by Jim Gordon
Ouyen United v Jeparit Rainbow
All eyes at Blackburn Park were on Ouyen United’s gun full forward Damien Cupido as he headed towards his 100th goal for the season. Everyone knew it would come, it was just a matter of when. At one stage it looked as if it could be as early as the first term when Cupido, needing seven, scored his fourth goal with only half the quarter gone.
When it did come, Cupido’s seventh goal for the day and his 100th for the year was a trade mark long left foot projectile that went through goal post high. The crowd had to wait until five minutes into the third term when Relton Roberts gathered the ball, ran and passed to a leading Cupido at half forward on his preferred side.
This match was never going to hold much interest apart from watching the maestro, and both sides did well to hold the crowd’s interest with some entertaining football in the first three terms. Jeparit Rainbow took some time to get going. Their first goal came after United had eight on the scoreboard and after the Lakers had missed at least three gettable attempts on goal.
Greg Mcleish was an offender. Twice he had shots within range, the first went out of bounds on the full, the second was a behind. Brett Fisher marked on his own 40m out and missed, Jake Perry did the same from a free kick and then Fisher missed again.
Fisher has had a long career of playing in the backline and could be excused for his misses. It wasn’t until late in the first term that Shannon Launer goaled after receiving a pass from Elliott Bath who was all alone and on the end of the good work of Ryan Bulluss.
With many in the crowd moving to the scoreboard end in anticipation of the Cupido ton, the big man kicked goal number five off the ground and his sixth followed quickly, a right foot snap from 40m. Then the long wait came. His next shot after a free kick from the boundary went through for a behind, an over the shoulder attempt bounced along in front of the goals before rolling over the boundary line and a beautiful left foot shot from 45m went just wide.
A roar went up when Roberts passed off to Cupido, only for the old stager Wayne Grace to nip in and literally pluck the ball out of Cupido’s arms! The crowd had to move to the other end of the ground and wait for the third quarter to start.
Jeparit Rainbow were competitive for most of the game. They were slow out of the blocks and fell well behind, but dominated the last part of the first term for little reward. Ben Marra stuck to his task on Cupdio for most of the day and had Adam Schultz dropping back to help. Jake Parry kicked two goals in the second term when both sides kicked only three goals each and Ryan Bulluss did a lot of good work in the centre and at half forward.
Chris Farrell played a very good role running from one wing to half forward. Luke Werner did well off half back, Heath Clugston kept his feet when those around him were stumbling and Lucas Edelsten worked hard. His overhead mark in the second term was followed by an accurate pass to Heath Clugston who goaled when once again those around him were missing!
Nathan Cocks played on Peter Caldow all day and contributed with a couple of good passages of play resulting in long penetrating kicks into attack. The youngster earned lots of praise from coach Luke Werner after the game. The Lakers’ coach was pleased with Cocks’ persistence and felt that it would have been a great learning experience for the young player matching up on Caldow.
For the winners, Bradley Summerhayes continued his very good form, Wade Brady started well in the ruck against Simon Clugston and Joel Scultz, Ryan Vallance did some good work in and around the centre and at half back and young Jaivon Stacey kicked a beautiful goal in his first game at this level.
Stacey came on in the second term and was prominent with a couple of deft touches, a piece of creative handball and a good mark. In the third term, he received a pass, turned, played on and kicked truly from 40m.
But for inaccurate kicking early, Jeparit Rainbow could have been a lot closer to Ouyen United than the final 68 point difference. However, the Demons were by far the better team on the day and they had a match-winning spearhead. Both sides produced entertaining football in their final match of the year.
Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers v Beulah
Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers won the minor premiership and the right to MFL flag favouritism with a comprehensive 11 goal thrashing of second placed Beulah at Sea Lake. With a dominant forward line lead by Cliff Ryan who ended with eight goals, the Tigers were able to hold the Blues chief goal kicker Dennis Redden to just two goals mainly due to a best on ground performance by key defender Stephen Lyons.
It remains to be seen just how much can be read into this result as the two sides meet again in two weeks time in the second semi final at Underbool. Yet you can’t go past Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers as outright favourites. Their form coming into this game was first rate. The Blues kept with the Tigers in the first half, but after that, it was a once horse race as Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers piled on 13 second half goals to just the four from Beulah.
Woomelang Lascelles v Walpeup Underbool
In a stirring performance, Woomelang Lascelles were able to hang on for a hard fought seven point win over a depleted Walpeup Underbool at Woomelang. The Cats will take a lot out of this game and they can now approach the first semi final rematch at Beulah with a lot of confidence. For the losers, they will be heartened in the knowledge that they have several very good players to come back into their side, but you can’t take anything away from the Cats, it was their day.
Walpeup Underbool began the game having to make two more changes to a side that was already missing key players. Wade Champion and Chris Vorwerk were the late withdrawals.
The Roos opened up by kicking to the southern end with the aid of a slight breeze. Walpeup Underbool were lively early, trying to make use of the favourable conditions. Jeremy Brown in attack was already proving to be a handful for the Woomelang Lascelles backline, leading and marking strongly. The Roo forward ended up with four goals for the day.
When the Cats settled, it was Kane Bannam who lead the fight back. Brody Adcock was also looking lively across half forward and a late goal to Woomelang Lascelles kept them in touch at the first change.
Rain began to fall early in the second term and this made conditions very difficult. It was Woomelang Lascelles who adapted the better as they were able to get more numbers at the base of packs and they clawed their way into the lead. Dwayne Hamlyn was sitting out wide and the Cats were using him to push the ball deep into their forward fifty.
Walpeup Underbool responded with David Piasente finding plenty of possessions around the ground, but the Roos had a limited bench with three injured players. Woomelang Lascelles continued to run and play the percentages and were able to extend their lead at the half time break to 19 points with Corey Kelly dangerous around the ground and in front of goal.
The Roos started the third with plenty of purpose. They ran hard and hit the packs hard. They fought their way back into the lead with David Piasente continuing to rack up possessions. Josh Charles and Chris Lynch were combining well in the centre.
When Kelly lifted his work rate for the Cats and Trent Donnan was able to break free, they scored two late goals to go seven points ahead at the final change in a tight game.
The last term was a real slog and the wet, slippery conditions made clean possessions difficult. Josh Charles was moved into the forward line for the Roos and had an immediate impact.
The ball spent most of the term travelling from one end of the ground to the other as both sides tried desperately to gain an advantage. The scoreboard was all tied up until the final thirty seconds when the Cats found a behind, then scored a goal through Hamlyn. The siren went with the Cats a deserved seven points up on a gallant Walpeup Underbool.
The first semi final rematch next week should be a terrific encounter and well worth the trip down to Beulah.
Last Modified on 18/08/2013 17:43
