After a long year we have had to wait till the last round of home & away matches to finalise our final four positions. In a thriller at Donald the home side that started the day in second place on the North Central Ladder went down in the closest contest of the day to top side St Arnaud by just five points but it was enough to cost the Royal Blues the double chance. Charlton entered this game with two main projects to tick off, firstly to defeat Boort then make up a large percentage in their efforts to gain second position and the double chance. As it turned out the Navy Blues covered both agenda items defeating Boort and with a 165-points margin it was enough to elevate them into second position and the double chance. At Wycheproof the Demons had a 44-point win over the Wedderburn Redbacks to finish their season on a high with the game being reasonably close for a fair part of the game which was played with plenty of spirit.
The final four positions are St Arnaud 48 points, Charlton 40 points 135.67%, Birchip-Watchem 40 points 131.46% and Donald 40 points 131.36%.
Donald v St Arnaud
With a lot riding on this game for Donald any slight slip up could turn out to be disastrous and they were not going to let this happen. St Arnaud one the other hand had locked in top spot but was keen to finish off the season on a high. The opening quarter belonged to the Saints who were well in control early and looked like they were out to upset the Royal Blues finals plans. Donald kicked four first quarter goals and looked the better side of the two and was able to keep Donald’s scoring to a minimum for the majority of the term until the Donald side was finally able to get two majors deep into the quarter to trail by 15-points at quarter time.
Donald came out a different side after the break and pushed the ball forward on many occasions for minor returns. Both sides kicked two goals in the quarter but the home side could have either whiped off the Saints lead or taken a handy lead into half time but they were still in arrears by 9-points at half way. Donald missed some easy shots at goal and cost them any chance of the half time lead. Donald’s bad kicking in the quarter contributed to them kicking seven points which could prove costly even at this stage of the game.
In the premiership quarter both sides went at the ball as if their lives depended on it and the crowd certainly got their monies worth as they went goal for goal for the main part of the third term until Donald finished off the quarter with two late goals to hand them a three point lead at the last change. Seamus Young the league’s leading goal kicker was doing his share of the work up forward and at the other end Nathan Coghlan was the major contributor for the Saints, who had veteran player Daniel Needs playing his 300th game.
At three quarter time the Royal Blues went to the break holding a slender 3-point lead and the hope that they could run the game right out against the Saints and retain the present ladder position.
In what was tight last term the home side was giving their best against quality opposition as the sides matched motors in the final period of the home and away season. Donald managed to kick three goals in the final term and held a narrow margin over the Saints as the quarter was drawing to an end and this is where Donald’s supporter’s hearts hit the ground when Saints Coach James McNamee goaled to give the Saints back the lead of just four points as time was running out. From the centre bounce the Saints cleared the ball forward for another point to give them a five point lead as the siren sounded to end what had been a very entertaining match. Donald now have to regroup to take on Birchip-Watchem at St Arnaud next week for the Saints they will now enjoy the week off before fronting up to Charlton at Wycheproof in the second semi-final.
Seamus Young for Donald and Nathan Coghlan for the Saints both finished the day with six goals. Coghlan, Bloomer, Wells and McNamee were named best for the winners with Wyatt, Haddow, Wood and Sam Dunstan being named as better players for Donald.
Final score St Arnaud 14-12=96 def Donald 13-13=91
Wycheproof-Narraport v Wedderburn
The opening few minutes of this match was full of action with Wedderburn posting the first goal of the match just 30 seconds into the game and before much more time had elapsed the Demons were on the board and inside three minutes the Redbacks had added another.
Quarter time saw the Demons take a two point lead to the first break in what was an even first term.
In the next quarter the Demons were able to kick four goals and the Redbacks three goals to give the home side a seven points lead at the main break. Wedderburn could have had a handy lead by half time as their inaccuracy was being a major factor of their game as the kicked eleven points to half time.
Another even period of play in the third term where both sides were working hard to break through for scoring opportunities Wedderburn’s Ben DeAraugo playing his 150th game for the Redbacks brought the margin back to less than a goal by three quarter time when he kicked a long goal on the run. In this term the two side were getting a little frustrated as both sides appeared to be on the end of some ordinary umpiring decisions and this caused a couple of spot fires where the players let off some of their frustrations. Two points separated the two sides at the final break with both sides only having one quarter to play in their 2015 season.
The Final quarter belonged to Wycheproof-Narraport where they took total control to post eight goals for their final term and hold Wedderburn to just the two majors. The Demons final winning margin was 44 points over the Redbacks, Ricky Allan, Declan Lourey, Spencer Allan and Sam Driscoll were best for the Demons. Wedderburn’s Brett Strange was named best, Danny Benaim, Adam Postle and 150 gamer Ben DeAraugo also featuring in the awards.
The Demon’s major goal kicker was Ricky Allan with four, Andrew Mead-Harding and Ben Brennan kicked three, for the Redbacks Ben DeAraugo kicked four and coach Luke Rosa three.
Final scores Wycheproof-Narraport 18-13=121 def Wedderburn 10-17=77
Charlton v Boort
Charlton entered this game on a mission to give their chance of second spot their best shot and they went a long way towards that at selection when they included North Ballarat aligned player Andrew Hooper in their line-up. From the opening bounce things didn’t go their way as Boort registered the first two goals of the game but from there on the Navy Blues found their legs and started to reclaim the lead and by the end of the term they had broken out to a 45-point lead.
Charlton would go on to kick a further 23- goal for the game for a total of 33-17 for the match and Boort managed to kick 7-7 to end what has been a long year for the Magpies going through the year without a win.
Charlton had two terms where they kicked ten goals and one where they kicked eight to dominate the match. Andrew Hooper showed his selection to the correct one with a best on ground and ten goals. Coach Aaron Walklate also had a good day guiding his side to the double chance and had great support from the Luke’s in Kyriakides and Mulquiny with McKay and Judd rating special mentions. For the Magpies Keiran Wilson was named their best along with Cam Chalmers, Dion Robertson, Jack Smith, Mitch Buchanan and Coach Sam Taylor. Other major goal kickers for the Navy Blues were Mark Vigus, Joe McGrath 5 each with Anthony Judd 4, Ben Walklate 3 and Luke Kyriakides 2.
Final score Charlton 33-17=215 def Boort 7-7=49
Next Week at St Arnaud
Under 13’s 9.30 am St Arnaud v Donald
Under 16’s 10.50 am Birchip-Watchem v Charlton
Reserves 12.30 pm Donald v Birchip-Watchem
Seniors 2.30 pm Birchip-Watchem v Donald
Last Modified on 31/08/2015 16:32