Boort v St Arnaud
Boort bounced out of the blocks against the Saints at Boort Park and went to an early lead which they would maintain through to the first break in play. Boort went into this game knowing that this was a must win game to keep in touch with those side sitting above them on the NCFL ladder. Missing some key players, seemed to spark up some of the Magpies players to give a little more for their side and at the first break held a two-goal lead over St Arnaud.
St Arnaud coach James McNamee could sense that the Magpies were out to cause an upset and he called on his players to dig deep, this they did and their flow on style of play seamed to stun the Magpies. The Saints went on a goal kicking spree, booting 9-golas for the term and held Boort to just 5-points and at half time they had turned a 12-point deficit into a 41-point lead. Coghlan was on target and had kicked four goals to this point.
Trailing the Saints by a big margin looked to kick the Magpies into another gear and the quickly reduced the Saints lead back to less than 20-points. Motlop got the Saints going again when he kicked one of his traditional long goals, McNamee, Coglan and Lantjin got into the act and their lead had again got out to over 40-points. Easton (2) and Rice goaled for the Magpies and at siren time they were 27-points adrift of the Saints total.
The final quarter was all St Arnaud as they added a further 8-goals and kept the home side to just two goals for the final term. St Arnaud who went into this game also missing some key players deserved their win and a 62-point margin was not the result the Magpies would have hoped for. Boort are now in danger of missing any September action in 2012, being two games and percentage out makes that task very hard to achieve.
Final scores St Arnaud 24-8=152 def Boort 13-12= 90
Best for the Saints: N. Baldwin, N. Goghlan, A. Lantjin, S. Motlop, T. Petrie, L. Stewart.
Goals: N. Coghlan 7, S. Motlop 5, A. Lantjin 4, J. McNamee 3, L. Stewart, R. Wild, M Ciurleo, L Sullivan, B. Batters 1 each.
Best players for Boort: R. Easton, J. Baker, K. Wilson, J. Garvey-Hawke, C. Hatcher, N. Gooding.
Goals; R. Easton 3, D. Stewart, M. Rice 2, T. Rhook, N. Gooding, J. Baker, J. Smith, Jarrod Fitzpatrick, Jacob Fitzpatrick.
Charlton v Birchip-Watchem
Birchip won the toss and kicked with the aid of a slight breeze in the opening term which appeared to be the right decision as they were able to kick early goals. Charlton started to get their game going mid-way through the opener and by the first break were only trailing by 13-points.
Using both the football and wind to their advantage the Navy Blues put on six second quarter goals, while their backline stood firm and only allowed the Bulls to two majors for the term. Charlton’s backline over the past few weeks has been very solid and is improving each week which will become a valuable asset in the coming weeks. At half time the home side had turned a 13-point deficit into a 10-point lead and the game was very much in the balance.
Birchip-Watchem started the third quarter is solid fashion when Vesikuru and Foott goaled to put the Bulls back in front. Charlton rallied with Kyrakidies, McGrath and Finlay putting the locals back in the lead. Two goals to the Bulls reduced the Navy’s lead but Mulquiny and Wellington goaled as did Laffin, just prior to the three quarter time siren. Charlton was a 21-point leader with one quarter of footy to go.
The Bulls were not going to let the home side get a way and record a win, with some positional changes and a dead set plea from the coach to lift the Bulls answered the call and after marking strongly Foott added the first of their four goals for the final quarter. While this reduced Charlton’s lead, the home side rallied through McGrath and O’Brien to again provide the required buffer. Tyler kicked truly for the Bulls but when Winsall goaled for the Navy Blues just before full time, the Charlton side would go on to record a sixteen point win and draw level with the Demons on points in the NCFL Ladder.
Final Scores Charlton 19-5=119 def Birchip-Watchem 16-7= 103
Best for Charlton: R. Thompson, L. Kyrakedies, J. McLean, T. Finlay, A. McGurk, M. Laffin.
Goals: Joe McGrath 3, L. Kyrakedies 3, J. McLean, M. Laffin, C. Thiesz, T. Finlay , l. Mulquiny 2, M. Winsall, C. O’Brien, R. Wellington 1 each.
Best for Birchip-Watchem: C. Hallam, Z. Holmes, B. Hall, J. Hogan, L. Foott, R. Vesikuru.
Goals: L. Foott 5, R. Vesikuru 4, J. Tyler 3, J. Phelan 2, C. Hallam and A. Hutchins 1each.
Wedderburn v Wycheproof-Narraport.
In the opening quarter the two top ranked sides could only be separated by 1-point at the close of play for term one. Both sides were giving everything for their jumper and many physical contests were witnessed. Thirteen minute had elapsed before the first goal was scored by Wedderburn’s Ben Rose. The Demons then answered through Brock Bish, Barnes brought up the Redbacks second and Pardella goaled for the Demons just on siren time to end the first term.
The second term seen the Redbacks find some form, with Herdman being the leader, kicking three of the Wedderburn’s four goals for the quarter, the other being kicked by Barnes. Jones who had racked up plenty of possessions for the Demons was their only goal kicker for the quarter with two. To see the number of quality players on Donaldson Park on Saturday, you would travel far to see better. Wycheproof-Narraports, Jones, Prestidge, Josh and Jesse White and for the Redbacks, Herdman, Barnes, Strange, Gash, Benaim, McHugh and Rose. At half time it was the home side leading by 14-points in a very keenly contested match.
After the long break the Redbacks started to gain some space and in doing so were able to establish a good break on their opposition. Jones, Jesse White and Rumbold were good for the Demons; Josh White kicked their only goal for term three while the Redbacks had a six goal term that would give them a 42-point lead when play concluded term three, Herdman, Barnes and McKay kicked two each for the home side and the Burn were starting to look the goods with only a term to go.
Wycheproof-Narraport still rated themselves a chance leading into the final quarter and set about reducing the lead which the Redbacks held. Curtis Dillon kicked the Demons first goal and this was followed by a goal to Prestidge, Danny Benaim halted the Demons run when he goaled, Ben Rose then run into an open goal to again see the home sides lead increase. Wyche-Narraport then pushed forward and through good play from Josh White, Brock Bish was rewarded with a much needed goal. The Demons had trouble holding Wedderburn’s gun forwards and Herdman who had been brilliant all day capped off a good days work with two more goals bringing his tally for the day to seven. Just prior to full time the visitors through Turner and Prestidge added goals to their score, but it would be the Redbacks who would gain another four points and take a three game break on their nearest rivals in Wycheproof-Narraport and Charlton. Wedderburn for the third time in as many weeks had recorded another 39-point win, which they had done against Birchip-Watchem and St Arnaud.
Final scores: Wedderburn 16-11=107 def Wycheproof-Narraport 10-8= 68
Wedderburn’s Best, B. Herdman, J. DeAraugo, J. McKay, B. Strange, C. Taylor and S. Barnes.
Goals; B. Herdman 7, S. Barnes 4, B. Rose, J. McKay 2, D. Benaim 1.
Wyche-Narraport Best, C. Jones, Jesse White, B. Brennan, K. Prestidge, T. Rumbold, S. Allen.
Goals: B. Bish, C. Jones, Josh White 2, J. Pardella, G. Turner, C. Dillon and K. Prestidge 1 each.
Next Week
Wycheproof-Narraport v Charlton
Birchip-Watchem v Boort
Donald v Wedderburn
St Arnaud Bye
Last Modified on 24/06/2012 17:54