by Jim Gordon
BEULAH V WOOMELANG LASCELLES
Top of the table Beulah severely punished a lamentable Woomelang Lascelles by over 200 points in this final round match at Beulah.
Held scoreless for the final three quarters, the Cats had no answer to the exquisite ball skills of the Blues who scored at will after quarter time with the ball rarely in the Woomelang Lascelles forward line.
For Beulah, Jacob Percy kicked eight goals, Gareth Hose five, Riley Lehmann, Scott Smith and Jason Turnbull all scored four.
Thomas Hallam was best on ground, followed closely by Gareth Hose. Sam Martin, Garry Hallam and Christopher McKenzie were other standout players in a wonderful team effort.
For Woomelang Lascelles, their usual contributors were led by coach Daniel Quinn, Trent and Joel Donnan tried hard, Luke Symes, Tony Mudge and Dylan Bett were other better players.
This was an excellent hit out for the Blues and it should give them a lot of confidence for their second semi final match against Ouyen United. For the Woomelang Lascelles Cats, it has been a long, tough season that saw them front up week after week in the knowledge that they were up against superior opposition. It is a credit to their coaching staff and administration that they were able to maintain a spirit and desire to improve and to try and match it with the rest of the league.
HOPETOUN V OUYEN UNITED
In a stunning opening quarter and one of their best overall performances for the year, Ouyen United comprehensively outplayed Hopetoun running out winners by the huge margin of 161 points.
Although this was a disastrous day for the third placed Devils, it was a very good hit out for the Demons before they front the Beulah Blues next week in the second semi final. If this is the gap between second and third, then people can start making arrangements for Grand Final day right now.
For the first time this year Ouyen United had a full list of players to call on and their strength, experience and sheer talent was too much for an undermanned Devils’ side that had already shored up a finals spot two weeks ago and was missing Coleman Schache due to TAC duties.
In a promise of things to come, the first fifteen minutes of the match saw Ouyen United kick five unanswered goals into the wind. They had Brett Knowles playing out of the centre, Wayne Grace was everywhere on the forward line and he combined well with full forward Sonny Lindsay who kicked four goals for the quarter.
This was Ash Connick’s best game for a while. He was a strong high marking presence across half forward giving the Demons an attack that the Devils had little hope of containing. Not only did Hopetoun have to face the daunting task of trying to contain the Ouyen United big men, but the smaller running brigade of the Demons were often lined up across half forward, calling for the ball.
At times Hopetoun got their game going and were able to put together some passages of play indicating that they were not completely out of it. When they did play well, it usually revolved around big men Bryce Wellington and Daniel Young either getting the ball out of the centre, or providing a target at full forward. Pat Hallam kicked a good running goal, Liam Price had a lot of the play and at times the Burdett brothers Clint and Marcus were able to provide a spark, but there was little else going for the Devils.
The Ouyen United defence was as mean as ever. Adam Moore mopped up anything that got as far back as him, Jarrod Munro, Corey and Adam O’Callaghan played creatively and were prepared to tighten up when they had to.
With Corey Gregg back in the side, Ouyen United have many options coming out of the centre. Ben Gregg is a live wire, Peter Caldow makes good position, he runs all day and Wayne Grace plays a game that belies his age, but not his experience.
The only downer for Ouyen United is the injury to Brett Knowles who did not appear after half time. Kieran O’Shannessy was also seen in the dressing gown in the second half but the man they call The Chief is bound to front up next week to lead the defence.
JEPARIT RAINBOW V SEA LAKE NANDALY TIGERS
In what was a fiery affair after half time, Jeparit Rainbow had a solid win against Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers. The Tigers had little to play for having bowed out of finals contention a couple of weeks ago, so it was good to see them finish off the game outscoring the Lakers in the second half.
Jeparit Rainbow had the game won at the main break with an eight goal lead that could have been greater except for some inaccuracy in front of goals. Main offender was Peter Weir with a wasteful three goals seven behinds for the day. Nevertheless, Weir and the other Laker forwards were able to hold the ball in their forward line. As well as Weir seeing a lot of the ball, Ben Zanker kicked four goals and Brian Harrison chipped in with three.
Jeparit Rainbow’s win was set up in the first half through hard running all over the ground that gave the forwards many opportunities. Ash and Heath Clugston combine well and with Justin Chilver controlling the ruck and playing well around the ground, the Lakers were much sharper as they moved the ball in a more organised way. Corey Price and Mick Eckermann both played well in a solid backline.
If there was a downside to their victory, the Lakers could be accused of coasting a little in that fiery and testy second half. Their only injury concern was youngster Jake Parry who went off with an injured foot.
The Lakers would have got a lot out of this win against last year’s premiers and they will go into next weeks semi final in a confident frame of mind.
Last Modified on 22/08/2010 16:18
