Matthews Excels in Defence | Reserves Round 18

By Ken Casellas

Joe Matthews has played effectively for much of the 2024 season on a wing, as well as having stints on a half-forward flank and a half-back flank, and he gave further proof of his versatility with a best-on-ground performance at centre half-back for the Claremont reserves side against Peel Thunder at Rushton Park on Saturday.

He repelled numerous Peel attacks with his strong marking and close-checking, and a couple of his best efforts --- a great contested mark against Peel’s Clay Philpott in the third quarter and an excellent spoil against Trent Brown in the final term --- were highlights of Claremont’s 34-point victory.

Matthews finished with eight marks, 18 kicks and three handpasses as the cornerstone of a solid defensive unit which saw a successful experiment with ruckman Max Rohr at full-back for much of the first half, thus allowing Eric Benning an opportunity to show his skill as a ruckman.

The Tigers, who lost the services of Max Mumme in the first quarter with a problem in his right femur, were always in control of the contest, particularly after early goals from Mitch Barron and Kim Kantilla set the standard. Peel failed to score a goal in the first quarter and were always forced to play catch-up football.

Highlights of the match included several magnificent high marks taken by Sam van Rooyen, whose first three shots were astray and registered behinds before he notched the first of his two majors moments before the half-time siren with a hasty half-snap, half-soccer kick from close range.

Ben Evans produced his best performance of the season with a tigerish effort in a forward pocket with a tally of 3.3 to complement his strong tackling and chasing.

Barron, Ashton Bryant, Bailey Banfield and Kai Dehavilland were dominant midfielders, while Felix Rogers and Menno Inverarity reigned supreme on the wings.

Claremont’s quarter-time lead of 19 points was reduced to 12 points after early second quarter goals to Peel’s Tyrone Thorne and Brody Wemm. But the Tigers bounced back quickly with goals to Riley Disisto and Kantilla, with Kantilla making excellent use of his body work on his opponent to take a good chest mark.

Claremont’s sixth major came from Dylan Mulligan at the 19-minute mark of the quarter after a forward sortie initiated by Matthews and including Heath Ravenhill.

Tyron Smallwood produced a typically superb performance as a damaging and creative forward. He had 12 kicks and ten handpasses, sent the ball inside Claremont’s attacking 50m zone five times and laid five tackles, a tally equalled by Banfield.

Details:

Claremont 15.14 (104) beat Peel Thunder 10.11 (71).

Scorers---CLAREMONT: B. Evans 3.3; S. van Rooyen 2.3; K. Kantilla 2.1; M. Barron, R. Disisto 2.0; D. Mulligan 1.1; B. Banfield, F. Rogers, T. Smallwood 1.0; A. Bryant, K. Dehavilland, L. Guelfi, M. Inverarity, M. Rohr 0.1; 1pt forced. PEEL THUNDER: B. Wemm 3.1; T. Thorne 2.1; J. Delean 1.5; T. Bryce, C. Tregenza 0.1; 2pts forced.

Best---CLAREMONT: J. Matthews, T. Smallwood, F. Rogers, M. Inverarity, B. Evans, A. Bryant, B. Banfield, S. van Rooyen, M. Barron. PEEL THUNDER: A. Hare, T. Thorne, C. Tregenza, J. Klepzig, T. Bryce, C. Philpott, T. Gater, B. Wemm