Birchip-Watchem v St Arnaud
In the battle for top spot Birchip-Watchem and St Arnaud staged a tight battle in the opening term with both sides finding it hard to score as the Sherrin rebounded between the two half back lines. St Arnaud won the opening quarter and held an eight point lead at the first break but it wasn’t a pretty contest where things got a bit scrappy with the ball being turned over on a regular basis.
The second period saw the league leaders gain a little more momentum, with Vassallo and Tipungwuti starting to gather many possessions with both being able to registering goals and also set up other Saints forwards for positive results. Birchip-Watchem was having trouble moving the ball into their forwards as the Saints backmen were standing firm. Castellano who has been in fine form over the past few weeks broke through for the Bulls to post a major score. The Bulls were again able to get the ball deep into their forward line and Gilmore from a strong mark added another much needed goal for the home side. At the half way mark the Saints had extended their lead out to 21-points but bad kicking again seen them with a large tally of points.
After the break the Bulls made a couple of changes and this worked for them as Castellano gained a bit of freedom to again add a major score and Coffey backed up with another to bring the Saints lead back to within a goal as the contest got a little tighter. St Arnaud through McNamee and Needs steadied the ship for the Saints to again give themselves a bit of breathing space. Castellano added a further goal for the Bulls late in the quarter to again put the Bulls in with a chance but McNamee who had moved forward added a late goal for the Saints to give them a lead of just under three goals at the final change.
With the game and top spot in the balance for both sides the last term produced the best football of the day as neither side would give any ground. Birchip-Watchem got a little closer by mid-term as the Bulls faithfuls hopes lifted with a win seeming to be well on the cards. St Arnaud regrouped to again push forward for positive results through Vassallo and Tipungwuti again to give them a handy lead as time was running out for the Bulls. Castellano chimed in for his sixth goal of the day in what was a fine performance as the Bulls again got within striking distance but Needs and Tillig added goals near full time to see the Saints hold onto top spot with a 21-point margin. The second have proved the best football with both sides kicking 7 goals 2 points to keep the half time difference as the winning margin. St Arnaud had good players in Wells, Vassallo and Durward and the Bulls better players were Hinkley, Castellano and Jake Noonan.
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Final scores St Arnaud 13-16=94 def Birchip-Watchem 11-7=73
Charlton v Donald
Charlton, playing to regain a spot in the top four against a side who wished to retain that position on the ladder, got away to a better start than Donald who appears to be slow starters. Charlton kicked three first term goals and Donald could only manage just the one point giving the Navy Blues a seventeen point lead at quarter time. Charlton were looking the better side of the two teams and the inclusion of some players returning from injury certainly lifted their spirits as the confidence and aggression at the ball sent a strong message to the opposition.
Donald opened the second term in a different frame of mind and was quick to get on the scoreboard with Young getting them away to a better start. Charlton’s running players were proving to be a worry to the Royal Blues as they again started to gain a bit momentum. Donald swopped on a loose ball and Haddow narrowed the margin further as the game started to get interesting. Charlton rover Mark Vigus kicked the first of the Navy Blues three goals for the quarter and at the other end Young responded. Fisher was leading from the front for Donald and he was gaining good support from Wyatt and Haddow as they edged closer to the Charlton score deep into the term, only, to see the opposition make a late revival and post goals to Aaron Walklate and Kyriakides and at half time the Navy Blues had held onto their quarter time lead to be eighteen points clear of Donald.
During the half time break Donald coach, Luke Fisher must have pushed a few buttons as the Royal Blues came out firing in the opening minutes of the third term as the Royal Blues kept attacking the goals with a few gettable attempts missing the main target. Donald appeared to have the Navy Blues a bit rattled and they were able take the ball forward with relative ease and at the other end their backs were well on top. Charlton was restricted to just the one goal in this quarter as Donald pushed closer and by the last break were right in the contest with a reduced deficit of just three points separating the two sides and we had a game on our hands.
With a bit riding on the result for both sides the expectations of this final quarter didn’t reach the heights as the home side was able to regain some earlier form and take control of the game in which they were able to post five last term goals and restrict the Donald side to just two and at full time the Charlton lead had got out to 21-points with the win now elevating them back into the top four. Aaron Walklate, Winsall and Thompson were best for the Navy Blues while Fisher, Wyatt and Reichman were Donald’s best.
Final score Charlton 12-6=78 def Donald 8-9=57
Boort v Wedderburn
Boort went into their game against the Redbacks with a renewed confidence as they had regrouped after their weekend off and with the inclusion of some players returning from injury and transferring onto the Magpies list. Boort matched it with the Redbacks in the first quarter as they trailed by just two points at the first break.
In the second term the Redbacks who went into this game missing a few of their experienced players due to various reasons found some form and were able to establish a reasonable lead of 25-points by half time with Rosa, DeAraugo and Benaim scoring goals.
Boort could only manage two points but were winning their share of the ball but were just not able to break through the solid defence of the Redbacks. Being only 25-points down at the half way mark was as close as the Magpies has been for the year as their game continues to improves as the season goes on with some of their younger players gain the experience of playing senior football. Wedderburn’s better players to this point included Bell, Tonkin, Strange and Holt and Boort’s best included Aaron and Keiren Wilson, Jack Smith and veteran Craig Rutley.
With nothing to lose the Magpies came out full of running and it wasn’t long before it paid off, with Bleicher and Aaron Wilson getting the Magpies away to a better start. At the other end the Redbacks were having their fair share of shots at goal but some easy shots went begging. Boort were building in confidence and it was showing as there teamwork was paying dividends and Pearce who had been reasonably quiet started to take some solid marks and ended the term with three goals which largely contributed to the Magpies being within five points at the final change and not even the Boort supporters thought that this would be the case with a quarter to go. This was Boort’s best position to win a game for the year and the Magpies supporters were wondering if this was going to be the result they had thought may not happen in 2015 and that would be answered in about thirty minutes.
With fear of being the first side to go down to Boort for the year seamed to jolt the Redbacks players. A couple of positional changes paid off for the Redbacks with Strange being placed in the square which resulted in him kicking three last quarter goals to help the Redbacks fend off the challenge from Boort. Wedderburn’s accuracy was well off with 21-points being scored with at least half of those shots being very gettable. The Redbacks run out winners and got the four points which now keeps them within touch of the top five sides but the win certainly put a scare through the Redbacks camp when they were challenged seriously by the Magpies with the margin at the end being 35-points. Best players for Wedderburn, Robbie Tonkin, Nathan Bell, Brett Strange and Nathan Holt. For the Boort Magpies Aaron Wilson was best with brother Keiren, jack Smith and Craig Rutley turning in very serviceable games. Strange and Benaim were the major goal kickers for the Redbacks with four each and Boort’s Shaun Pearce also kicked four.
Final scores Wedderburn 11-21=87 def Boort 8-4=52
Next Week
Donald v Birchip-Watchem
St Arnaud v Boort
Wycheproof-Narraport v Charlton
Wedderburn has the bye
Last Modified on 24/06/2015 11:02