Birchip-Watchem v St Arnaud
In front of a large crowd at George Cartwright Oval, the Bulls finally put four quarters of football together to achieve victory over a determined Saints side.
St Arnaud drew first blood when Needs kicked the first goal of the game at the three minute mark, Coglan then added another for the visitors and it looked like the Saints may be too quick for the Bulls. Cam Hall registered the Bulls first goal into the wind which was favouring the Saints end to the tune of about four goals. Coglan brought up another goal for the visitors and this was answered quickly by Garland just prior to the siren.
Birchip-Watchem had put themselves in a handy position leading into the second quarter with the use of the wind. Cunningham snapped a nice goal to give the Saints a bit of breathing space, but that would be short lived as Tyler added two goals for the Bulls. Not to be outdone Lachie Foott added a further two goals for the home side and they gained the lead and not surrender it for the rest of the game. At half time the home side had a 15-point margin over the visitors, this mainly due to the excellent work of Jake Noonan, as the big man lead from the front.
After the long break Vesikuru added to the Bulls total and Walder followed suit before Baldwin replied for the Saints. Fiora who was proving to be a handful for the Saints, added another two-goals to extend their lead and at the final break the home side was on target to record their second win in as many weeks.
Although outscored in the final quarter the Bulls had a big enough lead to hold off the Saints to run out winners by 25 points. In this quarter played was stopped when Saints player Torin Petrie received an injury which seen him carried from the field on the stretcher before being transported to hospital for further observation.
The home side had many winners on the day with Noonan being BOG by far, he was well supported by Fiora, Cam and Brenton Hall. The Saints still showed signs that they are improving each week and they had good players in Torin Petrie, Lachlan Cunningham and Shannon Motlop.
Scores Birchip-Watchem 15.10=100 def St Arnaud 11-9=75
Best for the Bulls, J. Noonan, S. Fiora, A. Hutchins, C. Hall, B. Hall and T. Garland.
Goals; S. Fiora, T. Walder 3, L. Foott, J. Tyler, R. Vesikuru 2, C. Hall, T. Garland and J. Hogan 1 Each.
Best for St Arnaud: T. Petrie, L. Cunningham, s. Motlop, M. Goode, N. Baldwin and B. Batters.
Goals: L. Cunningham 3, D. Needs, N. Coglan, A. Lantjin 2, R. Smith, N. Baldwin 1 each.
Donald v Charlton
Charlton’s journey to Donald looked rosie in the first half but things went sour from then on.
In an even first quarter the Navy Blues were playing positive football and was causing the home side some problems in the defence area. James McGrath (2 goals) and Roberts were focal points for the Charlton midfield with both securing first quarter goals. Donald got going late in the quarter to reduce the visitors lead back to just four points by the end of the first quarter.
Charlton made many attacking moves in the early part of the second term and was rewarded with goals to Joe McGrath, Roberts and Kyriakides and they were able to hold the Royals to just two goals for the quarter. At half time the visitors held a 10-point lead and were looking the better of the two sides who had both had equal scoring shots. Joe McLean, Tom Finlay and Matt Winsall were solid contributors to this point, for the Donald side it was the Funcke and Bell who were their main contributors.
After the half time break it would be Donald turn to attack, this they were able to do and when Harrison reduce the margin back to four points with a long goal this seemed to fire up the locals. With Charlton unable to break the lines of the Donald backmen scoring was reduced to next to nothing as they could only manage a point in this third term. Donald added four goals and this gave them a fifteen point lead at the last change.
Donald were not content with their narrow lead and with the locals getting behind them, they lifted their work rate in the last term to add a further five goals and hold the navies to just two points. Donald would be happy with the result of a fifty one point win after trailing at half time for Charlton they will have to research their form of the last half before they front up to the Wedderburn Redbacks next week.
Best for Donald: R. Funcke, T. Bell, R. Maatman, Darcy Harrison, R. Givney, B. Haddow.
Goals D. Harrison 3, J. Burke, B. Grant, E. Guthrie 2, T. Bell, N. Dunstan, T. Grant and Jackson Hogan 1 each
Best for Charlton: J. McLean, R. Thompson, T. Finlay, A. Judd, M. Winsall, M. Laffin.
Goals James McGrath, B. Roberts 2, L. Kyriakides, Joe McGrath.
Wycheproof-Narraport v Boort
Wycheproof –Narraport were expecting some strong opposition from their visitors from Boort and in the first quarter their prediction was correct. Both sides took the ball into their forward line on many occasions only to see it sent back to where it had come from. The Demons held a seven point lead at quarter time but they were not getting it all their own way. Boort put up a good contest and with a couple of key players missing were putting the home side to the test.
Wyche-Narraport gained a mini break in the second quarter, with both side having difficulty handling the strong winds. At the main break it would be the home side taking a 21-point lead in what was an even contest to this point.
After the break both side made some positional changes and the local side with Jones again dominating, would give them the edge over the Magpies. The Demons were able to add four goals and extend their lead over Boort who could only manage three goals and would go to the last break trailing by 27-points.
Boort would turn in their best quarter of football in this final term kicking six goals but the Demons had done enough in the early quarters to deny the magpies their first win and at the final bell the home side had a comfortable 19-point margin.
Best for the Demons L. Borthwick, B. Bish, J. Coles, C. Jones, Josh White, James Coatsworth.
Goals C. Jones 6, G. Turner, K. McNicol , J. Grylls 2, J. White, J. Keane, J. Coatsworth 1 each.
Best for Boort: J. Baker, M. Hodoras, D. Stewart, L. Van Schaik, C. Hatcher, N. Gooding.
Goals: R. Easton, D. Stewart 3, N. Gooding 2, M. Hodoras, J. Fitzpatrick, J. Hodoras, E. Massina, J. Baker 1 each.
Last Modified on 13/05/2012 22:54