In the final round of regular season action before the clubs take a break and focus shifts to the Nutrien Ag Solutions Country Championships, Round 12 of the Tyrepower Manjimup offered up some intriguing contests.
One of these was at Pemberton Oval, as Southerners hosted the top of the table Kojonup. Travis Abbott and his side have been flying so far this season, with just the one loss as they entered Round 12, against a Southerners side with some key outs. Amongst the Souths line up were Riley Gill and Hayden Wilson, each playing their 2nd League game, along with Club President Tom Collins, returning to the League side for his second senior game of the year. As it turned out, all three were solid contributors, along with young gun Lachie Hughes, who starred for the Lower South West in the Great Southern Colts Carnival and is still in the initial stages of his exposure at league level.
The game started at a hectic pace, with two goals in the board in the first two minutes, Southerners hitting there scoreboard first before a Cougars reply. Little over a minute later, Abbott put another on the board for the visitors and with only 3:30 on the clock, three goals had been scored. Abbott ran inside 50 and put through his second several minutes later to give Kojonup a two goal break. The goals dried up for a while, before Cougars’ Captain, Matt Marinoni put their 4th on the board heading towards time on.
A smart intercept from Samuel McRae put Southerners inside 50 and Seaton Thompson swooped to put through the home side’s second. Those in attendance were being treated to a fascinating battle of the big men, as young Tyson Jacob’s unique athleticism was proving a handful, though Abbott himself was showing a level of agility up forward that is rare to see. Bar for a period of sustained pressure from the Cougars in the middle part of the quarter, the first quarter was an even contest that ended with the ladder leaders 12 points in front.
The second quarter started at the same rapid pace as the first from a scoring perspective, with Abbott putting his third on the board in the first minute and threatening to take the game by the scruff of the neck as Souths looked for match ups for the potent Kojonup forward line, the usual suspects joined by the likes of Kyron Hayden starting deep.
The tackling pressure from Souths was a constant throughout the match and typified their approach to not let some personnel issues derail their opportunity to go toe to toe with their highly rated opponents. Hughes came off the ground twice after heavy knocks but returned each time, while for their part the Cougars’ Leon van Voorthuzien also needed some running repairs after a hard but fair Ben Cabassi tackle in the second quarter, before returning to the field.
As the quarter wound down towards time on and it looked like Souths could stay within two or three goals, Abbott hit Lee Lucev lace out, who converted from 50. Harry Taylor turned provider minutes later and a very happy Lachy O’Shea finished it off to give Kojonup their most dangerous break of the game. Hayden then followed with a finish that could barely have been cleaner between the posts and put Kojonup 38 points in front, deep in the half. Gill sent Alex Cabassi free, who found Callen Sprigg who added a much needed goal to complete the first half scoring.
Lucev put the first major of the second half on the board after a 50 metre penalty, one that was perhaps a little lucky as Lucev shaped to handball and Hamish Omodei moved. It was the first of six goals for the quarter, with the second being a remarkable effort from Ben Cabassi. After a spillage from kick out, Cabassi swooped and penned in running towards the boundary line, put it on the boot from 45 and tight to the line. Sprigg added another, followed by Cabassi as the contest moved towards time as Southerners refused to go away.
Fantastic work rate from Lucev once again pushed the margin out to four goals, after contesting a mark on the fifty metre line, before doubling back to the goal square and taking a well judged mark. Gibbons follows quickly thereafter and the Cougars in the blink of an eye had restored a five goal lead at the final change.
The final quarter followed a similar theme, Kojonup keeping Souths at arms’ length, but never quite breaking the contest completely open as they kicked 4 goals to 3 and ultimately ran out 40 point winners.
Leon van Voorthuizen was a strong contributor for Kojonup in their Round 12 clash with Southerners, returning to the field after some running repairs.
Barely a month ago, if betting was available on LSWFL games, with the greatest of respect to the ever improving young Tigers outfit, the odds likely would have been heavily one way for the Round 12 clash between Tigers and Boyup Brook. On June 8, Boyup Brook lost a thrilling contest against top of the table Kojonup by a solitary point, while the same weekend the Tigers were on the receiving end of a tripe figure loss at the hands of Deanmill and remained winless.
A lot has changed since then, with the Kojonup clash bringing with it a terrible injury toll for the Roos, as well as being Mitchell Kings’ final game a for a period of time. Meanwhile, Aaron Watson’s Tigers have continued to develop and in Round 10, picked up their first win of season 2025.
So heading into the Round 12 clash, it was an opportunity to see just how dramatically the respective sides’ fortunes had swung, the previous match between the sides resulting in a 70 point win for the Roos. All appeared to be going to plan for Boyup Brook in the first quarter, as they led at the first change by 15 points, courtesy of a 2.6.18 to 5.3.33 scoreline. The Tigers narrowed the margin in the second term, kicking three goals to one and going to half time 5 points down. Corban Pinelli was leading the way for the Tigers, as Connor Brown and Jethro Namnik were also busy, Namnik getting involved in the forward line and hitting the scoreboard.
Off the back of their win over Imperials a few weeks earlier, Tigers’ confidence was rising and it all came together in the third term. A six goal burst put the home side up by 18 points at the last change, 11.7.73 to 8.7.55. For the Roos, Benjamin Musitano was doing all he could to keep the reigning Premiers in the contest, while Talan Michael and David Cowan were also prominent.
Four goals in the last quarter was enough to get the home side their second win of the season, eventually running out 26 point winners, Reece Edwards leading the scoring with 5 goals, while Namnik finished with 4 and Braden Wilson added 3. Jed Edwards was powerful in the air for the winners as they not only picked up their second win over the year, but lifted themselves off the foot of the table.
In the Sunday game, Deanmill made the short trip to Imperials. Having fallen three games behind Kojonup, but with games in hand, the Hawks were looking to keep pace with the ladder leaders, as well as get some breathing room between them and Bridgetown and Southerners in the race for the double chance.
The first quarter played out much as many may have tipped, Deanmill too strong across the ground and heading to the first change with a 25 point lead, 0.3.3 to 4.4.28. Blake East, Brock Tempra and Ben Gianatti were all busy and the Hawks extended their lead to 37 points by the half time break. The half time scoreline still didn’t give much indication of what was to come, but the Hawks added another 7 goals in the third term and continued to hold Imperials goalless, the lead stretching out to a 0.3.3 to 13.8 scoreline. Ominously, Jordan Strahan was getting his hands on the football with increasing regularity and for not the first time this season, an opposition team found it difficult to find a match up who could compete with Strahan’s strength and ability on the lead.
The last quarter it all came together for the Hawks as the Magpies tired. The visitors piled on 14 goals to blow the margin out to 162 points and tip the competition goal kicking ladder on it’s head in the process. Strahan finished with 11 of Deanmill’s 27 goals, in the process snatching the lead from Lee Lucev, the pair now breaking a little clear of Brett Wilson and Ash Wallam. Strahan now has 46 from 9 games, while Lucev sits close on 43 from 10. Wilson (33), Wallam (32) and Matt Tilbee (32) round out the top five. Cooper Sparks and Kai McGinty also added three each in the contest, while for Imperials Brandy Armstrong and Tyler Ipsen did all they could for their beloved Magpies.
Tyrepower Manjimup League action now hits pause for a week as the best players in the region represent the Lower South West at the Nutrien Ag Solutions Country Championships, with Major Sponsor Greenacres Mill supporting the Gavin Norris led side.
For all the latest scores, goal kickers and best players – the Lower South West Football League has it’s home on PlayHQ HERE.
