The Grampians Giants headed up the highway to Warracknabeal on Saturday to take on rival Wimmera Whippets in round five of the FIDA Western Conference.
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In what was perfect conditions for football the Giants and Whippets played in front of a Wimmera League Football and Netball crowd as Southern Mallee Giants don't have an under 17 side, the teams were invited to play in the under 17 timeslot by Warracknabeal.
In the first quarter the Wimmera Whippets had control of most of the play but the Giants defence held up strong led by Simon Crow and Ryan Pulham.
The Giants kept the Whippets scoreless for the first six minutes of the game through tough defence and pressure.
The Whippets were however able to kick six unanswered goals in 10 minutes to put a dampener on all the Giants hard work.
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The first quarter scores were Giants 0.0.0 to Whippets 6.4.40. The Giants continued to battle in the second quarter this time kicking with a slight wind advantage and they used it to their advantage.
They were able to score the first goal of the quarter through coach Russell Holmes who picked the ball off the ground and snapped truly.
The Giants much like the Whippets in the first quarter controlled a lot of the play. But they were unable to score as freely as the Whippets kicking with the wind.
A nasty head clash between two Whippets players was the low light of the second quarter.
Both players required stitches but are all good otherwise. At half time the Giants trailed 1.3.9 to 7.6.42. The third quarter saw the Whippets again take control of the match and they were able to kick three more goals to add to their lead.
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However the Giants managed a goal through some great team play starting with Matthew Joy, and Tom Kennedy before recruit for the day Evan Reeves was able to kick his first of the day.
In the fourth quarter the Giants were able to outscore the Whippets kicking one goal two behinds to one goal one behind, the goal for the Giants again coming from Evan Reeves.
The Giants better players on the day were Simon Crow, Mark Field and Ryan Pulham who all played important roles in the back line.
Jake Debono found plenty of the ball and gave the forward line plenty of opportunities, John Farrugia battled hard in the forward line and Troy McQualter was a focal point of the Giants forward line.
The Giants will now look forward to an exhibition match against Kyneton on July 18th in Trentham at the FIDA Central Conference Finals Day (information about this day will be sent out ASAP) before turning their attention to the FIDA Western Conference Finals day August 1st in Stawell.
Training will be in Stawell this week from 4:30pm.
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