St Arnaud v Charlton
Charlton as usual got away to a better start than their opposition and used the dry ball well to take an eleven point lead to the first break. Witnessed by a large crowd at Lord Nelson Park, where the home side was celebrating past premierships, Charlton was on target in the opening term kicking four goals to the Saints two and were handling the conditions better.
In the second quarter Charlton defended strongly to defend their lead they had achieved in the first term and while it was reduced slightly they held sway by 8-points at the main break. Conditions probably robbed the large crowd of what in better conditions would have been a great contest displaying the high level of skills both teams are blessed with. Charlton would have gone to the main break feeling reasonably confident that they could repeat the feat of the first round when they defeated the Saints by 22 points, but the game was still in the balance and conditions were not getting any better.
St Arnaud struck first blood in the third term when Cunningham put the Saints within two-points of the ladder leaders. The defence of the Saints was doing a solid job in turning back the Navy Blues forward attacking moves, with Torin Petrie leading the way for the home side. The Saints was able to hit the front half way through the quarter, but were off target on many occasions. In this term they were able to put their stamp on the game and by the quarters end they had turned an eight point deficit into a 16-point lead in a term where they held Charlton scoreless.
In the final term the players were showing the signs that the hard contest was taking its toll on many players and this was relayed via the scoreboard where neither side was able to register a major score. Five points was all that could be added to the scores in the final term, two to the Saints and three to the Charlton side who were unable to kick a goal in the second half and at the end of the game would go down by 15-points. Charlton’s second half score tallied three points, a big turnaround from their previous weeks win over the Bulls. Charlton has some work to do in the coming weeks if they are to hold onto the double chance and unable to add any further points next week as they have the bye.
Final scores St Arnaud 8-13=61 def Charlton 7-4=46
Best for the Saints: McNamee, Stewart, Tillig, Grigg, Pupangamirri, and Petrie. Major goal kickers: Cunningham 3, Lantjin 2.
Best for Charlton: Thompson, Mulquiny, D.Thiesz, Roberts, A. Walklate, Lawry.
Major Goal kicker: T. Finlay 2.
Wedderburn v Boort
Wedderburn were first on the board when McCarthy goaled from the 50-meter line, shortly after he added another and the Redbacks who had recalled some key players looked good in the wet conditions. Boort got their first goal through Van der Zande after they were unsuccessful in earlier attempts. The Redbacks ended the quarter with a seven point lead.
In the second term both sides were having plenty of difficulty controlling the ball and many simple mistakes were occurring. Wedderburn small man Cam Weston soccered one off the ground for full points and after marking his shot from about forty out carried the pack for his second. Rice who had been moved up forward and Nuttal goaled for the Magpies and just on siren time McKay brought up the Redbacks third goal for the term to give them a fifteen point lead at halfway.
Things tightened up in the third quarter with Boort putting the heat on the Wedderburn side, Henningson was dangerous and his two goals brought the margin back to just four points in favour of Wedderburn at the final change. Sam Barnes was the Redbacks only goal scorer in this term.
With less than a goal separating these two sides with a quarter to go it was Wedderburn who got off to a better start in this final term with goals to McHugh and two to Taylor to give the Redbacks a strong hold over the Magpies. Reiffle put the final stamp on the result when he was freed and made no mistake. Wedderburn finished the game off better to record a much need win over Boort by 28-points. Wedderburn now re-enters the top four at the expense of Boort.
Final scores: Wedderburn 12-7=79 def Boort 7-9= 51
Best for Wedderburn: Rose, McHugh, McKay, Benaim, McIvor and Tonkin.
Major Goal kickers, Barnes, Taylor, Weston, Reiffel, McCarthy 2 each
Best for Boort: J. Lanyon, Henningson, Hodoras, Rice, Fitzpatrick, Buchanan.
Goals: Rice and Henningson 2 each.
Birchip-Watchem v Donald
Birchip –Watchem recorded their first win for 2013 when they triumphed over Donald at George Cartwright Oval at Birchip by 10-points. Donald kicked out to a big lead in the opening term to lead by 30-points at the first change and the stage looked set for them recording another win.
The Bulls had nothing to lose in this quarter and they threw everything at the Royal as the marched to a 10-point lead at half time. Kicking seven goals for the quarter the Bulls stunned the Donald side who could only manage one major for the term.
Neither side could get the required break in the third quarter as goals for the term totalled zero with only three points being scored in shocking conditions.
The final quarter seen the Bulls determination shown through, they were not going to let their best chance for the year slip from their grasp. They added two goals to maintain their lead of just under two goals, but under the conditions this was more like a four goal lead. Donald managed to match the Bulls in goals for the final quarter but they would fall short by 10-points, this now has all but closed any slim chance they had of playing finals, as for the Bulls I would imagine the celebrations kicked off straight away and would be a pretty fair night in Birchip.
Final scores: Bulls 10-8=68 def Donald 9-4=58
Best for the Bulls: Z. Holmes, J. Hogan, J. Noonan, S. Anderson, Postlewaite and Gilla. Goals Gilla 2
Best for Donald: Gilmour, McAllister, Newell, O’Rourke, Bell Goals all singles.
Next Week
Wycheproof-Narraport v Boort
Wedderburn v Birchip-Watchem
Donald v St Arnaud
Charlton Bye
Last Modified on 16/07/2013 15:59