NTFL 2023-24: Watch PINT vs Darwin Buffaloes Round 1 livestream

The Darwin Buffaloes stuck in the contest to claw back a 24-point half time deficit in their opening round win over PINT. Watch the replay.

Darwin Buffaloes’ unyielding effort allowed them to claw back a 24-point half time deficit to beat PINT in an NTFL opening round thriller.

The Greenants were one of the big movers in the off season and soared to an early lead on the back of some big name recruits.

However, the Buffs kept themselves in the contest and found parity in the match, eventually winning 13.12 (90) to 11.12 (78), and giving ruck Chris Atkinson a win in his 100th match.

WATCH THE FULL MATCH REPLAY ABOVE

It was all PINT early on making repeat entries into their forward 50 and finding chance after chance to put pressure on Buffaloes goals.

That pressure forced the Buffs to take risky shots, one of which resulted in a two-on-one contest for PINT, and eventually the first goal went the way of a Jye Chalcraft.

Steven Motlop making his debut for PINT in the opening match against the Darwin Buffaloes. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Former Wanderers’ players Steven Motlop and Warwick Williams were particularly busy in moving the ball up the ground, with former Buffalo Liam Holt-Fitz eager to show off his pace.

Captain Matt Ryan was the big benefactor of their efforts kicking three first quarter goals in what at the time was a dominant Greenants side.

Elliott Chalmers and Ethan Penrith also put in the work around the ground to give their forwards plenty to work with.

Meanwhile, Buffs kicked themselves out of contention early with missed shots from usually reliable players such as Daniel Stafford and Ishmael Palmer.

The Buffs stuck with it and on the back of some great interplay between captain Jarrod Stokes and new recruit Baxter Mensch they had their six-pointer through Stafford.

PINT recognized the threat of the big man from there and worked to lock him down, which allowed Buffs other forwards such as Kokwam Niki more room to score themselves.

Young gun Nathan Spry on the ball for Darwin Buffaloes against PINT. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

But still the Greenants had their tails up and Silver Yousif brought the excitement in front of goal, while Thomas Motlop notched his first scores for his new club.

However, they weren’t able to get the same use out of their full forward however as the ever-reliable Kevin Maroney found the ascendancy in that battle.

And as that battle went Buffs way, so too did other clashes across the ground with Scott Pendlebury also coming to the fore, while into the second half Stafford’s confidence in front of goal increased.

Buffalo young guns Bradley Ganambarr, Nathan Spry and Antonio James all found more of the football as PINT’s energy dissipated and all got a chance to effect the scoreboard in some way.

And bit by bit the margin faded until Joseph Collinson put the side ahead in the dying minutes, and soon after the side were two goals up with the win in hand.

It was the way Atkinson wanted to cap off his 100th game for the club, with the ruck saying his side’s unyielding effort was what kept them in the match.

“100 games is special for me, and my dad who used to play, it’s special to carry on the family tradition and it’s something I’ve been working really to get to,” Atkinson said.

“We’ve had a pretty mixed preseason with players away down south, so to get a win like that just shows the morale and chemistry is there just naturally and that’s pretty impressive.

“They were on top of us in the first half, but we didn’t get rewarded early and just making small decisions changed the momentum.

“And our effort was always there, if it wasn’t we would have been beaten by 100 in that first half, but it was and we came away with it.”

Score:

PINT: 4.2 8.6 10.8 11.12 (78)

Buffaloes: 1.5 4.6 9.12 13.12 (90)

Goals:

PINT:

Matt Ryan 4

Silver Yousif 4

Thomas Motlop 2

Jye Chalcraft

Buffaloes:

Daniel Stafford 3

Kokwam Niki 3

Lachlan Hill 2

Joseph Collinson

Nathan Spry

Best:

PINT:

Ethan Penrith

Matt Ryan

Silver Yousif

Brodie Motlop

Steven Motlop

Buffaloes:

Jarrod Stokes

Baxter Mensch

Daniel Stafford

Kevin Maroney

Ryan Pendlebury

PREVIEW

Darwin Buffaloes and PINT will be giving the competition a first look at their sides as they look to get their 2023-24 season off to a winning start.

And the NT News and KommunityTV will be there to stream every minute of the action from 2pm Saturday.

PINT will fancy their chances in this one having made a couple of big signings in the off-season including former AFL player Steven Motlop and x-factor man Liam Holt-Fitz.

The rest of their side will be stronger following a year’s experience in the top league, in which they were genuinely pushing for finals footy.

The Darwin Buffaloes have had a quieter off-season in terms of big signing, but are a side known for bringing out the young, local talent when needed.

Their captain Jarrod Stokes will also be hoping to start strong after winning the 2022-23 NT News Player of the Year.

Full replays of the match will be posted here following the game’s finish.

The NT News and AFL Northern Territory have come together in a partnership to livestream both the Men’s and Women’s Premier League games for this TIO NTFL season.