by Kris Neil
The Northern Blues Amateurs have stormed into the preliminary finals with a commanding 67-point victory over Albert Park at Meade Reserve on Sunday.
An eleven-goal third quarter blitz steered the Blues to victory, as Co-Captain Todd Beames lead from the front with five goals in his second game back from injury.
Lachlan Holmes used clean hands at the stoppages to compliment Beames’ effort up forward kicking a season-high four goals in the clash.
Speaking post-game, Beames said it was integral to come out firing after half-time against the Falcons, who mounted a come-from-behind win against the Blues in Round 12.
“It was crucial to get a good start against them and ensure that we continued with that intensity for four quarters,” Beames said. “We knew that if we kept our foot on the pedal we were going to snuff out any chance of a comeback”
Beames told Northern Blues Amateurs Media thatthe group placed a big focus on getting the ball into the hands of elite ball-users such as Daniel Wakim coming out of the backline.
“We know what Albert Park are capable of so we knew what was expected of us coming into the game,” said Beames. “We tried to get the ball into the hands of our best kickers and move the ball quick rebounding out of defensive fifty.”
Dean Calcedo was clinical in his counter-attacking role off half-back, instigating numerous coast-to-coast Blues’ goals to continue his scintillating run of form.
Reed Jepson and Olsen Clark were both stellar in defence, working harmoniously to chop off opposition forwards as the third-man up in marking contests.
For the Falcons, James Brick was the only multiple goal-kicker with three majors for the afternoon.
Nathan Cattle also capped off his fantastic season to find himself among Albert Park’s best players for the seventh time.
Albert Park restored some respectability to the scoreboard with five unanswered goals in the final quarter after trailing by as much as 96-points at three quarter time.
The Blues now take on Emmaus St Leos in the preliminary final after they fell to Richmond Central by 11-points in their qualifying final.
Northern will have an opportunity to earn promotion for the second consecutive season in that contest, with the two grand finalists moving into Division 2 in 2015.
Emmaus and Northern split their two regular season matches with one win apiece, the Blues won their most recent match-up by 25-points at Bennettswood Reserve in Round 15.
“It’s business as usual down at the Anthill this week.” Beames said. “Emmaus have been a great side all year so we’re looking forward to a massive game on Saturday.”
Last Modified on 09/09/2014 13:32