Dylan Barry and Nigel Lockyer lead the Redtails to a big win over a gutsy Big Rivers

ALICE Springs Redtails celebrated the rebirth of interleague football with an authoritative win over Katherine’s Big Rivers Football League.

Redtail Tosh Kunoth has eyes only for the ball. Picture: GLENN CAMPBELL

THE Redtails displayed cleaner handling and better cohesion in their 12.18 (90) to 5.10 (40) win over Big Rivers in the men’s interleague game at Marrara yesterday.

Fast and furious footy was the order of the opening but, with both defences applying immense pressure, free-scoring options were rare until Redtails forward Tosh Kunoth found space, marked and goaled at the 10-minute mark.

Redtails had the majority of possession but were wasteful in front of goal and, when Rivers went forward, their forays were snuffed out by some resolute opposition defence.

Rivers ruckman Ryan Smith and robust Bobby Nunggamajbarr got their team moving early in the second term, but against the run of play Nigel Lockyer Jr found himself in open space and calmly goaled from 45m.

Liam Patrick had been moved to the goal square for Big Rivers and it paid dividends when he ran around his opponent and snared the first major for his team at the 11-minute mark.

A shocking trend of Redtails minor scores was reversed when left-footers Dylan Barry and Lockyer straightened their attack and goaled in close succession.

Kunoth iced the cake when he goaled after the siren giving his side a 30-point lead at the long break.

Both sides attacked early in the third, but both opened with minor scores, however, a big mark and goal from Daniel Stafford and a long bomb from Shawn Foster set the scene for the Redtails again.

And when Kunoth bagged his third for the game and Barry his second, Big Rivers had plenty to do.

The final quarter started in driving rain and while Big Rivers outscored the Redtails they were never likely to run down their opponents.

Redtails coach Shaun Cusack was delighted with the win and believed his team’s strong defensive work was a key in the victory.

“It was always going to be difficult coming up – we had the heat and humidity in the first half and rain in the second and we are not familiar with either of those conditions,” he said.

“It was not easy to plan for Big Rivers – we knew some of the names, but we just concentrated on things we knew we needed to work on.

Our defensive areas – our tackling, harassment and chasing and our quality bench where we had two good sets of midfields to call on was a real strength for us today.”

REDTAILS 1.4 5.9 11.17 12.18 (90)

BIG RIVERS 0.2 1.3 2.7 5.10 (40)

GOALS – Redtails: T Kunoth 3 N Lockyer 3 D Barry 2 D Stafford 2 S Foster M Campbell. Big Rivers: L Patrick 3 J Farrer R Smith.

BEST – Redtails: D Barry N Lockyer C McAdam J Cole T Kunoth.

Big Rivers: K Silver W Williams R Smith L Patrick J Buderick.