Our final round of home and away matches didn’t spring any surprise results and we have now been able to set the venues for the first two finals. Our first semi-final will be played at Wedderburn next Saturday 26th August and the Second semi-final will be hosted by the Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers on Saturday September 2nd with remaining finals to be announced next week.
Wycheproof-Narraport have finished well clear on the top of the ladder and finished the home and away season with a solid win over Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers who at the time sat in second place on the ladder with the final margin being fifty nine points.
Birchip-Watchem also had a big win in the final round defeating Charlton by sixty five points and with Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers losing to Wycheproof-Narraport the Bulls have now secured the double chance and will front up to the Demons at Sea Lake in the second semi-final. Birchip-Watchem Bulls full forward Stephen Paulke just missed winning the leagues goal kicking award, Paulke kicked seven goals but fell two goals short of Wycheproof-Narraports Corey Jones who failed to add to his tally in the final round.
Boort showed that they are still in the fight for the Halfhide Cup with a forty one point win over bottom placed St Arnaud at Lord Nelson Park. Boort who were in danger of losing a place in the finals a couple of weeks ago just may have turned the corner at the right time of the year. The Magpies now takes on Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers at Wedderburn’s Donaldson Park in next week’s first knockout semi-final.
At Donald the Royal Blues finished their season off on a high when they got the four points over Wedderburn Redbacks by fifteen points. The game was in the balance for most of the day but the Redbacks had their chance in the final quarter but just could not get that vital goal when they needed it.
Wycheproof-Narraport v Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers
The Demons kicked to the end favoured by the breeze in the opening term and made good use of their advantage. The Demons kicked seven goals four points in the first quarter and kept the Tigers to just the two major scores. The Tigers had the double chance riding on the outcome of the match and was hoping to be a little closer at the first change than the thirty four point deficit they took to the first change.
In the second quarter things lifted for the Tigers as they used the advantage of the breeze to claw back the Demons lead. The Tigers played some good footy in the term but some wayward kicking let them down. The Tigers had nine scoring shots to the Demons two for the quarter but at the half time break they had reduce the Demons lead back to a more manageable number as they trailed by two goals.
After the long break the Demons reset their goals and were quick to put them into action with early goals coming from Andrew Mead-Harding and James Coatsworth to again extend their lead. Billy McInnes who had been moved deep into the forward line responded with a goal for the Tigers but this fired up the ladder leaders who again attacked the goals with positive results. With the double chance slipping away from the Tigers they were able to work the ball through the corridor for their second goal of the quarter but this still left them with a big task in the final quarter as the Demons lead was back out over thirty points at the last stoppage in play.
With top spot well and truly secured the Demons was not about to let the Tigers back into the game and they continued to apply the pressure to the leagues newcomer to outscore them in the final quarter. The Tigers only managed two goals three points after half time and just one point in the final quarter. Wycheproof-Narraport led this game from start to finish and ran out good winners by fifty nine points. The loss has cost the Tigers the double chance and now they will front up to Boort next week at Wedderburn in the knockout first semi-final where one of these two sides season will come to a close. For the Demons they have earned the right of a week’s break before taking on the improving Birchip-Watchem Bulls in what should be a good contest at Sea Lake.
Final score: Wycheproof-Narraport 17-13, 115 defeated Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers 8-8, 56
Best players for the Demons: Andrew Mead-Harding, Ricky Allan, James Coatsworth, Connor Burge, Chris Howgate and Tim Holobowski. Goals for Wycheproof-Narraport Andrew Mead-Harding 7, James Coatsworth 3, Adrian Pappin, Jason Coles, Matt Riordan, Ricky Allan, Chris Howgate, Julian Bull and George Turner.
Best for the Tigers: Billy McInnes, Jason & Brad Collins, Ryan O’Sullivan, Ryan Craig and Joel Clohesy.
Goals for the Tigers: Billy McInnes 4, Brad Collins 2, Joel Lloyd, Ryan O’Sullivan 1 each.
Birchip-Watchem v Charlton
With the double chance the major trophy the Bulls were chasing in their game against Charlton and it got away to a good start with the Bulls slamming on five first quarter goals and kept the Navy Blues goalless. Stephen Paulke who has been in good touch in the past few weeks continued that form into this game and he was providing the Bulls with a prime target up forward kicking two of the Bulls first three goals with the other coming from the returning Zac Holmes who kicked the opening goal. The Navy Blues who are usually good beginners could not match it with the Bulls in the first term and at the first break they trailed by thirty three points.
In the second term the Navy Blues was able to match it with the Bulls both on the scoreboard and in general play in the late part of the quarter. Haydn Carland extended the Bulls lead with the first goal of the quarter but that is when the Charlton side found some form and got the ball to Gunn who kicked the first of his three goals for the term. Paulke and Zac Holmes scored the Bulls other goals in the quarter and at the half time break the Bulls lead was thirty five points.
After half time the Bulls applied more pressure on the struggling Navy Blues as they added another five goals for the term while Charlton was only able to kick one goal one. Stephen Paulke added a further two goals to his tally as he closed in on the league’s leading goal kickers trophy. Zac Homes also added to his tally in this quarter and the two big men were just controlling the forward line with ease. At three quarter time with the game rapped up and a lead of around ten goals all the Bulls needed was the result of the game at Wycheproof to go their way and they would be elevated into second spot and the double chance was theirs.
In the final term scoring slowed with only three goals kicked for the quarter with two going to the Bulls both kicked by Stephen Paulke to bring his tally to seven for the day. The Navy Blues only goal being kicked by Connor Lee and at full time the Bulls had run out winners by over ten goals. The Bulls did secure second spot and a place in the second semi-final as their season continues while Charlton’s season has come to an end. Stephen Paulke was named amongst the Bulls better players with his seven goal haul along with Riley Hogan who was named best while Ben Hogan, Nathan Gordon, Charlie Hallam and Jacob Christie also featured in the spoils. Dean McKay was named best for Charlton with Kieran Sait, Aaron Walklate, Tom Finlay, Trent Cossar and Daniel Thiesz being named in their better players and Cody Gunn was their top goal kicker with four goals.
Final score Birchip-Watchem 15-12, 102 defeated Charlton 5-7, 37.
Donald v Wedderburn
With these two sides out of the finals action they were playing for a bit of pride and to end the season on a high. Donald had the use of a slight breeze in the first quarter and while they had plenty of the ball their conversion rate was well off the mark where they ten scoring shots in the first quarter with only two of those shots bringing up major scores but if they had of been able to reverse those scores the game would have been in their safekeeping for the rest of the day. Wedderburn was not able to register a goal until after the siren to end play in the opening term when Coach Danny Benaim goaled for the Redbacks.
In the second quarter Wedderburn used the breeze to their advantage but they didn’t get the start to the quarter they wanted when Sam Griffiths extended the Royal Blues lead out from eleven points to seventeen points. It was about this time that the Redbacks got a lucky break with Reiffel, Nathan Holt and Tom Campbell giving the Redbacks the lead. Seamus Young regained the lead for Donald with his second goal and late in the term the Redbacks kicked two late goals to take a four point lead to the halftime break.
With the contest even after the first two terms Daniel Pearce got the Royal Blues the start they were after with a goal then it was the Redbacks turn and after marking strongly in the square Jordan Hargreaves answered for the Redbacks. Donald again took the ball forward on many occasions and as they were in the first term they were again off target and it was late in the quarter before they could bring up major scores when Josh Potter and Daniel Pearce kicked goals to give the home side a small buffer over the Redbacks. Danny Benaim done as he did in the first quarter he posted a goal right on siren time to pull the margin back to seven points at three quarter time.
The final term seen the game up for grabs but the home side drew first blood with Werts posting their first goal. The Donald side posted three unanswered goal and skipped away to a handy lead and looked in control of the game but Wedderburn had a five minute burst where they had the ball in their forward line but could not get a goal when they needed it most and it was late in the quarter when Reiffel got his second but the game was gone and the Royal Blues got home by fifteen points to end their season on a high after the disappointing result of the previous week. For the Redbacks their season is also over and they will look to build a more competitive side in 2018.
Final scores Donald 11-17, 83 defeated Wedderburn 9-14, 68
Best for Donald: Tom Bell, Daniel Pearce, Bryan Beckham, Ben Roberts, Harry Cashin and Josh Potter.
Goals for Donald were shared by Seamus Young, Daniel Pearce, Josh Potter, Sam Griffiths, Darcy Harrison 2 each and Jacob Werts 1.
Best for the Redbacks: Nathan Holt, Callum Crisp, Tom Campbell, Hayden Polglase, Josh Wild and Robbie Tonkin. Goal Mark Reiffel, Danny Benaim 2, Tom Campbell, Brad Fryett, Callum Crisp, Jordan Hargreaves and Nathan Holt 1 each.
St Arnaud v Boort
In a close first term the Magpies and Saints went toe to toe with the Magpies winning the upper hand late in the quarter. The Magpies had some opportunities to set up a good score but missed the chances that you would expect them to get. Boort kicked four goals six points for the term to lead by ten points at quarter time. The Saints in their final game for the season had nothing to lose so they took it right up to the Magpies even though they were kicking into the wind.
With the use of the wind in the second term the Saints started to gel together as the posted five goals for the quarter and kept the Magpies to three goals as the game really tightened up. The Saints had Nick Coghlan and Harley Durward creating some issues for the Magpies defenders and when they went to half time the Saints good work had paid off as they had turned a ten point deficit into a five point lead.
In the third term the two sides went goal for goal for a large part of the term and it took until late in the quarter for the Magpies to shake off the Saints. Nolen and Jack Smith were lively around the goals and this was the difference in the two sides in this quarter. Boort kicked six goals to the Saints four in the quarter and at the final change the Magpies had regained the lead but it was not a match winning lead as the Saints were just over a kick behind them with one quarter to go in their season.
Boort finished the game off better than the Saints who looked in a good position to cause an upset but they could only manage the one goal in the final term and their season closed down with them losing to Boort by thirty one points. St Arnaud had rebuilding year and their young players would have got a lot out of the year and the future for the Saints looks bright in the next couple of years. As for Boort their season continues at Wedderburn next week when they take on the Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers and these two sides has had some close matches and next week will be very similar.
Final score Boort 18-11, 119 defeated St Arnaud `13-10, 88
Best for Boort: Duncan Trethowan, Aaron and Kieran Wilson, Corey Gregg, Kyle Manley and Mark Athanitis. Goals for Boort: Rohan Nolan, Jack Smith 4 Cam Chalmers, Richard Tibbett 3, Corey Gregg 2, Ben Gregg and Tim Rhook 1 each.
Best for the Saints: Harley Durward, Nick Coghlan, Jack & Jacob Tillig, Daniel London and Caleb Bloomer. Goals Nick Coglan & Harley Durward 3, Caleb Bloomer, Brady Tillig 2, Nick Baldwin, Jack Tillig and Mitch Egan 1 Each.
Next Week at Donaldson Park Wedderburn Saturday 26th August 2017
9.30 am Under 13’s Birchip-Watchem v Donald
10.50 am Under 16’ Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers v Donald
12.30 pm Reserves Boort v Wycheproof-Narraport
2.30 pm Seniors Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers v Boort
Last Modified on 22/08/2017 13:06