Romsey smashes Woodend-Hesket in RDFL goalkicking masterclass

After a season-opener disaster, Romsey produced a 189-point turnaround to destroy Woodend-Hesket to send a reminder to its Riddell District rivals.

Nathan Hoy in action for Romsey. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Written off in the pre-season, Romsey sent its Riddell District rivals a reminder on Saturday.

The Redbacks produced one of the all-time great goalkicking performances to demolish Woodend-Hesket by 106 points at Gilbert Gordon Oval.

Led by six goals to Corey Pertzel and five from Ben Way, Romsey kicked an incredibly accurate 27.4 (166) to the Hawks’ 8.12 (60).

Coach Paul Kennedy was in awe of his team’s performance.

“That’s come out of the blue, I think at one stage we were 23.2 and the two point were rushed,” he said.

Matthew Burkett in action for Romsey. Picture: Aaron Cook

“It is (incredible) for a side that doesn’t do a lot of goalkicking practice. It was a terrific game for us (the coaches) to watch.

“I think the boys were keen to make a statement, no one picked us, we were the rank outsider and I let them know that people had written us off.

“We wanted to make a statement against a side that were predicted to play finals this year.”

It’s a 189-point turnaround after the Round 1 loss to Wallan.

“The scores against Wallan were misleading, I reckon we gifted them seven goals and we should have been a lot closer,” Kennedy said.

“This week we didn’t make the same mistakes and we got the balance right of winning inside footy and getting it outside and doing the damage.”

Romsey jumped out of the blocks with an eight-goal first quarter and never let up, finishing with six goals to one in the final term.

With captain Nathan Blair injured, Matthew Burkett led the Redbacks and was named best on ground with Kennedy also impressed with youngsters Pertzel and Kane Brinkhuis.

“Matty led from the front – he won the hard ball, kicked goals, he did everything, he’s an elite player,” Kennedy said.

“Corey played on ball and changed on a half-forward flank, he’s exceptional for an 18-year-old, wins his own ball and around goal he’s just brutal.

“Kane is another young boy, 18 or 19, hard as nails and can be a really damaging runner.”

RDFL: LANCEFIELD’S UNIQUE INCENTIVES, BIG EXPECTATIONS

LEADER: GET YOUR RIDDELL DISTRICT FOOTY NEWS HERE

NFL: HARVEY KICKS 1000th AS DOGS STAY PERFECT

Rory Alexander kicked three goals and was named Woodend-Hesket’s best on a dirty day for the club.

Romsey will host Lancefield in Round 3 while Woodend-Hesket will look for its first win of the season when it travels to Melton Central.

Elsewhere, Riddell got on the board with a 32-point win over Central and Wallan thrashing Lancefield by 91 points.

Macedon is hosting Diggers Rest in a standalone Anzac Day clash at Tony Clarke Reserve.