AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL Bombers soar into third

By JESS WEBSTER Ephrem Tipungwuti Cannard getting the Ned Daniher played his front in a Crocodiles side at TIO Stadium booted four goals, three Crocs back into the game. best game for Tiwi in the without strong-marking coming in a stunning first Two goals from Roy ruck and Ross forward James Lawton term for the Bombers, Kantilla in the third hel- Tungatalum was again at and Shannon Rusca a THE Tiwi Bombers have who scored the first ped the Bombers to a his prolific best. late withdrawal, although sealed third spot and a vi- four goals in less than four-goal lead by the last Samson Mungatopi Travis Carroll provided tal double chance in the 10 minutes. change and majors to provided plenty of dash the spark up forward with NTFL finals series with a The Crocodiles steadied Josh Brogan, Leigh Cros- on the wing and kicked four goals. 26-point win over South- in the latter part of the sman and Tipungwuti to two first-quarter goals, Lindsay Lawler, Dan ern Districts at TIO term and had the better start the last slammed and Nyaburu Kelly and Roy, Dean Staunton and Stadium last night. of the islanders after the door on any chance of Wayne Pilakui also fea- Antel Reti battled hard in The Bombers took con- the first change to draw a late Districts revival. tured prominently in the the midfield but the trol from the first bounce within 18 points at the Rupert Pupangamirri win, after the Bombers Bombers had too much and while Southern Dis- main break. slotted back into the sen- were a man down when pace for Districts, who tricts steadied in the Henry Armour was in ior side with ease in de- Luke McKenna was hel- face Waratahs in the second term, Tiwi edged the thick of the action fence and combined with ped off by trainers early elimination final next away in the second half early with the usual su- Patrick Heenan and Ed- in the first term with a su- weekend. The Bombers GOAL: Tiwi Ephrem Tipung- for the 17.10 (112) to 13.8 spects of Mark McLean, ward Darcy to thrust the spected leg injury. will take on Wanderers in wuti kicked four last night (86) win. Ben AhMat and Matt Bombers forward, while Cannard led from the the qualifying final.

NTFL SCOREBOARD

ROUND 18 ST MARYS 10.6 14.12 20.15 25.19 (169) PALMERSTON 0.0 0.1 0.1 1.5 (11) GOALS — St Marys: M Andrews 6 S Rioli 3 J Ilett 3 D Woods 2 I Vallejo 2 A Vallejo 2 K Lohde K Tandogac A Hale R Andrews I Brown J Cooper R Lewis. Palmerston: B Church. BEST — St Marys: K Lohde J Ilett S Rioli A Hale M Andrews I

Brown. Palmerston: K Garling D Cook B Church D Hamlyn L K

Carusi. Y Umpires: Ben Schmidt James Strybos Andy Hood. M WANDERERS 4.3 7.6 9.11 12.14 (86)

NIGHTCLIFF 3.2 4.2 4.3 5.4 (34) C GOALS — Wanderers: J Erlandson 2 A Bond 2 D Seden 2 R Prendergast 2 C Wurramarrba P Grant J Seden C Karpany. Nightcliff: T Coates 2 J Roe C Andreou J McGarvie. BEST — Wanderers: H Williams J McNamee D Kruse T Karpany D Roe P Grant. Nightcliff: S Briscoe T Coates S Campbell D Mason A Gugliotta. Umpires: Ashley Manicaros Jared Collins Mark Noonan. COLOR: DARWIN 5.3 10.4 12.5 15.9 (99)

WARATAHS 4.3 5.6 10.6 13.8 (86) 21 GOALS — Darwin: J Anderson 3 Vigona-Daniels 3 J Puautjimi 3 A Pirika 2 J Stokes L Philpott K Lippitt D White. Waratahs: S Cooper 5 B Runnalls 3 T Mosquito 2 J Dunstone J Purdie A Govers. PAGE: BEST — Darwin: J Anderson L Philpott A Pirika J Stokes S Anderson. Waratahs: T Mosquito N McLean M Smith M Sheehan S Cooper. Umpires: Ayden Rickman David C Armstrong James Sammut. TIWI BOMBERS 8.2 10.3 14.7 17.10 (112) S’DISTRICTS 4.2 7.3 10.7 13.8 (86) GOALS — Tiwis: E Tipungwuti 4 G Cunningham 3 S

Mungatopi 2 R Kantilla 2 A Kerinaiua D Munkara J Brogan L 20-FEB-2011 Crossman R Pupangamirri M Dunn. Districts: T Carrol 4 M Cannard 2 L Ogdan 2 M McLean L Lawler W Farrer H Armour A Reti. FRONT RUNNING: Tiwi Bomber Ross Tungatalum leads Districts’ Mark McLean to the ball at TIO Stadium last night. Picture: MICHAEL FRANCHI BEST — Tiwis: R Tungatalum S Mungatopi P Heenan N

Daniher N Kelly. Districts: M Cannard H Armour B AhMat D DATE: Roy L Lawler. Umpires: Nick Cullis Kane Vellar Wally Gallio. Hunt a shining Sun in opener LADDER TEAM P W L D F A % Pts ST MARYS 18 15 3 0 1912 1188 160.9 60 THE Gold Coast’s Karmi- WANDERERS 18 12 6 0 1772 1408 125.8 48 SCORES TIWI BOMBERS 18 11 7 0 1993 1583 125.9 44 chael Hunt has had a NT NEWS STHN DISTRICTS 18 9 8 1 1593 1597 99.7 38 solid AFL introduction, SYDNEY 0.7.4 0.13.5 (83) WARATAHS 18 9 9 0 1798 1720 104.5 36 showing just enough to sug- GWS GIANTS 0.0.2 0.0.4 (4) DARWIN 18 6 11 1 1556 1975 78.8 26 gest he may prove the cynics Goals: Sydney: J Kennedy 3 A PALMERSTON 18 6 12 0 1299 1711 75.9 24 PUB: wrong and make a career in Goodes 2 C Bird 2 B Sumner G Rohan NIGHTCLIFF 18 3 15 0 1274 2007 63.5 12 a third code. J McVeigh L Johnston L Parker T Dennis-Lane. NEXT WEEK In a historic night at Umpires: Stuart Wenn, Chris Saturday, February 26 — Elimination Final: Waratahs v Blacktown Olympic Park, Kamolins, Brett Kronk. Sthn Districts, TIO Stadium, 3.30pm. Qualifying Final: the Suns upset Sydney by Wanderers v Tiwi Bombers, TIO Stadium, 6pm. three points in their first GOLD COAST 0.1.0 0.4.1 (25) NTFL Division 1: Banks 15.11 (101) d St Marys 5.5 (35); match in the pre-season cup SYDNEY 0.1.1 0.3.4 (22) PINT 16.22 (122) d Palmerston 0.2 (2); Waratahs 21.13 before they knocked off Goals: : B Matera (139) d Nightcliff 0.2 (2); Wanderers 7.10 (52) d Darwin Greater Western Sydney C Dixon D Harris H Jolly. Sydney: A 1.4 (10). 0.8.4 (52) to 0.4.3 (27) to ensure Goodes J Lamb M Seaby. a surprise spot in the Umpires: Stuart Wenn, Chris Kamolins, Brett Kronk. quarter-finals. GOLD COAST 0.3.0 0.8.4 (52) The Swans had opened GWS GIANTS 0.3.1 0.4.3 (27) the night with a crushing Goals: Gold Coast Suns: A Magin 2 79-point victory over a goal- B Matera C Dixon D Harris H Bennell less GWS, but the Giants J Harbrow L Russell. Greater showed far more spirit in Western Sydney Giants: I Waratahah CricCrickCrickeket Club their second match, 12 Stevens J Harding J Hombsch J months out from their Savage. Junior and Senior Umpires: Stephen McBurney, AFL debut. Matthew Gestier, Matthew Brown. Sign-On-Da The Suns play their first Official Crowd: 9447 at game in the season proper Blacktown Olympic Park. SMOOTH MOVER: looked the goods in the NAB Cup Gar against Carlton on April 3, games at Blacktown Olympic Park last night. Picture: ADAM HEAD and with the likes of Gary Ablett and still than a typical AFL defender, backline, directing traffic for the Suns, while fellow to come in, they could prove the former rugby league in- and marshalling troops in an youngsters Dylan Shiel and a handful in 2011. ternational showed reason- encouraging performance, Jeremy Cameron showed Without Ablett and mar- able aerobic capacity, albeit finishing the game against good signs for GWS. quee Giant recruit Israel in games played over two Sydney with six disposals The AFL will consider the 7 BisBisishohoopp StrSttrtreeeetett,, Wooolnolnelneer Folau, the spotlight was on 20-minute halves. and three marks. evening a success, with a Hunt. Starting at fullback He had a steadying hand and full-house of 9447 showing and still carrying more bulk in the young Gold Coast Brandon Matera impressed support for the Giants. More Info Call David on 0438 702 676 www.sundayterritorian.com.au Sunday Territorian, Sunday, February 20, 2011 — 21