Article by Grey Morris for AFL Northern Territory.
The Alice Springs-Darwin Australian Football rivalry is alive and well after TIO NTFL premier Waratah beat a CAFL representative side by five points in Saturday’s curtain-raiser game to the big Gold Coast-Adelaide AFL clash.
A Dom Booth goal on the final siren sealed a 9.2 (56) to 6.15 (51) for the Ryan Ayres-coached Waratah after the Alice Springs side had led by a single point with the timekeeper’s hand on the final siren.
The heartstopping finish capped a successful return to representative football, placing it at the top of the table in terms of selecting curtain-raiser matches for future AFL matches in Darwin and Alice Springs.
When Tahs skipped out to a 26-point lead at half-time it looked how far for the Darwin-based club, particularly when quicksilver forward Dwayne Kerinaiua kicked their sixth goal on the siren to end a productive quarter of football.
Coach Ryan Ayres was impressed with his side’s good use of the football and resolute defending against a wave of hard-running black and gold jumpers.
“We spoke about it being the off-season and our fitness not being quite there,” he said.
“It came down to a bit of game sense and trying to control the tempo against a CAFL team in the middle of their season.
”It’s a good concept playing the CAFL against Darwin sides and one that should be explored a bit more.”
The Centralians were left to rue some poor finishing in front of goal, booting 3.7 in the all-important third quarter when they had the football on a string and all the momentum.
Best on ground Abe Ankers led the charge with two goals in the term, one of them a classic snap from the forward pocket and another from a set shot as the CAFL charge began.
Federal midfielder Robby Bartee also thrilled fans at the ground with a thumping 55-metre goal as the momentum swung to the players in CAFL jumpers.
That was after Waratah controlled the first two quarters by playing percentage football, running in numbers, precise disposal with hand and foot, and the ability to provide targets further up the ground for players with the football in their hand.
Ankers, veteran Pioneer utility, and captain-coach Matt Campbell, and defender Jackson Cole lifted their intensity to take the match-fit Centralians to within a goal of a memorable win.
Both sides were without key players, Waratah has most of its premiership 22 involved in southern competitions and the CAFL missed key forwards Thomas Gorey, Shawn Foster, and Shane Inkamala, hard-running midfielder Thomas Swan and more goalkickers Daniel Stafford and Dylan Barry.
Campbell is already looking forward to renewing the Alice-Darwin rivalry by playing more representative football.
He pointed to three training sessions to prepare for Saturday’s game, leaving minimal time to gel as a team, despite the CAFL season nearing the halfway mark.
“Playing against a club like Waratah and I know they had a lot of players coming in, they’ve been together as a club and they were pretty good for a half of footy,” Campbell said.
“Their work rate and contested footy were first rate and it was probably our in-season football that nearly got them in the end.
“Most importantly it was a very good contest, a close game and the crowd got into it, so we’ll go back to the Alice, regroup, and get ready for another one.”