Rovers get on the board in season with win over Chapman Valley while Railways go big against Mullewa

Third time’s the charm for the Rovers Football Club as they got on the board with an impressive win over Chapman Valley at Greenough Oval on Saturday.

The Demons were winners on a windy day 14.9 (93) to 9.10 (64) as Thomas Denton was named Belt Up round best player to see the Demons win back the Choggy Cup.

The reigning premiers had yet to get a win this season and were without reigning JJ Clune medallist Chris Scott as they hosted a Valley side looking to cement their top-four credentials.

But the Demons had a handy replacement in Dwayne Neville returning from WAFL duties with Subiaco.

There was a strong breeze blowing from the east and the Dees got off to a fast start with the wind at their backs with five unanswered goals in the first quarter.

Their first three all came from open play with Jy Thurstun’s the most impressive, snapping out of the pack before Joshua Simpson got his first with a similar move.

Edward Curley then showed the power of the breeze with an impressive shot from outside 50 sailing through.

Kobe Smith added a fifth for the quarter as the Royals could barely get the ball forward of the square with trailing 33-1.

However when it was their turn to go with the wind, captain Ringo McKenna stepped up to steady the ship with two goals, the second a great snap on the run, to get Royals up and about.

Paul Sorenson was then gifted one from the square with a 50m penalty as a stray Demon entered the protected zone and the game was on.

But like Mullewa were able to do at times against the Royals in their last match, Rovers were able to work against the wind with a series of short kicks working their way up the ground.

Thomas Collins was the first to score a goal at the eastern end of the ground before he got a second from a Royals infringement of the protected zone.

The Royals would get one more before the half but with the wind being so powerful a two-goal swing was less than they would have hoped for.

The Rovers would not waste their opportunity as they kicked another five unanswered goals in the third and when they kicked the first of the fourth there was too much ground for Chapman Valley to make up, despite kicking the last four goals of the game.

Denton and Nevill were both influential in the midfield and managed to grab a goal while Collins, Culey and Johsua and Kobe Simpson both finished with two goals.

For the Royals Richard Bartlett was good in patches in his first game for the season, while Lawrence Evans and McKenna worked hard but as a collective turned the ball over at crucial times in attack.

In the other games, Mullewa had a tough off-field week made worse on the field as Railways demolished the Saints 26.26 (182) to 3.5 (23).

Dion Anthony kicked five goals for the second week in a row while Henry Anderson, Blake Bunter and Jack Connell all had three as the Blues kicked 16 goals to two in the second half.

In Northampton, the Rams got the job done in an otherwise uninspiring performance against Towns 7.14 (56) to 2.2 (14).

Rams managed just five behinds in the first quarter before they eventually got going but after consecutive 120-plus-point losses Rams would have been hoping for a bigger percentage boost against the lowly Bulldogs.