Sport
19 June, 2026
Free kicks fix score
TWO CRUCIAL 50m penalties conceded by Newbridge in the second quarter against Pyramid Hill on Saturday may not have cost the Maroons the game – but they didn’t help.
TWO CRUCIAL 50m penalties conceded by Newbridge in the second quarter against Pyramid Hill on Saturday may not have cost the Maroons the game – but they didn’t help.
Take the two goals from those free kicks out of the equation and Newbridge would have been all but level with the Bulldogs at half-time.
And things might have panned out differently in the second half, although Pyramid’s superior skills in the wet would still have been a key factor.
The greasy conditions after the main break, and the darkness that descended on Riverside Park, meant there was a premium on quality ball-handling.
Nobody proved that better than Bulldogs veteran Ben Knight, who in one passage of play twice swooped for clean, one-handed pick-ups that highlighted his wet-weather skills as his side pulled away to a 30-point win.
Newbridge coach Jayden Cordy felt it was a match his team could have won, despite kicking only 1.3 to 3.5 after half-time.
Initially, the Maroons had restricted Pyramid Hill from running a player loose behind the ball, but as the game went on, the conditions worsened and the younger team became fatigued, that pressure dissolved.
“We’re lacking experience and a big-bodied mid at the moment, and we cracked in all day, but they were a bit cleaner in the end,” Cordy said.
The coach, playing in the midfield for almost all of the game, was one of his team’s best in handling the slippery ball but too few were able to follow his lead.
Newbridge is also lacking tall targets up forward after a series of injury blows, and the side could only manage four goals on the day, with premier defender Jon Coe at times shifted intro attack to try to generate some scoring.
It was not a day for forwards to shine, but Bulldogs Mitch Dingwall and Jhye Baddeley-Kelly kicked three and two goals respectively, with ruckman Mitch Jorgensen dominant in the contests.
The latter now has 46 goals for the season, five behind Bridgewater coach Lachie Sharp’s 51.
This week Newbridge, with Gary Ablett, will play Bridgewater, with Gary Rohan, while second-placed Pyramid Hill has a stiff challenge against Inglewood, which has won six on the trot and has had a week’s rest.
Read More: Newbridge, Pyramid Hill