On the back of their previous round’s win against Bermagui the Narooma Seniors were always going to enter the match, buoyed somewhat because wins have been rare this year.  It was youngsters Aidan Halliday, Brock Lazzaro, Jackson Taylor, Sam Hodge, Zac Martin and Zak Wilson, however that added a neon light signal to the Lion’s buoy, which would have otherwise been lost at sea.

Tathra were not at their best and it was rumoured that a number of their players were backing up from a game in the Reserves at Bermagui, earlier on in the day.  This was apparent as they seemed tired from the outset, despite kicking four out of the first five goals with ease.  It was only a matter of “staying in it” at quarter time and it was clear that Narooma had arrested the game’s momentum.

After conceding the first goal of the second quarter, Narooma piled on eight goals before half time as youngster; Zak Wilson began to take the game by the scruff and slotted three running goals following some midfield brilliance.  At this point, the local crowd must have started to wonder if they were witnessing the early promise of Narooma’s first home-grown AFL draftee.

At halftime, the message from spirited coach, Rowan Hawkey was clear and that was to keep approaching the contest fearlessly and driving home goals.  The margin, at this stage was only 21 points and there was always going to be a risk that the Lions would lose focus for a quarter, which has seemingly defined their 2015 season.

To stay on top in football you need pluck and sufficient confidence to feed a hungry momentum. It was clear, in the fourth quarter that the U16 players were ignorant to self-doubt, given their junior league dominance and it was having a contagion effect on the older players.  Tathra kept themselves in the contest for most of the match, thanks to some polish off their half back line however were never going to stop the surging Lions in the final quarter.  The final score was Narooma 18-10-118 defeating Tathra 10-14-74. For most of the players it was their first win against Tathra in senior football.

Among Narooma’s best, youngsters, Nicholas Carter and Sam Hodge were superb in defence and did not seem out of place playing senior football. Jordan Lang, Luke Talty, Rowan Hawkey and Tom Clarke also performed exceptionally.

Earlier in the day, the Lions three junior teams had all won which created a great vibe amongst the crowd.  The efforts of the club’s juniors, including all of the dedicated parents and volunteers is crucial for the success of any sporting club and the likes of Pete and Virginia Hodge, Dean Friskin, Brad and Nanette Parker (just to name a few) are creating a strong foundation for a better future at the Lions.

The junior scores were U11s: Narooma 6-5-41 defeated Broulee/Moruya 5-5-35; U13s: Narooma 10-6-66 defeated Broulee/Moruya 0-1-1 and U16s: Narooma 28-15-183 defeated Bega 2-1-13.

In what now appears to be a master stroke the move to joint training of seniors and U16s has provided two clear benefits for the club, the first one being the seniors now have the numbers to undertake proper drills, and therefore have improved in the latter part of the season and the second one being that the U16s players have tested their wares against senior players in the practice environment and now have more confidence to step up and play first grade football.

There are better times ahead for the Narooma Lions.

By David Moran