News

From Launceston Examiner
Reported by Alex Fair

TASMANIA'S disastrous VFL season continued yesterday, as the Devils went down to Richmond-aligned Coburg in the curtain-raiser at Aurora Stadium.

Tigers forward Jay Schulz had a day out kicking nine goals in the 24.10 (154) to 14.7 (91) victory.

The Richmond centre half-forward was beating the Devils off his own boot for the majority of the first half when he raced to six goals.

Another embarrassing loss was on the cards when the Devils trailed by 88 points at the final change, but they bucked the trend of final quarter fade-outs by kicking 6.3 to 2.2.

Apart from that final quarter, Daryn Cresswell's men were never able to impose themselves on the match.

They were hurt by poor disposal and decision-making in the attacking half early on while the Tigers were able to pinpoint their forwards with ease.

Coburg's pressure and attack on the ball proved too much for the young team to handle.

They were swamped in the first half and at one stage trailed by more than 10 goals, but gained some momentum by kicking three in a row either side of half- time.

Any chance of a comeback was quickly extinguished as Coburg kicked seven of the next eight, with Schulz, Patrick Bowden and Andrew Krakouer leading the way.

The strength and skill of the AFL-listed forwards Schulz, Bowden and Cleve Hughes proved a major stumbling block for the home team.

Launceston forward Adam Derbyshire netted three goals from limited opportunities to be the leading contributor on the scoreboard along with Jason Howard.

Other stand-out Devils were Ben Ross, Nathan Street, Leigh Adams and Sam Fielding, while Todd Goldstein tried hard in the ruck.

For the Tigers, midfielders Matt White, Joe Gazzo and Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls kept running, while Bowden finished with four goals to complement Schulz.

The win sees Coburg remain in third spot on the VFL ladder, while the Devils are assured of the wooden spoon.

Tasmania will play its final match against the Collingwood-aligned Williamstown at Bellerive Oval next Saturday.