At this early stage of 2015 season the competition looks to be shaping up as one of the most even we have seen for some time and any side goes into each game with a genuine winning chance.
Next weekend we have football on both ANZAC Day and again on Sunday. Donald and Charlton will play on Saturday with a later start to their days sport with a reshuffle of the playing order of matches. On Sunday St Arnaud are host to the undefeated Birchip- Watchem and Wedderburn will play Boort at Donaldson Park on Sunday.
Birchip-Watchem v Wedderburn
In what was a fairly scrappy match at George Cartwright Oval the Bulls defeated the reigning premiers by twenty points to remain undefeated. A swirling wind did no favours to either side but the Bulls looked to adjust to the conditions better than the Redbacks. Birchip-Watchem squandered many early chances before Messer kicked the first of his four goals for the day. Ben DeAraugo kicked the Redbacks first goal to get the Redbacks on the board and shortly after Luke Rosa added to the visitors score.
Wedderburn led at the first change but the Bulls pulled back that lead and at half time held slender seven point lead with the Redbacks being held goalless.
Birchip-Watchem’s Paul Messer kicked the only two goals scored in the third term and this gave the Bulls a twenty point lead at the final change. Wedderburn full back Jacob DeAraugo, was doing a good job on the Bulls full forward Matt Gilmore, Gilmore kicked ten goals in the opening round and to this point was held goalless by DeAraugo as was the Bulls other major goal kicker from round one in Daniel Castellano he too was unable to add to his seven goals kicked in the first game against Boort.
In the final quarter trailing the Bulls by twenty points, the Redbacks made inroads to cut back the Bulls lead and when Dahlenburg kicked an early goal this was the start Wedderburn needed to give them a chance of getting back on even terms with the Bulls. The Redbacks chances were quickly extinguished when Gilmore marked in the ten yard square and kicked his only goal for the day; this was followed by a goal to O’Loughlin who was having a good day on the park to be BOG. Wedderburn made a late charge with Hayes and Holt adding goals for the Redbacks only to see the ball travel back into the Bulls forward line where Hogan put paid to any slim chance the Redbacks had when he goaled deep into the final term.
Birchip-Watchem even with their inaccuracy deserved their win and will worry a lot of sides between now and finals times. This was the first time the Bulls had got the points over the Redbacks in about five years. Wedderburn will regroup and look to correct some minor deficiencies with their delivery into the forward line and when this occurs they will be a danger to all other teams. O’Loughlin, Hinkley and Walsh were best for the Bulls with Benaim, Polglase and Jacob DeAraugo being in the Redbacks best.
Charlton v St Arnaud
In an even opening term both sides were able to kick four goals with the Navy Blues just shading the Saints by a goal at the first break. McGrath was in good form early for the home side kicking three first quarter goals, St Arnaud’s goals were shared with Needs, Vassallo and new comer in Tipungwiti registering goals for the Saints.
Charlton made an early break in the second quarter to get out to a handy lead and were looking like they were going to break the game up as all their forward moves work resulting in major scores. The Saints who could sense the Navy Blues getting a hold of the game rallied late in the term to post some much needed goals. After trailing by over thirty points the late recovery by the Saints reduced the margin back to just fifteen points at the main break.
The Navy Blues were again first to add to their tally and extended their lead on the Saints and held the visitors to just the one goal in this term to take a twenty seven point lead to three quarter time and they looked like they were getting on top of the St Arnaud side with a quarter to go.
With defeat looking the Saints in the eye some positional changes appeared to work and the Saints with a couple of quick goals got the margin back to a more realistic chance of claiming victory. The Navy Blues seeing their lead slipping away took full advantage of turnover to bring up their first goal in the final term and again give them a little bit of breathing space. St Arnaud managed to kick five last quarter goals but it wasn’t enough to get them the points with Charlton adding three goals to give them a seventeen point win at full time. Aaron Walklate led from the front to be the Navies best and he had good support from Kyriakides and McGrath with seven goals. For the Saints, Vassallo again featured in the voting as did Ben Batters and Luke Wells.
Wycheproof-Narraport v Donald
In what would turn out to be a close encounter, the Donald team got their season away to a good start when Seamus Young brought up the first of his seven goals for the day. The Demons had plenty of the ball, but when moving into their forward line their bad kicking from round one continued. Donald was able to take a nine point lead to quarter time, which was a good result, when kicking into a stiff breeze.
With the aid of the breeze the Royal Blues added a further five goals to extend their lead out to double that of the Demons by half time. Young was proving to be a problem for the Demons backmen and they needed to stop the supply to limit his scoring opportunities before things got worse. Wycheproof- Narraport was again off target and added just the two goals for the quarter.
After the long break things evened up in the third term with both sides kicking three goals but there were a lot of shots a goal missing the target, but the Royal Blues maintained their lead to hold a twenty eight point lead with a term to play. Pearce was solid for the Donald side as was Darcy and Darby Harrison with Young adding further goals to his tally. The Demons Joey Coatsworth was showing some form of old and gaining good support from Daniel Allen and Robert Binks but the Demons still had some work to do if they were going to overhaul the Royal Blues in the final quarter.
The last term seen the Demons lift their work rate in their endeavour to claim their first win for the year and at one stage in the quarter it looked like it might come off but it wasn’t to be as the Donald side added some late goals to give them their first win since round eighteen of the 2013 season. In the end it was Donald who came out victors by three goals which will be a confidence booster for the club and they now prepare for their game against Charlton on ANZAC Day. For the Demons they get next week off and then the also take on Charlton in their next match.
In the wash-up Donald deserved their win and a win was just the medicine they needed after going all of last season without a win and if they can continue to improve their form in the coming weeks they can look forward to more of the same results as the season progresses. Seamus Young, Daniel Pearce and Darcy Harrison were their better players and the Demons were best served by Joey Coatsworth, Robert Binks, and Daniel Allen.
Next Week
Donald v Charlton (Saturday 25/4)
St Arnaud v Birchip-Watchem (Sunday 26/4)
Wedderburn v Boort (Sunday 26/4)
Wycheproof-Narraport Bye.
Last Modified on 21/04/2015 22:26