Avoca v Navarre
Navarre tuned up their finals preparations at the Avoca Public Park on Saturday with a thirty-eight point victory over a gallant Avoca.
The match was a scrappy affair with both teams finding it difficult to get clean possession of the ball. Navarre was missing key defenders in Brent Flood and Luke Hendy while Ben Scott, Ash Driscoll and Kris Brennan were also notable absentees from their forward half, while the Bulldogs went into the game without midfielder Beau Ketchen. The Grasshoppers set up their win by scoring the only three goals of the opening quarter despite several attacking thrusts by the Bulldogs.
The Grasshoppers played some of their promising youngsters in Josh Fowkes, Cody Driscoll and Aaron Slorach and all three youngsters showed that they are worthy of senior selection, with Driscoll in particular providing a strong presence in the forward half.
Navarre had the Bulldogs measure for most of the game, however the home team outplayed the Grasshoppers in the final term, but the game was always in Navarre’s keeping as they were better structured and delivered the ball well into their forwards, while Avoca tended to kick to a contest for the majority of their forward entries allowing the Navarre defenders to clear the ball from the scoring zone.
The Bulldogs will be happy with their final term and will now look forward to the Elimination Final against Natte Bealiba next Sunday, while Navarre will be facing Newstead in the Qualifying Final on Saturday.
Maldon v Campbells Creek
A strong second half showing by Maldon has provided them the opportunity to play finals football after they ran away with the game over Campbells Creek on Saturday by fifty six points.
The win has seen the Bombers finish in eighth spot, replacing Talbot after the Hawks were defeated by Harcourt.
Wayne Burchell, Jake Elliott and Tim Conway were very solid for the Bombers, while Hayden Kelly and Shaun Burchell continued their good form through the midfield allowing the Bombers to get first use of the ball and Burchell also finished the game with four goals as did Kyle Winstanley.
Joel Smith was again the best player for Creek and he was well supported by Aaron Murray and John Prendergast, with Chris Stone being the key contributor up forward with three goals.
While the season has ended for Campbells Creek, Maldon will face up to Harcourt in the Elimination Final on Sunday.
Dunolly v Carisbrook
Carisbrook recorded a massive 202 point win over Dunolly on Saturday at Deledio Park to complete an undefeated home-and-away season, led by a standout performance by Nathan Wright who kicked twelve goals to take out the MCDFNL Leading Goalkicker award.
Wright was unstoppable as Carisbrook completely dominated play, setting the tone of the game with a ten goal opening term and finishing strongly with a twelve goal final term.
It was a disappointing end to the season for the Eagles, but also sends a message to the finals contenders that the Redbacks are up and about as we enter the most important part of the season.
The Redbacks shared their goals amongst eleven different players, so it is evident that they do not just rely on Nathan Wright up forward. Jackson Bowen is back to full strength after a mid season knee injury and finished with six goals and Travis Cornwill has also been in goof form recently and also slotted four goals.
Dunolly coach Tony Bellenger once again led the way for the Eagles and he had support from Israel Mofalesi but the dominance of the Carisbrook midfield was too much for the Eagles in a one sided contest.
Dunolly’s season has come to a close, while Carisbrook will now face Lexton in the Qualifying Final on Saturday.
Trentham v Lexton
Lexton ventured down to Trentham for the final game of the home and away season and it was plain sailing as they tuned up for the upcoming finals series with a big 133 point win over the Saints.
Matt Brown was in good form once again in front of the big sticks slotting a ten goal haul, but it was another best on ground performance from Damon Aspland that won the ball through the middle for the Tigers and support from Daniel Chester that allowed Brown to dominate the scoring area for the Tigers.
The Saints did finish the game strongly on Saturday with coach Clayton Scoble leading the way again for Trentham and despite the Saints finishing down the ladder, he will be making plans for the future as he has a good list of young talent coming through the ranks.
Lexton will now have to face the might of the Redbacks next Saturday in the Qualifying final and it will be a tough contest as the boys from Carisbrook are yet to be defeated, but the Tigers have finished the season strongly and will look forward to the challenge.
Natte Bealiba v Newstead
Natte Bealiba has suffered a devastating one goal loss to Newstead in the final round of the MCDFNL season.
The Swans led for the majority of the day, and late in the final term, it appeared Natte would pull off a win over the third-placed Roos, despite being reduced to having no bench left, before a late flurry of goals saw the Roos get up, 11.8 (74) to 9.14 (68).
The Swans were left to rue some inaccurate kicking, especially in the final term, letting a two-goal lead slip as the Roos ran over the top. Injuries to Zac Perez, who had slotted four goals before being consigned to the bench for the second half with a hamstring strain, Matt Stagg (hamstring), Ben Weir (shoulder) and Chris Jardine (calf) made life even tougher for the Swans, especially without Mark Fitzgerald and Ryan Weir.
With spearhead Daniel Christmas kept to just one goal, Newstead skipper Mark Ramsey went forward to wreak havoc, slotting six majors as the Swans struggled to contain him, while Tom Reece booted two. Christmas, Joe Park, Ramsey and Jayden Bott were the Roos' best on the day, while Daniel Gifford, Brent Mortlock and David Miles were the Swans' best.
Maryborough Rovers v Royal Park
Royal Park has ended it's 2013 season on a high with a 25 point win over arch rivals Maryborough Rovers on Saturday.
The Tigers managed to hold off a fast finishing Rovers to score a 17.11 (113) to 14.4 (88) win.
The Tigers exploded out of the blocks with a seven goal first term and managed to hold on to it's lead for the remainder of the day, with Zac Stewart slotting six and Jibb Iglesias celebrating his 150th game with four goals, while Corey Taylor slotted four goals for Rovers.
Iglesias, Dylan McLean, Stewart and Ben McKay were the Tigers' standouts, while Brent Ritchie, ruckman Matt Stiles, Taylor and Travis Moschetti were Rovers' best.
Harcourt v Talbot
Harcourt has shot down Talbot's finals hopes in flames with a massive 66 point win over the Hawks.
Talbot needed to score an upset win in order to snare a finals berth, however the Lions had other plans, recording a 14.11 (95) to 4.5 (29) win.
Four goals to Kyle McLean and three to Matt Giri was the catalyst for the Lions' resounding win, which began with a five-goal first term and never let up from there, giving Harcourt a massive boost of momentum heading into this week's finals series.
Scott Newton, Paul Chaplin, Nathan Mitchell and Jason Adlington were the Lions' best, while Trent Barras slotted two goals for the Hawks and featured amongst his sides' best along with David Clark, Tim Solomon and Boe Gilmore.
Last Modified on 26/08/2013 17:47