Wedderburn’s Sam Barnes was again at his brilliant best kicking ten goals for the Redbacks. Barnes last three matches have credited 33-goals to his seasons tally and he will be keen to add to that tally in next week’s Grand Final at Donald.
Wedderburn were never really challenged by the Saints and always appeared to have the upper hand, kicking nine goals to five in the opening term which set the stage for the remainder of the game. St Arnaud’s best term was the first and from there on they were not able to match it with the Redbacks whose key forwards in Barnes and Herdman kicked nine of the Redbacks fourteen goals by half time. Early in the first half Liam Cunningham was the only dominant forward for the Saints with four goals. Munkara and Tungatalum showed glimpses of their magic in the early quarters but the Redbacks defence shut them down and they had little influence after the main break. Grigg was a strong contributor for the Saints along with Batters, who as usual gave his all for the Saints but support from others was limited as the Saints added three goals to bring their tally to eight by half time, but they were 33-points in arrears of the Redbacks at the long break.
Wedderburn was keen to continue the strong form they had produced in the first half and were able to add a further five goals in the premiership quarter and hold the Saints to just three points as the game slipped further away from the Saints. Barnes and Herdman added two goals each for the term with Reiffel kicking their other goal. McHugh and Tonkin were combining well in the back half for the Redbacks, Gash who was a little quiet in the early terms was starting to gather many possessions and stamp his authority on the game and the Saints had no answer to his attack on the ball. By three quarter time the Wedderburn side had doubled their half time lead of 33-point to 66-points and most thought how much further would the Redbacks extend their lead by the end of the day’s play.
It did not take long in the final term as Tonkin added to the total which was quickly followed by goals to Barnes and Reiffel. St Arnaud’s Liam Cunningham topped off his good day when he posted his fifth goal to be one of the few that could hold his head high as without his contribution their score line would have looked fairly ordinary. Grigg continued to play the game right out to be named the Saints best player, Coghlan chimed in and out of the game throughout the day for a creditable return. Barnes capped off his day with his tenth goal in a fine display, to be just piped by Herman for the BOG honour. Wedderburn run out strong winners in the finish to end the Saints campaign for 2013 when they streaked away to an 89-point win and a spot in next week’s Grand Final against Charlton at Donald. The Redbacks had many good players on the day with everyone making a contribution and this is why they were so convincing, as for the Saints they had just a few contribute to the cause and many that could have contributed more didn’t , but perhaps they were not able to due to the pressure applied by the Redbacks.
The solid performance and dominance of the Redbacks in the preliminary final signalled to top side Charlton, that their opposition on Grand Final day in Wedderburn, have their hearts set on winning their third Halfhide Cup in as many years and the Navy Blues will need to be on their game if they are to stop the Redbacks and take out the Navy Blues first Premiership since 2009, overall this will be a great contest with both sides being pretty even and both recording a win when they played throughout the year, so we are now set for another great Grand Final.
Final scores: Wedderburn 23-16=154 defeated St Arnaud 9-11=65
Best for Wedderburn: Brady Herdman, Sam Barnes, Robbie Tonkin, Riley McIvor, Rohan McHugh and Jacob DeAraugo.
Goals: Sam Barnes 10, Brady Herdman 5, Marc Reiffel 3, Nathan Holt 2, Rohan McHugh, Robbie Tonkin, and Ben DeAraugo 1 each.
Best for the Saints: Russell Grigg, Liam Cunningham, Nick Coghlan, Zane Sullivan, Ben Batters and James McNamee.
Goals: Liam Cunningham 5, Ross Tungatalum, Dion Munkara, Nick Coghlan and Alex Lantjin 1 each.
Reserves
St Arnaud 9-12 = 66 def Wycheproof-Narraport 7 – 8 =50
In what was an even contest for most of the game the Saints got the upper hand in the final term to run out winners by sixteen points earning the right to a rematch with the strong Donald side next Saturday?
Under 16’s
St Arnaud 7-11=53 def Donald 8 -3= 51
In the closest contest of the day St Arnaud who held a 20-point lead at the final change held on to win by just points and deny the Royal Blues the chance to a rematch with the Boort magpies next week. St Arnaud finished third in the home and away rounds and deserves their chance for premiership glory at Donald next Saturday.
Under 13’s
In the under 13’s match Donald were never threatened by the young Saints as they marched into next week’s grand final against Birchip-Watchem. Donald led all day with the Saints kicking their only goal in the final term.
Next Week’s Grand Finals
Seniors 2.30 pm Charlton v Wedderburn
Reserves 12.30 pm Donald v St Arnaud
Under 16’s 10.50 am Boort v St Arnaud
Under 13’s 9.30 am Birchip-Watchem v Donald
Netball
13 & under 9.30 am Donald v Wedderburn
Junior “B” 10.20 am Donald v Birchip-Watchem
Junior “A” 11.20 am Birchip-Watchem v Wedderburn
“A” Grade 12.30 pm Wedderburn v Charlton
“B” Grade 1.45 pm Wedderburn v Charlton
“C” Grade 3.00 pm Wedderburn v Charlton
Hockey
Underage 12.30 pm Wedderburn v St Arnaud
Women 1.40 pm Boort v Charlton
Men 3.10 pm St Arnaud v Boort
Last Modified on 16/09/2013 23:16