A SOGGY day at Greenhill Reserve set the Wallan and Romsey clash up to be contested and hard fought.
Wallan approached the day undefeated from their first seven games.
Romsey on the other hand, was quite the opposite, coming off four consecutive losses.
The Magpies announced during the week that they’d signed Collingwood premiership star Heath Shaw for the remainder of their season, but on the day they were without him.
A fascinating start to the game saw four separate injuries within the first 20 minutes including Romsey’s Nathan Rayment, who came off in the earliest stages of the game before three Wallan players were forced to leave the field as well.
Wallan started the day strong through multiple goals from Lachlan Smart who dubbed the long sleeves for the day, which seemed to be a theme across the ground.
But Romsey young gun Sam Wilson responded with one of his own alongside another from Jack Jedwab.
The Magpies closed out the first through Blaide Dickson and took a one-point lead, but Romsey were arguably the stronger side having more scoring shots against the wind.
All was to unravel in the second, however, featuring nine goals between the two sides.
Wallan were able to pile on seven goals to two against the Redbacks, who seemed unlucky with a few calls against them.
But the home side was stronger in the contest, dominating the second term through the centre clearances, beating them 5-1 throughout.
The game was decided in Wallan’s hands when they had 16 marks to three, alongside 12-2 contested marks for the quarter putting the foot down on the red and black.
Wallan young gun, Owen Fowler, got concussed in a marking collision which left the home team with no players available on the bench, giving the Redbacks a major heartbeat.
Taking a five-goal lead into the major break, the rain started to fall, and Wallan knew it would have the wind on its side to come out to.
An unfortunate injury plague for the Magpies gave the Redbacks a chance to come out and show their stamina, but the Pies were able to still pile on an additional nine scores in the third.
Smart had his sixth for the day and Hayden Gill joined in on the fun with two of his own.
Nash King collected 10 touches in the quarter, including three centre clearances and four score involvements.
The final break was a well-needed rest for the home team though, as it started to show its heavy legs.
Jake Carlisle, although dominant in the ruck, hobbled around for the majority of the second half with what looked to be a slight back injury.
Romsey coach Nathan Blair’s message at the final break was to not get blown out, pushing the team to lift back to their first quarter pressure.
Eight goals the margin was the deficit to break in the last quarter, which looked too far out of reach in the wet.
But Romsey came out to dominate the last quarter in the midfield with Sam Wilson and Ash Milane collecting 17 disposals between them.
Jack Jedwab was solid in the forward half, kicking two in the last to raise his tally to five for the day, taking Romsey’s best player award.
They continued to pile on goals through Will Di Pietro and Nathan Hoy, but it was too little too late for the away team, who timed its run too deep in the game.
Romsey went down by 23 points against the undefeated, top of the table Magpies who push their form to eight wins in a row.
Ben Dessent and King finished with high 30’s in the disposal count while Smart’s six goals sees him placed third in the league goalkicking.
Wilson finished with 30 possessions and Jedwab included another bag to his name, kicking his 30th goal of the season, putting him fifth in the league goalkicking.
The Wallan reserves remain undefeated, beating the Redbacks by 126 points and keeping them scoreless, and the under-19.5’s move to second on the ladder after a 15-point win.
Over in Diggers Rest, Lancefield couldn’t find much luck compared to their last time out at the ground where they beat the Burras in a major upset for the RDFL.
Lancefield conceded at least five goals across every quarter of the game, losing by 121 points in a wet contest.
Leroy Restevski, Riley Omeara, Walter King, Reuben Schembri, Max Taylor and James Ryan all featured in the Tigers best for the day.
They kicked four goals for the day but couldn’t handle the 38 shots on goal from Diggers Rest including another bag of six for the league leading goalkicker Callum Moore.
Lancefield remain winless sitting bottom of the ladder, while Romsey sit not too far ahead in ninth with two wins against the Tigers and Woodend.
The Tigers reserves team took a 53-point defeat before the seniors game, while the Under 19.5’s had the bye.
On the netball courts, Wallan beat Romsey 62-45 in A-grade but fell short in a majority of the other games.
Lancefield remain on top of the ladder in A-grade after a 44-55 win against Diggers Rest, and second in B-grade which seems remarkable in comparison to where its football sides are at.
It’s a real booster for the club which has struggled in recent years in a majority of their sporting teams.
