GNFL Round 10 preview: Railways face surging Northampton in intriguing battle

Northampton have the chance to change the trend of this season when they face Railways at Recreation Ground Saturday.

For much of this year it has been the top three of Railways, Brigades and Rovers followed by daylight between the rest of the competition.

But Northampton’s upset over the Brigades have thrown a spanner into the works and sparked a bit of life back into the season. They have now won three in a row and sit just four points behind Rovers, albeit the Demons have a game in hand.

However, this may count for little against a Railways side that has not tasted defeat since the opening round. Other than Brigades they have swatted away sides with punitive authority and, with the Hawks faltering, are clearly the best side in the competition.

Jesse Adamini continues to tear up defences while Mitchell Boyle is in a rich vain of form and when they last met the Rams were kept to just two goals across three quarters of footy in a dominant display.

But Northampton are the best chance to cause an upset this round and know if they can pull off an unlikely win they will find themselves with an outside chance to move up from fourth.

Nathaniel Mourambine is fresh off a bag and has 25 goals in eight games so far. Flynn Dillon has been amongst the best afield in the last six straight games he’s played.

Rams co-coach Grady Tomelty said it was a big result but there is still work to be done.

“It was a massive confidence boost for our young squad to get over Brigades but there’s still a long way to go,” he said.

“We’ll enjoy the highs but we know there’s still areas we need to improve on so we can consistently play our best footy.”

The team won’t be finalised until Friday but one of the biggest things in footy is momentum which Northampton have and Tomelty believes is something they can harness.

“We always speak about playing our role for the team, if we can stick to our guns and do that over the four full quarters then we will definitely be in with a chance.”

In the other games Brigades should have no problems bouncing back at home against a Towns side stuck at the bottom of the table.

Rovers, fresh off the bye, will travel out to Mullewa on Sunday to face the Saints which the Demons will be expecting to win.