Romsey keeps Macedon to four goals in dominant defensive display
Romsey’s defence was dominant, Jack Jedwab starred at the other end and Sam Wilson was everywhere in between to earn the Redbacks an important RDFNL scalp.
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Romsey picked up its first major scalp of the Riddell District season on Saturday.
The Redbacks thumped Macedon by 40 points at Romsey Park, reversing last year’s elimination final defeat, to jump into the top-six.
In an impressive defensive showing, the Cats were held to a single goal at half-time and just four majors for the match, as the home team claimed a 10.9 (69) to 4.5 (29) victory.
While at the other end captain Jack Jedwab booted four goals, sparking his club with three majors in the first term, while young gun Sam Wilson was best-on-ground.
It was an important response after back-to-back defeats to Diggers Rest and Wallan and proof the club was a top-six force with just a Round 1 win over Lancefield to its name.
Romsey coach Nathan Blair said it was a sign of the club’s best football.
“It’s a critical result at this time of year, 2-2 sounds a lot better than 1-3,” Blair said.
“There’s not many easy wins this year, so any time you get a win you’re happy with it.
“To take down Macedon was good, we really set the tone in the first quarter and we were able to keep it going.
“To keep them to four goals for the game, obviously our backline but across the whole ground our defence was a key factor for four quarters – if you let them run and go they can hurt you.”
Jedwab was at the heart of Romsey’s early blitz as the home side kicked four first-quarter goals to take a 19-point lead.
Macedon was held to just three behinds in the second term as the margin extended to 27 at half-time.
The Cats responded in the third quarter but Romsey held firm.
Then it took control in the last, kicking the last three goals of the game.
Wilson was a standout on the wing with Blair praising his two-way running, while also hitting the scoreboard with two goals.
“Sam is into his third year of senior football at the club and is starting to find that consistency week to week,” he said.
“He’s getting a lot better at the defensive side of the game but when he gets on the attacking side, he’s got very good skills and you can see he’s a key player for us.
“He goes through the midfield, out on the wing, he’s a very classy footballer and is starting to run both ways to add another string to his bow.”
Blair, Jedwab, Ash Millane, Kyle Brennan and Kane Brinkhuis impressed in support of Wilson.
Romsey now faces Melton South, Woodend-Hesket and Melton Centrals before its bye.
The coach said the team had learnt plenty in the past fortnight and put some of those lessons into practice on Saturday.
“It was a pretty good all-round performance, everyone did their bit, to keep that defensive pressure it has to be a full-team effort,” he said.
“We were pretty disappointed about Diggers Rest especially and then Wallan, to be up at three-quarter-time and lose by four goals, but it’s all learning.
“Hopefully now we can get on a bit of a run but, like I said, there’s no easy games so we can’t go in there thinking it’s going to happen.
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“We’ll keep working hard, especially against Melton South this week, which has a bit of the unknown and they have a few good sides.”
For Macedon, Xavier Thorburn was named best afield, along with Riley Nolan, Hamish Govan and Brodie Hoyne.
The Cats now face a difficult fortnight before their bye with a home clash against Wallan before travelling to Kyneton.
Elsewhere, Woodend-Hesket were pushed to the limit by Gisborne Giants before prevailing by 27 points, Diggers Rest were a class above Melton Centrals in a 79-point win, Riddell eased past Kyneton by 48 points and Wallan thumped Lancefield by 65.
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