Rovers beat spirited Dees

The Rovers got out of the gate first, with the return of Tyson Willis to their side felt from the start.

The live wire forward was strong taking marks above his head and also clean on the ground, with Willis and Ryan Lovegrove-Hudson kicking goals on the end of the strong work by the Rovers on-ball brigade led by rising star Cameron Wills.

However, Jerilderie fought their way back into the contest, kicking the last two goals of the quarter. With one on the siren, they went into quarter time only just trailing the Rovers’ 3.2 (20) to the Dees’ 2.1 (13).

The second quarter was back and forth, with the Rovers defending the start of the quarter well, with Rowan Frazer continuing his good first quarter.

He had several intercept marks due to Jerilderie’s poor usage by foot and the consistent pressure from the Rovers’ players around the ball, helping the team gain ascendancy on the scoreboard early.

The connection and ball use of Jackson Muldoon-Leetham and Cameron Wills streaming between the arcs had the Rovers ball movement humming.

Harry Mcilwain was also resolute behind the ball with several clean contested marking efforts.

Despite this, the Demons came back towards the end of the second quarter again, finishing with a couple of goals, keeping the Rovers within reach at halftime.

The main difference between the two sides was the goal-kicking accuracy, with the Rovers getting accurate shots on the smaller ground, kicking six straight goals for the quarter.

Meanwhile, Jerilderie were wayward in front of goal due to the Rovers’ defence.

In the third quarter, the Rovers surged ahead but Jerilderie remained in touching distance.

In the last quarter, the Rovers defensive effort staved off the final meaningful Jerilderie charge, with the Rovers midfielders and forwards getting a run of seven goals in the last quarter.

Jerilderie added some goals at the end of the last quarter, but it was too little too late with the damage done by the Deni Rovers on the scoreboard.

Final score: Deni Rovers 20.6 (126) def Jerilderie 11.7 (73).

Goals: Tyson Willis 7, Ryan Lovegrove-Hudson 6, Cameron Wills 3, Hayden Barker 2, Nick Hay 2.

Best players: Rowan Frazer, Tyson Willis, Cameron Wills, Harry McIlwain, Jackson Muldoon-Leetham.

Awards: Rowan Frazer, Tyson Willis, Cameron Wills, Nick Hay, Jackson Muldoon-Leetham and Harry McIlwain.

Reserves

The sun was shining and the Rovers seconds were determined to make some hay.

The boys had braced themselves for a battle in the midfield and Jordyn McCulloch, Aden Bermingham, Bobby Hall, James Kirby and Ben McCalman rotated through and all went to work.

The Rovers miserly backline rebounded Jerilderie's forward entries and created play, with Hayden Gardiner, Rylan Wade and Taj Payne linking up and transitioning the ball forward.

Kaiden Joss made his return and his class stood out. Harry Turner was once again involved in everything and finished the day with six goals and being named best on.

An unselfish forward line looked for one another as Turner, Bailey Caruso, Damian Hope, Joss, McCulloch and Hall all scored multiple goals, assisted by Blake Norris and James Kirby scoring singles.

Final Score: Jerilderie 0.1 (1) def by Rovers 18.17 (125).

Goals: Harry Turner 6, Bailey Caruso 2, Damian Hope 2, Kaiden Joss 2, Jordyn McCulloch 2, Bobby Hall 2, Blake Norris, James Kirby.

Best players: Harry Turner, Jordyn McCulloch, Taj Payne, Aden Bermingham, Bobby Hall.

Awards: Harry Turner, Bobby Hall, Aden Bermingham, Jordyn McCulloch, Taj Payne, James Kirby, Hayden Gardiner.