By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE Berwick Miners celebrated 30 years of gridiron in Victoria in style with a 16-0 win over the Northern Raiders under lights at Rawling Field on Saturday night.
The clash was the third game on the bill at the Miners’ Sydney Pargeter Reserve home field and didn’t kick off until 7pm but a host of Berwick players were there bright and early to help set up in anticipation of the triple-header.
The Miners’ game with the Raiders was a dour defensive struggle throughout the first half before quarterback Bradley Fraser and free safety Nick Pontil crossed for touchdowns late in the game.
Miners coach Mark Petana raved about the performance of his offensive line, which really stepped up for the clash and gave Fraser plenty of protection.
“It was just really impressive how they stepped up, overall,” Petana said.
“They had a lot of determination – they didn’t want to keep getting grilled at training!”
Petana, too, was part of that offensive line – playing in his first ever night game.
But the coach was also quick to heap praise on the pressure applied by his defensive unit including outside linebacker Dylan Marsters and Pontil’s effort in his intercept touchdown.
Berwick’s attention now switches to its Round 7 game this Sunday at home against new Division 1 side the South Eastern Predators.
“The offensive line still needs to work on a few things but I just want those guys to play like they did against the Raiders,” Petana said.
“The Predators’ aerial attack with their defensive backs is their real strength, so we’ll really need to rely on our running game.
“Defensively, we’ll be fine.”
The Predators are coached by Mark Levin, formerly of the Miners.
He has mentored Petana through stages of his first year as a senior coach.
“He’s shown me a lot of support this year. He has been a bit of a mentor and the Raiders head coach has too,” Petana said.
“A lot of these clubs want us to succeed.
“I’m a little overwhelmed by the support we’ve received from them, to be honest.”
Petana can’t wait for his side to face the Predators this weekend in a clash that will see a host of former Miners return to their old stomping ground.
“It’ll be very interesting this weekend – it’s just a matter of who stands up first,” Petana said.
“It’ll be fun, put it that way.”
