An inspirational goal early in the final term by North Clare coach Craig Jaeschke lifted the visitors to a three-goal victory over Burra-Booborowie-Hallett at Burra on Saturday.
North had seven new players that weren’t there in 2007. Craig Price, Grant Jaeschke, John Nicholas, Ben Wandel, Scott Darmody, Josh Hollitt and Shaun Ribbons with Craig Jaeschke in his first year as coach.
BBH also had a new coach with Peter Whittlesea at the helm. Josh Davis, Michael Dalla and Tim Dalla were playing their first games for the Rams and Casey Cooper was back.
BBH captain Stephen Tohl won the toss and kicked to the southern end in cold, wet, windy conditions with the wind slightly favouring that end in front of a massive crowd with the oval in tip-top condition.
The early stages of the game was a battle of defences with the footy going from one end of the ground to the other in the slippery conditions with most of the play on the complex side of the oval due to the wind.
North finally broke through for the first score of the game at the 8-minute mark but a snap by Damien Ellis cannoned into the large upright. Ellis had another opportunity to goal from the playground pocket three minutes later but he missed the target. North kept the ball in the area from the kick-in but a shot from fifty by Hollitt was off line.
With 14 minutes on the clock Ribbons gathered the footy in defence, handballed to Nicholas who kicked over the wing, Sam Pink snavelled the loose ball, handballed to Hollitt and he nailed the opening major for the 2008 season.
Approaching the time-on period BBH made a blunder in defence, Wandel got hold of the footy, kicked forward, Ellis marked on his own, played on, kicked the goal and North was 15 points up.
Two minutes into time-on Cooper drove the Rams into attack, David Reed marked 20 metres out from goal and made no mistake to give the locals their first and much-needed goal for the game.
QUARTER TIME: NORTH 2.3 (15), BBH 1.0 (6)
The second quarter began like the first with neither side looking like scoring in a scrambly contest resulting in a number of ball-ups before North broke through at the 8-minute mark.
Darmody received a free kick on the scoreboard flank 45 metres out from goal. His shot at goal skewed off the inside of his boot to the hotspot, Pink was given a free and he popped through an easy goal from 20 metres out.
BBH made a promising move forward halfway through the term getting the ball to Peter Mann who ran well inside fifty but his shot at goal missed the target.
The locals rebounded from the kick-in out of full-back with Ashley Taylor pouncing on the loose ball but his snap at goal hit the post.
The visitors had the final shot at goal for the quarter after the umpire paid a dubious deliberate out of bounds against BBH in the scoreboard pocket. Matt Ward accepted the free but his tough shot at goal finished with a point.
The uneventful first half of footy came to an end with North 14 points in front.
HALF TIME: NORTH 3.4 (22), BBH 1.2 (8)
BBH got the start they desperately needed in the second half with the rain still tumbling down. Tom Riggs received a free following the centre bounce, went short to Tohl who bombed to full-forward, Reed was given a free and booted his second goal from 25 metres out with a minute on the clock.
A couple of minutes later North had a chance to goal but a snap by Ellis was rushed through for a behind.
At the 4-minute mark Tim Crick gathered the footy in defence, handballed to Andrew Purchase who handballed forward, Jason Schuppan got hold of the footy, passed to Davis who marked, played on, ran inside fifty and nailed the Rams second goal for the term.
Three minutes later Nick Schumman received a free after a boundary throw in 45 metres out from goal in the pine-tree pocket, the defender slotted it through the middle and the Rams were in front for the first time in the game.
A minute later North was back in front after a bad decision by the locals. BBH kicked the footy backwards in defence, Craig Jaeschke picked up the footy, said thank you very much and made no mistake from 30 metres out.
BBH had the chance to regain the lead soon after but a snap by Geoff Thompson went through off hands for a point. Marcus Hall had another opportunity for the locals but missed his snap at goal with 13 minutes gone.
Following the kick-in the Rams were forced to make a change after Michael Dalla received a yellow card for a minor altercation.
Approaching the 16-minute mark James Reilly marked a clearing kick out of defence by North, went short to Jason Schuppan who marked, sailed it through the high diddle diddle from 55 metres out and the Rams were back in front.
BBH went forward again after good work by Reilly who got the footy to Cooper but his shot for goal collided with the tall timber.
Hall gathered the kick-in, handballed to Schumman who kicked to full-forward and was decked after he kicked. Instead of the free being paid down field it was brought back to Schumman.
Schumman handballed to Reed who kicked forward and he was decked after he kicked the footy. This time the free was paid down field, Mann took the free, slammed it through the middle and BBH was 12 points in front with 19 minutes on the clock.
Two minutes into the time-on period Craig and Grant Jaeschke worked well together getting the footy to Darmody who kicked to full-forward, Stuart Cresp was given a free and popped through a six-pointer for the visitors.
Late in the quarter North had two chances to goal but Ellis missed a set-shot from 30 metres out and Craig Jaeschke had a snap from 30 out that was touched on the line.
A much better quarter by the Rams saw them 4 points up at the final break.
THREE QUARTER TIME: BBH 6.5 (41), NORTH 5.7 (37)
North made the first decent attacking move in the final term with the breeze at their back and rain still falling but a snap by Craig Jaeschke missed the target.
BBH cleared the footy from the kick-in over the wing where North received a free and found Tim Siv on the wing who kicked forward, Craig Jaeschke gathered an errant handball by the locals, snapped truly from 35 metres out and the visitors were back in front with 4 minutes gone.
Jaeschke had another chance to goal at the 6-minute mark after receiving a pass from Siv but he missed from 45 metres out. Two minutes later Ben Coles snapped for goal, Hollitt gathered, got it on his boot but goal-umpire Huppatz said he was over the line and signalled a behind.
At the 10-minute mark Pink gathered a loose ball inside fifty, handballed to Jaeschke who ran to within 30 metres of goal, nailed his third for the afternoon and North was looking the goods.
North cleared the footy out of the centre inside fifty, Pink was given a free but he failed to convert from 40 metres out. The handy point put the visitors two goals in front with 12 minutes gone in the final term.
Three minutes later BBH had the chance to get one back after Cooper snapped for goal from the entrance pocket that was marked by Mann in the playground pocket. Mann kicked for goal but it smashed into the large upright.
North transferred the footy straight back down the other end of the ground from the kick-in resulting in a throw-in alongside the point post in the scoreboard pocket. Nicholas gathered the throw-in, snapped truly over his left shoulder and North was home with the rain getting heavier and the light getting bleaker.
The Rams had one last throw at the dice approaching time-on but Davis missed a set-shot from 25 metres out as the rain was now teaming down and it was very dark.
The visitors scored a couple more points late in the game but it was now bucketing down and it was difficult to pick up who was who out there. A good finish by North saw them 18 points up when the final siren sounded.
FINAL SCORE: NORTH CLARE 8.13 (61) d BBH 6.7 (43)
North Clare coach Craig Jaeschke was happy to get that first win on the board in the appalling conditions.
“It was fantastic, I’ll probably go seeding tomorrow, it hasn’t rained for six months and look what happens. No it was fantastic, we probably had a lapse for ten minutes that could’ve cost us the game but it was a really good game, to get a win like that early against good opposition was very good, they (BBH) were very good, it was a really tough game so it was good to get across the line,” said Jaeschke.
BBH coach Peter Whittlesea was disappointed with his team’s finish after such a good third quarter.
“We shouldn’t have got ourselves into the position we were in at half-time. I thought the first quarter we were definitely slow out of the blocks, we needed to be a couple of goals up at that point in time which we weren’t but to our credit after half-time I thought we actually fought back and got ourselves in a winnable position. I was really disappointed with the way we went about it in the last quarter,” Whittlesea said.
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