LAUNCESTON 12.14 (86)
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WESTERN STORM 12.11 (83)
A GALLANT Launceston side that resembled the walking wounded put in a gutsy performance to inflict a second straight State League defeat on last year’s grand finalist Western Storm at Aurora Stadium last night.
The Blues lost key forward Sonny Whiting to a foot injury in the first quarter, youngsters Ryan Sheppard to a friendly-fire collision with teammate Tim Gibbons in the second and Jack Donnellan to a shoulder injury and were down to 19 fit men – but held on to beat the Storm in a three-point thriller, 12.14 (86) to 12.11 (83).
In a physical contest, the two teams battled it out in a great, close game of football with the result up in the air until the dying minutes of the last quarter.
The two teams were separated by less than a goal for most of the final term. A 50-metre penalty awarded to Storm’s Joe Chilcott at the 20-minute mark saw him goal and give his side a two-point advantage as the seconds ticked down. But Launceston’s Jake Rice became the hero of the night when he was awarded a free kick and slotted through the winning goal for the Blues just before the final siren.
Launceston coach Scott Stephens was full of praise for what he described as one of the most courageous performances he had seen from his young charges – Stephens himself sported a black eye and possible fractured eye socket or cheek bone after the game.
‘‘To our boys’ credit we stuck at it and made it scrappy when they had momentum and took the game on when we had the footy – we’re continuing to get better and certainly have a lot of areas to work on but a real courageous effort after losing Sonny and Ryan and Jack Donnellan going down with a shoulder after half-time but showing a lot of courage in playing the game out.’’
Sam Rundle kicked three goals to be one of Launceston’s best with Rice and Michael Musicka kicking two each.
Stephens praised the game of young defender Zac Oldenhof and fellow defenders Brennan Savage and Tom Claridge, with ruckman Joe Groenewegen another good player while Jobi Harper, Jay Blackberry and Will Hanson were good for the Storm.
Storm big man Bart McCulloch will front tribunal on a striking charge against Donnellan in the second quarter.
LAUNCESTON 4.0 7.6 9.10 12.14 (86) d WESTERN STORM 4.4 8.5 9.6 12.11 (83).
Goals — LAUNCESTON: S. Rundle 3, M. Musicka, J. Rice 2, Z. Oldenhof, J. Harris, J. Groenewegen, R. Sheppard, H. Leedham. WESTERN STORM: G. Dawson, C. Goodluck, T. Bardenhagen, B. McCulloch 2, J. Blackberry, A. Russell, J. Child, J. Chilcott. Best — LAUNCESTON: Z. Oldenhof, T. Claridge, B. Savage, S. Rundle, J. Groenewegen, J. Donnellan. WESTERN STORM: J. Harper, C. Drake, W. Hanson, J. Blackberry, T. Bardenhagen, C. Thorp.