Jacob Griffiths and Matt Irvine  make solid contributions.

The D1 team also scored an impressive 10-point triumph over Trinity Aquinas at Charles Riley Reserve – although it could have been more convincing had the boys finished the game strongly, instead of dropping off their intensity in the final term.

Jason Hall, Dylan McEvoy and Justin Sajich each kicked two goals while Jamie Sajich, Jordan Dye, Chris Douglas and Chae Biggins were all fine contributors.

The two colts teams are, unfortunately, still searching for their first wins of the season after finding Trinity-Aquinas a little too accomplished.

The Phil Scott Division team again paid the price for a concentration lapse at the start of the third quarter which saw their opponents skip away to a match-winning break. Defensive pressure was lacking all over the ground and clearly this must be remedied if they are to challenge the leading teams in the competition.

Mark Foreman was outstanding in attack, kicking for goals, while Shane Fulwood offered strong rebound from the back half and Evan Miller relished his opportunity in the ruck.

The Brett Jones Colts were also sluggish early, allowing Trinity Aquinas to effectively close out the game when they established a seven-goal advantage by half time.

Ruckman James Cusack was tireless, the class of Chris Mead was important and the midfield grunt of Mitch Clark was evident throughout, but they need support across the board to halt this slow start to the year. The focus will be on a four-quarter performance when the competition resumes on Saturday week.

Details
A-Grade
North Beach       3.2          7.6          13.9        17.16     118
Trinity-Aquinas 1.4          4.6            4.8          6.9          45
Goals – North Beach: Wilson, Harwood 3; McGinnity, Paap, Brennan 2; Bandy, Riemann, Heap, Turner, Cunningham 1.
Best – North Beach: Turner, Nunan, Brennan, Boys, Potts, Paap.

A-Reserves
North Beach       4.3          5.7          7.7          12.7        79
Trinity-Aquinas 1.3          2.8          4.8          6.9         45
Goals – North Beach: M Holbrook, Brooks 3; Pires 2; Perkin, Griffiths, S Pearce 1.
Best – North Beach: Griffiths, M Holbrook, S Pearce, Perkin, Irvine.

D1
North Beach       1.4          6.5          8.5          8.6          54
Trinity-Aquinas 1.2          2.3          3.5          6.8          44
Goals – North Beach: Hall, McEvoy, Justin Sajich 2; Dickson, Douglas 1.   
Best – North Beach: Jamie Sajich, Dye, Douglas, Biggins, Hall.

Phil Scott Colts
Trinity-Aquinas 3.3          8.3          13.5        16.5        101
North Beach       1.1          6.5            7.6        11.9        75
Goals – North Beach: Foreman 4; M Dillon, Fulwood 2; Brooks, DeRosa, Jackson 1.
Best – North Beach: Foreman, Fulwood, Miller.

Brett Jones Colts
Trinity-Aquinas 4.1          8.5          10.10     13.14     92
North Beach       0.2          1.1            3.4          5.6        36
Goals – North Beach: Not available
Best – North Beach: Cusack, Mead, Clark