Donald v St Arnaud
In the opening period the Royal Blues held the ladder leaders goalless, and were looking to build on the good efforts of their back half but were not able to put a huge gap between themselves and the Saints as they would have liked. At the first break the home side led by 13-points when kicking with the aid of the wind, which they didn’t utilise to the full extent. St Arnaud had limited opportunities up forward but was kept in the game by some solid defence led by Harley Durward and co and without them they may have been looking at a bigger deficit.
Term two seen a big change around by the Saints as the peppered the goals regularly and wiped off the Royal Blues lead early into the quarter with Nick Baldwin and Gavan Vassallo being the main contributors. Donald found themselves in the same position as the Saints in this quarter where for all their efforts were not able to build on their goal tally as the Saints skipped out to a handy 25-point lead at the main break.
Donald picked up their act in the third period and went forward on many occasions but could only manage minor scored and there was plenty of them as they posted seven minor scores. Both sides managed to kick two goals each, Donald reduced the Saints lead marginally by the end of the quarter but they were like the boy with the barrow as they headed for the final huddle trailing by 21-points and the chance of gaining top spot had slipped.
In the final term Donald who had found it hard to break through the Saints defence finally worked it out and was able to double their goal tally for the game as they matched it with St Arnaud and did actually win the quarter. St Arnaud also posted four goals and it was enough to give them a twenty point win at full time and keep them at the top of the ladder. Donald now drops to third and has a rest next week while the Saints travel to Wycheproof to take on the Demons who have won their last three games and the Saints will be keen to keep on their winning way after only dropping the one game in the first round that being in round two to Charlton.
Better players for the Saints included McNamee, Wells, Torney and Bloomer with Nick Baldwin being their leading goal scorer with three. Donald was best served by Sam Dunstan, Dan Pearce and Glenn Wyatt with Dunstan and Reichman both kicking two goals.
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Final Scores St Arnaud 12-13=85 defeated Donald 8-17=65.
Wycheproof-Narraport v Wedderburn
Wedderburn went into this game missing a few top players but this opened up the opportunity for four first gamers coming up from the under sixteens. The Demons who had one their past two games were looking to continue their progress towards the top four and in the opening quarter which was very demanding on all players the Redbacks looked like they just might bring their run to a halt. Nathan Holt got the visitors away to a good start and Danny Benaim on his second attempt added for the Redbacks before Dan McLennan posted the Demons first major. Just prior to the end of the first term Ben DeAraugo kicked his first for the day to give the Redbacks a 13-point lead at quarter time.
The pressure at the contested ball continued in the second term where every player was throwing themselves into the contest and this was making scoring hard for both sides. Wycheproof-Narraport held the Wedderburn side goalless as they kicked two to trail by just 3-points at half time.
The Demons moved Boe Bish to full forward in the third quarter and this proved profitable immediately as he put the Demons in front for the first time for the day, this sparked a bit of a goal flurry with the home side kicking five goals for the term and keeping the visitors to just two goals and had turned a three point deficit into and eighteen point lead at the last break.
In the final quarter the pace slowed as the heavy workload on all players was starting to show. Both sides managed to kick a couple of goals in this period but the Demons were able to post their goals in the early part of the term and this made the Redbacks task harder with time running out Danny Benaim and Ben DeAraugo goaled to bring the final margin back to twenty points at the end of play. George Turner was best for the Demons closely followed by Chris Howgate with Rob Binks, Trevor Rumbold, Kristian McNicol and Dan McLennan turning in good games for the Redbacks Adam Postle was solid down back all day to be the Redbacks best, Cam Taylor, Jacob DeAraugo, Nathan Holt, Luke Phelan and Robbie Tonkin being the better players for the visitors. Boe Bish and Andy Mead kicked two goals each for the Demons and Danny Benaim 3, Nathan Holt and Ben DeAraugo getting two each.
Final scores Wycheproof-Narraport 10-10=70 def Wedderburn 7-8=50
Charlton v Boort
Boort got away to one of their better starts for the year as they matched it with the more fancied Navy Blues in the first period. Boort were able to post two first term goals to trail the home as side by just eight points at the first break. Daniel Waldron was the hero for Boort kicking both goals in the opening period and putting his side as close as they have been to any side this season after the first quarters play.
Things went a bit pear shaped for the Magpies in the next quarter as the Navy Blues extended their eight point lead out to an 81-point lead kicking eleven goals for the term.
Boort who were missing the experienced Aaron Wilson due to injury had no answers to the rampaging Charlton side who kicked goals as they liked and Boort were held goalless and went to half time without adding to their first term score. Charlton’s, Rhys Thompson and Joe McGrath kicked five goals each in the first half and looked like some big tallies might come after the main break.
After the main break Charlton kept the foot to the floor and extended their lead out by another twenty five points to lead by 106-points at the end of the third quarter. Boort could only manage a couple of points for the term as they found it hard to break through the solid defence of the Navy Blues.
Thinks didn’t improve much for the visitors in the final term as the Navy Blues run the game right out and record a win of 130-points. Boort after the first term appeared to lose their way and were no match for Charlton who are on the improve each week; this win has now elevated them into second position. Joe McGrath finished the game with seven goals and was closely followed by Rhys Thompson with six and Vigus three and for Boort Daniel Waldron two and Sam Taylor one. Best for Charlton, Coach Aaron Walklate, Rhys Thompson, and Riley Thiesz. Boort’s better players were Sam Taylor, Joe Kane and Nathan Murphy.
Final scores Charlton 22.19=151 def Boort 3-3=21
Next week
Wycheproof-Narraport v St Arnaud
Charlton v Wedderburn
Birchip-Watchem v Boort
Donald has the bye.
Last Modified on 01/06/2015 17:21