McKelvie stars in Hoppers big win while Griffith claims victory over Eagles

The Hoppers booted seven unanswered goals in a dominant first term and never looked back as they went on to record a 15.13 (103) to 5.3 (33) victory over the Crows.

McKelvie was arguably best on ground for the Hoppers in their big win alongside Adian Ledson and Tim Coenen and Coolamon coach Gavin McMahon praised his performance.

"Yeah Coop was awesome," McMahon said.

"He stepped into the fold last week when BJ Glyde went down and he had a bit of time in the mids.

"He started there today and he was outstanding, it was really good to see as he's been working hard at his craft and wanting to spend some more mid time.

"His number was up for a go this week and he was bloody outstanding."

Aidan Macauley and Jack Rudd were also significant contributors in the win for the Hoppers while Perrot was also named in the best after booting four goals.

It was just the fourth game of senior footy for the teenager and McMahon has been impressed with his continued development in the top grade.

"Yes he's very sneaky down there," he said.

"He was excellent, but he's just been building nicely over the off-season and he's finding his feet early in the season in this first grade side.

"He had a good game in the Carroll Cup the other night as well so they've got a bit on those boys, he got some real good reward for effort.

"I think that was the difference this week for Oscar as he converted opportunities, he's been generating the last couple of weeks but he really hit the scoreboard today."

Nick Buchanan also continued his good start to the year with another three goals while Jack Rudd finished with two in his first senior game since the Hoppers round one loss to Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong.

The Hoppers improved their record to 2-2 with the win over the Crows and McMahon agreed it was a strong showing from his side.

"Absolutely, the boys were great," he said.

"It was just another good improvement really from the last couple of weeks.

"I'm really pleased with how we went."

Coolamon put their foot down early in the contest and went into the first break up by 44 points after restricting the Crows to a single point in the opening term.

McMahon was impressed with his sides start and he believed they were able to make the most of their early dominance.

"We've been trying to get good starts, particularly in the last couple of weeks against those couple of top sides," he said.

"We knew we had to make sure our starts were spot on in order to get ourselves in the game and it was no different this week.

"The boys were pretty sharp and pretty hot early and the difference this week though was we were able to get some scoreboard pressure and a bit of reward for that early heat."

The Hoppers play host to Wagga Tigers next weekend and McMahon conceded there were still some things to work on ahead of that clash.

"We still have lapses in our concentration and systems and structures that we are trying to hold," he said.

"We still haven't done that for four quarters yet, so absolutely there's plenty to work on for us going into Tigers next week who traditionally run the ball very, very well.

"We'll need to be on our game."

For the Crows, Jade Hodge continued his strong start to the year with another five goals while Angus Crelley was their best.

Full Time

Coolamon 7.3 8.4 9.11 15.13 (103)

Leeton Whitton 0.1 2.3 4.3 5.3 (33)

GOALS: Coolamon: O.Perrot 4, N.Buchanan 3, J.Rudd 2, F.cook 1, J.Buttifant 1, A.Macauley 1, L.Bell 1, C.Mckelvie 1, C.Mattingly 1; Leeton Whitton: J.Hodge 5

BEST: Coolamon: C.Mckelvie, A.Ledson, T.Coenen, O.Perrot, A.Macauley, J.Rudd; Leeton Whitton: A.Crelley, K.Stockton, J.Hodge, C.Jones, B.Ogarey, N.Finnen

A dominant opening half guided Griffith to a comfortable 71-point win on the road over Narrandera.

The Swans kicked 11 goals to one throughout the opening half as they eventually went on to record a 19.10 (124) to 7.11 (53) victory over the Eagles.

It's the second consecutive win for the Swans after they defeated Leeton-Whitton a fortnight ago and Griffith coach Greg Dreyer said he was pleased with his side's performance.

"Yeah I'm very happy," Dreyer said.

"It's obviously our best performance so far even though it's only our third game, but it's the closest to four quarters that we've got today.

"Considering the conditions I thought we kicked quite well as well, so it was good."

The Swans stamped their authority on the game early kicking six goals to one in the opening term before continuing on in the second booting five unanswered majors.

Dreyer said getting a good start was a key focus heading to the game against the Eagles, so he was impressed they could execute that effectively.

"I think we kicked six in that first quarter and that was the emphasis leading into the game," he said.

"I feel Narrandera are in a better place this year, they seem to have a lot of locals back and a fair bit of support.

"They play with a lot of pride Narrandera, so we didn't want to give them any opportunity to get their tails up as then we would be on the back foot considering the conditions.

"A good start was very important and we managed that and then we kicked on in the second quarter as well, it was a good performance all round."

Dreyer revealed it was hard to pick any standout performers from their big win, however he credited the efforts of James Girdler, Cooper Kilpatrick, Kahlan Spencer, Riley Lucas and Mason Rosengreen.

Tom Powell and Spencer were among the goals for Griffith while Dreyer also mentioned that debutant Bede Kenny also hit the scoreboard in his first senior game.

The Swans currently sit at 2-1, however they now face a tough run of games which sees them play Turvey Park, Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong, Coolamon and Wagga Tigers over the next month.

Dreyer believed that consistency would be critical as his side looks to establish themselves as a finals contender over their coming stretch of games.

"We've got a block of about five or six games now," he said.

"It's a fairly good run of games, so our consistency is important.

"Obviously internally there's a few set up things we've got to work on and our skill level, but it's just building that teamwork that's probably the thing that we are chasing for the minute."

Full Time

Griffith 6.1 11.4 13.6 19.10 (124)

Narrandera 1.3 1.6 3.10 7.11 (53)