The match was played in fine conditions with the Coonalpyn Oval holding up well after overnight and morning rains.

The Mallee side were looking to redeem themselves after a big loss at Renmark in 2007, but the Riverland side never let them get into the match.

Riverland opened well, kicking 4-3 to Mallee’s two points in the first term.

Mallee’s attack improved in the second quarter, but could only add 1-4 to Riverland’s 4-2 to trail by 41 points at the main break.

Although Mallee scored 3-2 in the third term, the Riverland side increased their lead, adding 6-2.

The final term was the Mallee side’s best, scoring 4-3, but they were still outscored by the Riverland with 5-3 to see a 65-point margin at the end of the match.

It was clear early in the match that the Riverland side were well drilled in turning defence into attack.

The Mallee’s players turned the ball over far too often and Riverland side used run and quick ball movement to give their forwards many opportunities.

Lachlan Richardson, Josh Richardson and Sunyl Vogt were hard workers in the midfield, but could not find targets in the Mallee forward line on a regular basis.

Matt Sayers kicked four goals and was impressive at half forward and later on-the-ball.

Luke Remfry and Jed Northcott worked hard in defence and Michael Brighton tried to instil some run from the last line of defence.

The highlight of the day for the Mallee side was watching ruckman Wade Nickolls combine with Sunyl Vogt and Josh Richardson at the ball ups as they consistently took the ball away.

Unfortunately they could not convert this dominance into goals.

Lachlan Richardson was awarded the West Adelaide Best Team Man for the Mallee side with a tireless performance in the midfield.

Mallee will need to reassess their approach to Inter League football if they want to challenge the Riverland in future, as the past two years have shown a widening gap between the two sides.