Charlton has turned the tables on St Arnaud in turning a five point defeat in their last meeting into
a seventeen point win at Charlton Park this time round. The win of the Navy Blues see them retain
second position on the North Central Ladder now being a game and percentage clear of the Saints.
At Cobram Park Oval Boort the home side proved too good for an undermanned Wycheproof-
Narraport to run out clear winners by 26-points. At Goff Letts Oval Donald, the home side put in a
much better effort against Wedderburn this time round, even though they were well beaten. Last
time these two sides met the Redbacks had a massive win of 178-points over Donald but this time
the Royals were able to reduce that margin to 98-points.
Wedderburn remains clear on top with Charlton two games in arrears with the Saints a further game
behind Charlton and Boort just for points adrift of the Saints. Birchip-Watchem slips back to fifth
with Wycheproof-Narraport in sixth two games clear of Donald who have yet to open their account.
With only six rounds to go in the home and away season and five clubs with a genuine chance to play
finals things will hot up in the coming weeks in the race to grab a finals berth spot for 2014.
Charlton v St Arnaud
Charlton got away to a good start in their match against the Saints which had second spot up for
grabs with the winner locking into that position on the North Central Football league Ladder. The
Navy Blues were quick to get on the scoreboard with Judd and McGrath bringing up full points early
in the term. St Arnaud then responded with Needs and Wray posting majors to put the Saints back
on even par. Charlton finished the quarter off better than St Arnaud and added a further two goals
to give them a fourteen point lead at quarter time.
St Arnaud made use of the breeze in the second term to peg back Charlton’s lead and the veteran in
Needs became the focal point up forward adding another two goals to his tally with Baldwin chiming
in for a late goal to give the Saints a seven point lead at the main break. Charlton were held scoreless
in this term with McNamee marshalling his troops down back as the defence stood firm to any
attacking moves offered by the Navy Blues. Going to half time the Saints were gradually gaining their
confidence while the Navy Blues would have to regroup and put their second term effort out of their
minds.
After half time the Navy Blues made a few positional changes which clicked from the first bounce
to restart play in the second half. McLean got the Charlton side going when he finished off a string
of handballs to post their first major score since the first term. Walklate and Thiesz also were in
the thick of the action and their goals put the Navy Blues back in front midway into the quarter.
Willox who appears to be relishing his new on ball role in the absence of McKenzie was giving the
Charlton side first use and Judd, Sullivan and co was taking full advantage. St Arnaud’s backline was
under constant pressure with the ball continually breaking into the attacking zone. As in past weeks
Charlton’s inaccuracy was proving costly as they had fifteen scoring shots, kicking seven goals eight
points and restricted the Saints to three shots resulting in only the one major. Charlton could have
had the game well and truly sown up by three quarter time rather than going to the final break
holding onto a lead of 23-points. With a deficit of less than four goals and a term to play the Saint’s
would have rated themselves a good chance to taking out the match and elevating themselves into
that double chance position.
In the final term it was going to be tough for both sides with the Saints being aided with a slight
wind and the Navy Blues desperate to defend their lead and keep them in the top two positions
with them having the bye in the next round. St Arnaud made some inroads into the Navy Blues lead
but it wasn’t happening quickly enough for the Saints and when Charlton kicked their only goal for
the final term the task got a bit harder. When the bell sounded to end the day’s play the Saints had
fallen seventeen points short after leading at half time. Charlton’s third term was a match winner for
them and the Saints couldn’t capitalise on the use of the wind when they had a chance to pull off a
win in the final quarter. The Navy Blues can now go to their week off a bit more relaxed than when
they started the day.
Final scores: Charlton 10-12=72 def St Arnaud 8-7=55
Best for Charlton: M. Willox, A, Judd, D. Thiesz, R. Collins, J. Baird and Z. Sullivan. Goals: A. Judd 3, J.
McGrath 2 rest singles.
Best for St Arnaud: J. McNamee, N. Baldwin, C. Bloomer, Nick Coghlan, L. Cunningham and D. Needs.
Goals: D. Needs 5, rest singles.
Boort v Wycheproof-Narraport
Boort entered this game against the Demons making six changes and their inclusions were certainly
going to boost their playing stocks and for the Demons it was the reverse with some key players
missing from their line-up. Both sides were looking for a positive to come out of this game after both
had suffered defeats in the previous round but neither side could make a vital break with only a
point favouring the Magpies at quarter time.
Boort made better use of the ball in the second term but were a bit off target up forward and it
was no better for the Demons when they got their turn up forward. Sam Taylor was shining light
for Boort as the Demons mainly concentrated on the Magpies key forwards allowing Taylor to
gain many possessions around the forward line. Smith was playing a key role and kept pushing the
ball forward offering many scoring opportunities. Boort outplayed the Demons in this quarter to
establish a nineteen point lead at the main break.
With a bit of work to be done to reduce the Magpies lead the Demons went forward on many
occasions to see the ball go the wrong side of the big posts resulting in the visitors just reducing the
Magpies half time lead by three points. In this quarter the Demons could have not only reduced the
deficit but could have went to the last break with a commanding lead but by kicking one goal ten
points it wasn’t to be. Boort kicked two goals late in the quarter to give them a sixteen point lead
with a quarter to play.
Boort were looking for a win and to regain a position back in the top four and with the use of the
wind and a small lead, they went into the last term full of confidence. Boort like the Demons had
plenty of scoring shots with the majority be points but adding a further four goals in the final quarter
allowed them to get the points with a twenty six point win. As has been the case in their past few
games the Demons have been there abouts at three quarter time only to see games slip. For Boort
this was a must win game and they didn’t let their fans down and this win will give them some
confidence going into next week’s match against the ladder leaders in Wedderburn.
Final score: Boort 12-16=88 def Wycheproof-Narraport 7-20=62
Best for Boort: Jesse Smith, Sam Taylor, Cam Millward, Andrew White, Keiran Wilson and Matt
Patterson. Goals: Sam Taylor 4, Jesse Smith 3, Rick Easton 2 rest single.
Best for Wycheproof-Narraport: Jesse White, Dane McLennan, Jason Coles, Ben Brennan, Tom
Keane, Nathan Elliott. Goals: Ricky Allan 3, rest singles.
Donald v Wedderburn
In a slow start to the game both Wedderburn and Donald were having trouble getting the ball
into their attacking zones until Herdman kicked the first goal of the game for the Redbacks Barnes
and Prime also added goals for the Redbacks and it looked like this game now that Wedderburn
appeared to find their feet might be a repeat of their last meeting. Seamus Young got the Royal
Blues scoring underway with a goal after taking a strong mark. Wedderburn’s Barnes put the
Redbacks fourth goal on the board on siren time to give the visitors a twenty one point lead at the
first change.
Kicking to the highway end the Redbacks opened up their shoulders in this term to add a further
seven goals and held the Royal Blues to two goals kicked by Harberger and Young. Barnes, Gash and
DeAraugo kicked two each for Wedderburn and at half time the Redbacks lead had increased to over
fifty points. Donald while not able to match it on the scoreboard were very competitive around the
ground and solid work down back did restrict the reigning premiers on many occasions but it was the
volume of times the ball entered the Redbacks forward line that allowed them to convert.
The third quarter was always going to be tough for the Royals as they trailed by over fifty points and
as hard as they tried to get the ball into their forward line in a lot of cases it was for a no result with
the strong defence of Perry constantly heading the ball back to where it came. Wedderburn could
only manage three goals in the third term, but some bad kicking seen them post a further seven
points to give them an extended lead of 68-points at three quarter time. Haddow and Wyatt were
solid for the Royals and were well supported by Heslop and Harberger. Luke Carr was doing his best
to hold the leading goal kicker but Barnes had five goals to this point. Wedderburn had many players
who gained plenty of the Sherrin but Perry, Lloyd, Gash and Strange were solid for the Redbacks in
the first three terms.
Donald set themselves a goal to hold the Redbacks to a respectable score in the final quarter and
while they gave their all the visitors were still able to add a further six goals and run out winners
by 98-points a big reduction from the 178-point loss in their first round clash. Donald continue to
improve without getting the points but when and if they are able to get to full strength they could
cause an upset and record their first win of the season. The Redbacks did what they had to in gaining
another four points and sit two games and percentage clear of their nearest rival with only six weeks
of the home and away season remaining, Wedderburn does have the bye in round seventeen, but
look well placed for a top two finish.
Final scores: Wedderburn 20-19=139 def Donald 5-11=41
Best for the Redbacks: Cam Perry, Mark Lloyd, Daniel Gash, Jaran McKay, Andrew Chalkley and
Sam Barnes. Goals: Sam Barnes 7, Ben DeAraugo, Daniel Gash 3, Brady Herdman, Paul Prime 2 rest
singles.
Best for Donald: Brody Haddow, Glenn Wyatt, Will McAllister, Daniel Pearce, James Heslop and
Reece Harberger. Goals: Seamus Young 3, Reece Harberger and Aaron Wright 1 each.
Next Week
Wedderburn v Boort
St Arnaud v Donald
Birchip-Watchem v Wycheproof-Narraport
Charlton has the Bye.
Last Modified on 21/07/2014 00:30