Last Sunday 8th September the Northern Knights took on the Eastern Ranges in a TAC Cup Semi-Final at VISY Park in Carlton. In perfect conditions for football it was the Ranges who go the early jump booting the first four goals of the match. The Knights were able to steady towards the middle of the quarter and got themselves back into the game with two goals from Kyle Langford. This helped the Knights reduce the difference but a late goal from Eastern left the margin at 15 points at quarter time. Inaccuracy in front of goal plagued both teams in the second quarter with a number of missed opportunities, Eastern however were able to outscored the Knights by a goal and extend their lead to 21 points by the main break. The Knights poor kicking for goal continued in the third as they effectively kicked themselves out of the contest with 2 goals 7 behinds for the term. The Ranges tall forwards were still a problem for the Northern defence and the margin was out to an even four goals at three quarter time. The game began to open up in the last stanza with the two teams kicking nine goals between them. The Knights were able to fight the game out to the end kicking 5 goals and winning the final quarter, but unfortunately still went down by 19 points. Liam Hunt was consistent throughout the day in the midfield and Josh Iacobaccio provided good run from defence. Jake Potter battled manfully against much taller opponents down back, while Jesse Tardio, Sam Switkowski and Garrett McDonagh all performed well.
The loss brought to an end the Northern Knights TAC Cup season, but there were a number of positives to take from the year. An improvement across a number of top aged players and significant contributions from some U/17 players helped the Knights rise up from 10th spot with only three wins in 2012 to making the second week of the finals with ten wins and one draw in 2013. The Knights wish all of our top-aged players the best for the upcoming AFL Draft in November and look forward to our bottom-aged players returning in Pre-season as strive to continue to improve in 2014.
Last Modified on 10/09/2013 13:35