Navarre & Maldon and Lexton & Carisbrook battle for Grand Final berth.
The Bendigo Bank Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League Preliminary Finals takes place at Princes Park this Saturday and Sunday and big crowds are expected to attend a couple of real crowd pleasing games.
Lexton are back on track after a surprise loss to Maldon a fortnight ago, but finished the game strongly with a ten goal final quarter against Newstead in Last Sunday’s Semi Final.
It was not all one way traffic however as they had to fight hard to shake the Steaders who led by a point at half time and the Tigers took control late in the third term to lead by ten points at the final change.
Lexton have been hit by injuries to key players for the early part of the final series and will be hoping to welcome back century goalkicker Matt Brown to the fold this week, while chief playmaker Nic Locandro is also expected back and the leader of the defensive pack in Mark Shaw is also hoping to be fully recovered from his injuries.
Carisbrook has a full list to pick from, other than Jake Bucknall, and will be confident of their chances as the Tigers have never beaten the Redbacks since joining the MCDFNL last season.
Carisbrook players were sitting on the sidelines watching Lexton defeat Newstead on Sunday and will have taken notice of what areas to concentrate on to shut down the Tigers.
This will be a game worthy of Grand Final Status and a big crowd is expected to attend with both clubs having a big following. There can only be one winner though and Lexton will be eager to shut down the talk of there failing in finals, and this could be the game that see’s them do so, but it will only be by a narrow margin if that is the case.
Navarre v Maldon
Will it be Navarre advancing to their second consecutive MCDFNL Grand Final or Maldon back for their second in three years? That’s the big question in the lead up to what looms as a mighty Preliminary Final clash this Saturday.
Navarre took their game to a new level in the Semi Final clash against Trentham to steam to a 38 point victory. Maldon on the other hand sit waiting fresh following their instant entry to the Preliminary Final stage after pipping Lexton by 3 points in the Qualifying Final.
In what promises to be a tight contest, with the two occasions that the two teams have met this Season, have seen Navarre prevail in shoot out fashion.
The margins of those matches were two and sixteen points respectively highlighting that the two teams are evenly matched.
Navarre will fancy that they can generate enough run to trouble the Maldon side and it will be up to their prime movers to use the ball efficiently.
Daniel Reading who was a joint winner of the Rookie of the Year award is one player the Grasshoppers will hope is in full flight, while Brian Lovison and Coach Daniel Parkin are others with plenty of speed and evasive powers to help set play up.
Maldon have had plenty of finals experience in recent years including the successful 2010 campaign when they score a gutsy come from behind Grand Final victory over Avoca.
Patty Cummins, Sean Burchell, Dave Carroll and Tom Cain were all members of that triumphant win and will be an integral part of setting up another opportunity on the big stage this Saturday.
Tom Cain finished Runner-Up in the Berry Powell award on Monday evening, highlighting the fine season he has had. Leigh Harrison was well held in the Qualifying Final encounter victory over Lexton and his ability to bounce back and present well in forward fifty will be crucial in this contest.
It’s a fantastic opportunity for these two teams to forge ahead to the Season decider after spending the home & away series in the shadows of the more fancied Lexton and Carisbrook.
Given that the two have scored freely in contests head to head this season the team that his able to push themselves defensively will be in the box seat.
A prediction is a tough one given the match is set to hang in the balance for the best part of the clash and that the team that converts in the big moments will collect the chocolates.
Based on the fact that Navarre have won both their 2012 encounters and hit this contest in a confident manner following their victory over Trentham they present as a slight favourite to record a victory of ten points and create another opportunity to win their first MCDFNL Premiership.
Last Modified on 14/09/2012 13:18