Boort v Wycheproof-Narraport
Wycheproof-Narraport set the scene for a big day in the opening term when they slammed on six first quarter goals to lead by five goals at the end of the first quarter. Corey Jones was on target in the opening term booting three majors. Boort was held to just the one goal by the Demons defence who continually turned back the Magpies forward moves.
In the second quarter both sides doubled their score of the first term and while this was good for the Demons the Magpies day was not improving. Wycheproof-Narraports Corey Jones kicked six goals to half time and looked set for a big tally; Driscoll was winning plenty of the ball and combined well with Jones as the Demons built on their lead. Gooding was giving his all for the home side but was lacking support from his teammates who appeared to be just there playing out the season as the result of this game looked like going the same way as their previous six outings where they failed to record a win. At the half time break the Demons lead had increased to 60-points and they were doing it quite comfortably against a side that had no spark or will to win.
At the half time break Boort’s coach called on his players to show some spirit and commitment with two quarters to go in their season, this gained immediate results with the Magpies kicking the first two goals for the term. Boort were more positive in this quarter and the Demons needed to half this mini revival of the Magpies, this they were able to do as they responded with two goals off the boot of George Turner. Hodoras who had been reasonably quiet in the first half found the ball on many occasions and was starting to apply some influence on the game as he kicked Boort’s third goal just prior to the three quarter time siren. Boort had reduced the Demons lead back to 51-points at the final break but the game was still well out of their reach.
Wycheproof-Narraport came out full of running in the final term and needed to finish off the game strongly as they headed towards next week’s first semi- final. The Demons restricted the Magpies to just one goal in the last quarter and added five to their tally to give them a 74-point margin at the end of play. Boort’s season in now concluded and they would have been disappointed with their year, for the Demons they gave a good showing leading into their finals campaign which commences next week against the reigning premiers at Charlton next week. Jones finished the day with eight goals in a best on ground performance and would be one of the fancies to take out the J.J. Feeny Medal for 2013. Boort had few that could hold their heads high, but Gooding, Hodoras and Easton could walk away knowing they had given their best for the Magpies, not only in their final match but they all had made solid contributions throughout the year which they had hoped for a better result than sixth place.
Final scores: Wycheproof-Narraport 19-8=122 def Boort 6-12=48
Best for the Demons: C. Jones, S. Driscoll, J. Turner, K. Prestidge, Z. White and Jake White. Goals: C. Jones 8, G. Turner 4, J. Turner 2, rest singles.
Best for Boort: N. Gooding, M. Hodoras, K. Wilson, R. Easton, M. Henningson, N. Parker. Goals: N. Gooding, M. Hodoras 2 each rest singles.
Birchip-Watchem v Wedderburn.
Wedderburn’s trip to Birchip resulted in a big win over the Bull’s, the Redbacks kicked six goals in the first term and held the Bulls to just two-points. Nathan Holt got Wedderburn of to a good start when he posted the Redbacks first goal in the opening minute of play. Barnes who was trailing in the goal kicking by just two goals at the start of play also got into the action early with two goals for the opening term. At quarter time the Redbacks held 36-point lead over the Bulls but the signs was there that they had come to play with their finals campaign starting next week.
The Redbacks were straight into attack in the second quarter with Barnes marking everything and converting on six occasions to have eight goals by half time. Rose chimed in for two goals and Holt brought up his second late in the term. Birchip-Watchem had a purple patch mid-term kicking three goals kicked by Anderson, Noonan and Blackmore. At half time the Redbacks lead was 74-points and a big score looked on the cards at this point.
Wedderburn didn’t take their foot off in the third quarter as they posted another eight goals with Barnes again in the thick of things adding five goals to his tally to have thirteen goals with one quarter remaining. The Bulls Anderson kicked their only goal for the term as the Redbacks lead blew out to 120-points at the last break.
With only one quarter to go for the Bulls they rallied early with the first goal of the quarter but that would turn out to be their last for season 2013. Wedderburn run the game right out with a further six goals, Barnes added two more to his tally and ended the day with fifteen goals, which would elevate him to the lead in the leagues goal kicking. Wedderburn had many good players in their 144-point win, but it was Barnes who stole the show and while the margin may have been great the crowd enjoyed watching one of the best in the league strut his stuff. Birchip-Watchem will now look to next year, with the vision of lifting their team off the bottom of the ladder, for the Redbacks it’s off to Charlton next week, to take on the Demons in the opening semi-final of the 2013 finals series.
Final score Wedderburn 29-11=185 def Birchip-Watchem 6-5=41
Best for Wedderburn: S. Barnes, D. Benaim, A. Postle, N. Holt, B. DeAraugo, R. Tonkin. Goals: S. Barnes 15, B. Rose 4, N. Holt 3, M. Reiffel 2, rest singles.
Best for the Bulls: H. Christie, Z. Holmes, J. Christie, L. Foott, J. Hogan, J. Noonan. Goals: S. Anderson, J. Noonan 2 each rest singles.
St Arnaud v Donald
In the first quarter Donald were able to match it with their more fancied opponent in St Arnaud and only trailed by three points at the first break in play. Anderson continued his good form in front of goals for Donald, with two majors in the opener. The Saints Tungatalum was lively around goals and converted on a couple of occasions, Chapman was also gathering plenty of the Sherrin and causing the Royal Blues plenty of problems with his pin-pointed disposals in what had been an entertaining opening term.
After the break the Saints started to take control as the added seven goals to the Royals Blues two and at half time they held a lead of six goals. McNamee moved himself onto the ball and like Chapman in the first quarter stated gathering many possessions which he pushed forward and his good work was finished off by the many forwards who were starting to gel together well to set up their half time lead. Grigg and McGrath were also starting to have a big bearing on the game as they presented their on ballers with first use on numerous occasions. Donald’s veteran in Ross Funcke was working overtime down back as he turned the ball back regularly only to see it returned back to his area by the Saints mid-field. At the main break the Saints lead of 36-points should have been greater but their inaccurate kicking let them down on many attempts.
With a half to go the Saints were focused on putting a big gap between them and the Royal Blues as they prepared for their finals campaign commencing in two weeks. The Saints were able to kick eight goals in the quarter and the Donald side could not match it with them as they could only register 1-goal for the term as St Arnaud’s lead blew out to 83-points with a term to go.
As the Donald side’s season was quickly drawing to a close, the Saints continued on their way to post a big win which would be over 20-goals by the time the final siren sounded. St Arnaud had many good players and finished off their preparation for a tilt at winning the Halfhide Cup in good fashion and the day was only getting better for all Saints supporters with the news that their coach of the past two seasons in James McNamee expected to agree to continue in that post for another two years. Donald will now look to season 2014 where they will be hoping for some better results, their late season form showed that they were capable of mixing it with most sides and their focus will be to retain their players and build on that list going into next year.
Final scores: St Arnaud 25-22=172 def Donald 6-8=44.
Best for St Arnaud: J. McNamee, J. Chapman, D. Munkara, R. Tungatalum, N. Reid, J. Priest, R. Grigg. Goals: R. Tungatalum, J. Chapman 4, Liam Cunningham 3, N. Baldwin, N. Reid, D. Munkara, J. Tillig, N. Coghlan, J. Priest, Lachlan Cunningham and J. Patching 2 each.
Best for Donald: R. Funcke, L. Anderson, J. May, B. Luehman, W. McAllister, T. Bell. Goals: L. Anderson 4, M. Clifford, D. Ades 1each.
Next Week
Ist Semi-Finals at Charlton
Seniors 2. 30pm Wycheproof-Narraport v Wedderburn
Reserves 12.30 pm Wedderburn v Wycheproof-Narraport
Under 16’s 10.50 am St Arnaud v Wedderburn
Under 13’s 9.30 am St Arnaud v Charlton
Last Modified on 25/08/2013 20:45