Golden Grove celebrates Rohan Shenton, Ollie Graham, Joel Horskins, Adam Peterson milestones with win
An Adelaide Footy League power celebrated four milestones on the same day as it added to its winning streak. That and more in One-Percenters.
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Welcome to One-Percenters – a wrap of the talking points from the round in the Adelaide Footy League.
Each edition we will bring you tidbits from the last weekend – they might be eye-catching results, milestones, comebacks, big wins, broken droughts or inspiring stories.
If you know or have heard about something quirky or interesting in the Adelaide Footy League, email your suggestions or photos to daniel.renfrey@news.com.au
Here is what caught our attention in round eight:
MILESTONE MADNESS FOR GOLDEN GROVE
Golden Grove A Grade players Rohan Shenton, Joel Horskins and Ollie Graham, and C Grade playing-coach Adam Peterson, all celebrated career milestones on Saturday.
Graham, an important part of the Kookaburras’ 2020 division three premiership side, celebrated his 200th game for the club.
New A Grader Joel Horskins – who kicked the winning goal for the club’s B Grade side after the siren in their 202 grand final victory – celebrated game 100.
Stalwart backman Rohan Shenton – brother of star signing Cam – played his 250th game, while former A Grade captain and premiership player, and current C Grade coach Adam Peterson celebrated a huge 350 game milestone.
To mark the occasion, Golden Grove’s C Grade side defeated Adelaide Uni 24-101 away from home to go 7-1 on the season, while the A Grade side defeated CBC OC 23-125 away from home to win its eighth straight game and remain undefeated in 2022.
Senior football director Greg Morris said the achievements were a credit to the four clubmen.
“They’ve all been fantastic to the club through their careers and have helped the club achieve a lot of success so it was great to celebrate them on Saturday,” Morris said.
“Rohan (Shenton) even managed to push up the ground late and kick a goal which capped off the day perfectly.”
The club has experienced a remarkable start to the senior footy season in 2022 after missing out on last year’s grand final and signing Lewis Johnston and Cam Shenton from Norwood in the offseason.
While the A Grade team remains undefeated on top of the div three ladder, the club’s B Grade side is also undefeated, while the C Grade has only lost one game.
Morris was thrilled with the club’s success so far.
“It’s a great sign – we’ve had really good depth at the club for a while now but have unfortunately been unable to gain promotion,” he said.
“We’ve obviously recruited well but we’ve had a lot of great young guys continue to come through the juniors and into our senior teams which is fantastic because you need to develop your youth.”
The play of Johnston and Shenton has reinvigorated the A Grade side during its undefeated start to the season in division three, the team looking significantly better than each opponent thus far.
Morris said the club was set on gaining promotion to division one through the next two years.
“We know there are high expectations on our club because of our size and our recruits, and our goal is undoubtedly to be playing div one footy – that’s where we need to be,” Morris said.
“It’s a competitive division this year though and we know the season is only halfway through so it’s about staying focused.
“We’ve put ourselves in a great position this year and we need to continue the momentum.”
KEY WINS ACROSS THE COMP
It was a big week for multiple struggling sides across the Adelaide Footy League, with clubs battling in the relegation zone putting important points on the board.
Prince Alfred Old Collegians jumped out of the bottom two in division one, defeating Brighton by 44 points to leapfrog the Bombers into eighth spot.
Salisbury North achieved the biggest upset of the round and perhaps the season so far by defeating division two contender North Haven away from home, 77-86.
It was only the club’s second win of the season and saw the Hawks move up to ninth – equal with seventh spot Unley Mercedes Jets on points – while Adelaide Uni went bottom.
In division three, Morphettville Park won its first game for a month to hop out of the bottom two, defeating Westminster OS 113-94 behind eight goals from Edward Doak.
The wins have set up what should be a thrilling second half of the season, with top teams and struggling teams battling to stay afloat or make finals across the league’s divisions.
GOALS AND MARKS OF THE ROUND
The Adelaide Footy League has again partnered with The Advertiser and Messenger this season to crown the best mark and best goal of 2022.
Each week you can find the top three from the round here in the One-Percenters column.
Vote in the poll for your favourite and at the end of the year the top marks and goals will go in the running to be named the best of the season with an overall vote decided by you.
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