‘We didn’t do ourselves any favours:’ Wayward Timbercutters thumped by Jerilderie

Despite earning the lion’s share of scoring opportunities with seven to six in the first quarter, the Timbercutters registered seven behinds in the face of Jerilderie’s 3.3.

Jerilderie capitalised in the second quarter with six unanswered goals to Mathoura’s one behind, taking a 53-point lead into the half-time break.

“We didn’t do ourselves any favours,” Mathoura coach Tim McCormick said.

“We won the toss and kicked into a pretty decent first-quarter breeze, but we couldn’t get the score on the board and found ourselves 20 points down.

“We were pretty much on the back foot from there.

“Basically it was trying to limit the damage in the second half.

“We had probably half a dozen changes from the side the week before.

“It gave a few blokes the opportunity to play senior footy and get a look at them under pressure.”

Izaac Johnson broke the deadlock for Mathoura in the third term, finishing with two majors. Nick Ferrari was the Timbercutters’ only other goal kicker.

But it was all Jerilderie with Mitch Conlan’s four goals and Oliver Knight’s three helping the Demons pile on the pain in the second half, while Sam and Tom Sleigh were also big contributors for Jerilderie.

In a difficult clash, former Moama player Noah Milner starred in his first game for Mathoura, while Clinton McNabb continued to string together some good early-season football.

“Noah Milner in his first game for the club was very good,” McCormick said.

“He’ll be better for the run, that was his first game since playing footy up in Darwin. Clint McNabb rebounded well off half-back.”

Mathoura now has a tough task on its hand in round four, facing up to the club McCormick believes is the yardstick of the PDFL — 2022 runner-up Tungamah on its home turf.

But similarly to the clash against the Demons, they’ll have to tackle the ladder leaders without reigning club best-and-fairest Jack Duggan and several other key midfield operators.

“We’ll still be missing three or four players overseas: Jacob Simpson, Jack Duggan, Conor Wright and James Mackenzie,” McCormick said.

“This game will give us a real indication of where we’re at and how much work we have in front of us.

“I said to the boys on the weekend, (the Jerilderie game) has probably given us a reality check to how we thought we were going.”

Around the league, Tungamah was a comfortable 77-point winner over Picola United in an action-packed round three.

Berrigan posted its first win of the season with a seven-point triumph over Yarroweyah, while reigning premier Waaia demolished strugglers Blighty by 232 points.

Katunga earned a crucial 19-point win over Strathmerton, while Katandra was a comfortable 101-55 winner over Deni Rovers.

Rennie provided the surprise packet of the round, knocking off Katamatite by 25 points for its second win of the season.