RAMBLERS issued a warning to the competition when it demolished reigning premier Jervois by 69 points at LeMessurier Oval on Saturday.
The Bluds started the game on top with an early goal to Mick Moller.
Ramblers were creating plenty of scoring opportunities, however their forwards could not hold marks.
Mark Marchetti and Liam O’Neil were having an influence in the midfield for the Roosters but they were feeding off Jervois ruckman Jason Bayliss’ tap work, who was controlling the ruck.
Finally the floodgates opened and the home side kicked five goals in quick succession, two to livewire Ben Dougall and singles to Trent Paech, Adam Jackson and Liam O’Neil to go into quarter time with a handy lead.
The Roosters began the second term with Paech failing to convert an open goal.
A move by Jervois, which swapped Jason Bayliss to the forward lines and Kieren Hill into ruck, gave the side a spark as they gained momentum through good play by Moller, to score two quick goals to Zac Ewer and Sam Mahony.
Ramblers moved up a gear and began to control the midfield through Liam and Patrick O’Neil, Marchetti, Luke Button and Ryan Viney.
They kicked two goals through forwards Ryan Morris and Jackson, who were leading and marking strongly.
A good passage of play, featuring a chain of handballs, resulted in a running goal to rover Liam O’Neil, who was finding plenty of the ball.
Jervois went into half-time trailing the Roosters by five goals, but still were well and truly in the match.
Ramblers came out after the break with a strong surge from the midfield, which saw Jackson mark and kick his third.
However, some undiscipline play from the home side resulted in a 50 metre penalty to Jervois, which resulted in Trevor Rigney marking on the lead and goaling from about 40 metres.
The Roosters replied quickly through another strong mark to Jackson, his height proving difficult for the visitors to match up on.
New recruit Chad Beard was racking up countless possessions and appeared to be the only ball winner in the Bluds’ midfield.
Some good run out of defence by James Jagodnik and Jack Kluske was proving valuable for Jervois, however they could not repel all of Ramblers’ attack as both the O’Neil boys goaled on the run in succession.
Some undisiplined play, this time by Jervois, resulted in a player being sent off and Patrick O’Neil kicked his second to extend the Ramblers’ lead to nine goals.
Ramblers’ defenders were doing their job well with Daniel Zadow, Jarrod Sykes and Tyson Matthews shutting down their opponents while rebounding well.
Ramblers went into three quarter time with a healthy lead.
The last quarter was dominated by Ramblers as they kicked six goals to three to run out comfortable winners.
Liam O’Neil dominated the last quarter from the midfield, kicking four goals in the final term, to bring his tally for the match to six.
Jervois kept chipping away with forwards Trevor Rigney and Mick Moller looking dangerous at times.
Rigney kicked two goals for the quarter to bring his tally for the match to three.
But Ramblers completely outclassed Jervois during the match, issuing a warning ahead of its blockbuster twilight clash with Imperials this Saturday.
For the Roosters rover Liam O’Neil was best on ground with six goals from the midfield, fellow midfielders Marchetti, Patrick O’Neil and Luke Button were damaging all match and defenders Zadow and Sykes repelled many of the opposition’s attacks.
Jervois new recruit Beard was his side’s best, getting plenty of the ball through the midfield, while defenders Kluske, Jagodnik and Jarvis all had serviceable games, while Trevor Rigney played a lone hand up forward.
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