In what was a shock win for most the Charlton Navy Blues has defeated the minor premiers in Wycheproof-Narraport by eleven points in the second semi-final held at Birchip.
Charlton’s win elevates them straight through to the 2016 Grand Final and their fourth straight grand final and the Navies faithful will be hoping for a change of fortune in their quest to take home the Halfhide Cup. The Navy Blues have played and lost the last three grand finals by a combined total of just 21 points.
Wycheproof-Narraport dropped only their second game for the year and will have to use their “get out of jail card” in next week’s preliminary final to earn a rematch with Charlton and a chance at winning another premiership with their last being in 2010, but first they will have to get over a confident Birchip-Watchem side who have not tasted success on the final day of a North Central season since 2001.
Donald has booked their spot in the Reserves Grand Final with a convincing twenty nine point win over Charlton. Donald will play in their sixth grand final in eight years in the reserves competition. Donald led at every change and three quarter time their lead had been cut back to just five points but a solid final term seen the Royal Blues kick away to be book their spot against either Charlton or Boort at St Arnaud in a fortnights time.
In the under sixteens the St Arnaud Saints was too good for the Charlton Navy Blues with a twenty point win. The Saints set up their win with a five goal first quarter with the first of their five goals coming in the first fifteen seconds of the game. St Arnaud was never headed at any stage but did not get it all their own way as the Navy Blues showed some great passages of play to create some of their goals. The Navies now meet Donald in the prelim next week to decide who gets to challenge St Arnaud on Grand Final Day.
Top side Boort will have to earn the right for a rematch with the Donald boys when they take on the St Arnaud team in next week’s prelim at Donald. This game like the first week was decided by less than a goal with last week’s match being decided by one point and this week the margin was just two points.
Wycheproof-Narraport v Charlton
In windy conditions the two top sides in our competition in Wycheproof-Narraport and Charlton challenged for a spot in the 2016 Grand Final. In the opening minute of the games Charlton’s Joe McGrath kicked the first goal of the game and it took until halfway through the quarter before the Demons responded through James Coatsworth but apart from the major scores, scoring was virtually non-existent for the remainder and only two point’s favoured Wycheproof-Narraport at the first change.
After the first stoppage Charlton kick started the scoring with a goal to Cody Gunn to put the Navies in front then the Demons struck back with three unanswered goals to Ricky Allan and Corey Jones two and it looked like the Demons may just get a vital break then in red time James McGrath who had been moved to full forward kicked a goal to bring back the Demons lead the Luke Mulquiny was handed a goal from a fifty metre penalty to give the Navies the lead nearing the half time break but Prestidge kicked the Demons fourth for the term to give them back the lead. From the restart Charlton sent the ball forward where James McGrath again marked solidly and with a kick on the siren he rested back the lead for the Charlton side and they went to half time three points in front of their more favoured opposition.
After the long break the conditions changed with the ball getting slippery and many turnovers happened in the opening minutes with one of those resulting in a goal to James Coatsworth the put the Demons back in front by a narrow margin. Charlton was able to get back in front with another goal to James McGrath with his move to full forward being a winner for the Navies. Matt Giri who was being kept to a low number of possessions found some space and posted the next two goals for Charlton to give them a handy break in a game that had lost the majority of the skills which both sides can produce. The game had many stoppages and was becoming pretty ugly due to the conditions and the fifteen point lead Charlton held by Charlton on a good day would probably amounted to around five goals. Wycheproof-Narraport was doing their best to keep within touch of the Navies but their many skill errors was not doing them any favours and Charlton was handling the conditions better.
The final term with a Grand Final spot up for grabs got underway and Andrew Mead got the Demons the start they required when he goaled from a difficult angle and most thought that this may be the Demons getting back on track but the Navies were hoping that their efforts would hold them in a strong position. Charlton pushed forward but could only manage minor scores but it would be enough to hold off the Demons who could only manage the one major score in the final term and would eventually go down to Charlton by eleven points in a term that due to a lot of stoppages went for over thirty minutes.
Charlton’s win gives them another shot at winning a premiership after going down in their last three attempts and one would think that your luck has to change eventually but that will also depend on who their opposition is on Grand Final day at St Arnaud coming out of next week prelim between the Demons and the Bulls
Charlton who had Captain Daniel Thiesz named as their best had good support from Kieran Sait, Dean McKay (who done a good job in holding Corey Jones to just two goals), Daniel Hayes, Jye Sandiford and James McGrath who was also their leading goal kicker with three and Matt Giri kicking two. The Demons best was their Captain in Boe Bish with good performances coming from Morgan Fawcett (NCFL Rookie of the Year), Ricky Allan, Matt Riordan, James Coatsworth and Tim Holobowski. Major Goal kickers for the Demons were Corey Jones and James Coatsworth both kicking two goals.
Final scores Charlton 8-13=61 defeated Wycheproof-Narraport 7-8=50
Next Week’s Preliminary Finals at Donald
Seniors Wycheproof-Narraport v Birchip-Watchem 2.30 pm
Reserves Charlton v Boort 12.35 pm
Under 16 Charlton v Donald 10.55 am
Under 13 Boort v St Arnaud 9.30 am
Last Modified on 08/09/2016 18:33
