Newcastle City have progressed through to the Black Diamond Cup Preliminary Final following a hard fought 41 point victory over Warners Bay at Newcastle No 1 Sportsground on Saturday.
In superb conditions the Blues were able to get the upper hand over the Bulldogs early in the second quarter and run away with the game in front of a parochial Blues crowd.
With a number of key players returning from injury the Blues were able to capitalise on their height around the ground with the potent forward line proving too dangerous for the Dogs to contain.
The first quarter was a typical physical encounter with both sides testing each other out. Inaccurate kicking from the Dogs who had the strong breeze behind their backs let the Blues off the hook early with the scores all tied up at quarter time Warners Bay two goals eight behinds 30 to Newcastle City's three goals two behinds 30.
In the second quarter the Blues were able to hold the Bay to a miserly one goal and one behind to three goals two behinds to take in a handy 13-point lead at half time. Mitch Niland was outstanding in the back line and repelled many a forward thrust along with his right-hand man Luke "Bottles" Rawnsley and the speedy Matt Enright. Cotter and Cleaver were really starting to cause headaches for the opposition on the wing and with Kempy and Buckets taking one mark after another the Blues were looking the better side.
As expected the Doggies came out scrapping in the third term and managed to reduce the lead back to just 10-points at three quarter time. Nick Woodhams continued his great form in the centre of the ground and with Clarkey and Kelso controlling the ruck the Blues were confident heading into the final quarter. Coach Burns called on his side to put the sleeper hold on the Dogs and with their season on the line the last quarter was a belter for the Blues.
Despite some wastefulness in front of goals the Blues managed to slam home four goals and seven behinds and keep Warners Bay scoreless in the final term to eventually win by 41-points.
The second half inaccuracy (5 goals and thirteen behinds) was a small let-down in a fantastic day for the Club with a week's rest awaiting the side before they take on either Cardiff or Terrigal-Avoca in a sudden death Preliminary Final at Killarney-Vale.
Goal Kickers: M. Kemp 2, C. Knight 2, D. Woerner 2, J. Kelly, J. Cleaver, M. Knight, N. Stewart, J. Burns
Best Players: L. Rawnsley, T. Cotter, M. Niland, M. Kemp, M. Enright, N. Woodhams
Players Player: Mitch Niland
Last Modified on 02/11/2006 14:46