First Semi Final – Lexton v Royal Park
The Bendigo Bank Maryborough Castlemaine District Football & Netball League’s First Semi Final this year will be the battle of the Tigers when the Lexton Tigers will meet the Royal Park Tigers at Princes Park on Saturday.
After winning fifteen games in succession, Lexton lost their Qualifying Final to Carisbrook in a very tough and hard fought contest, while Royal Park were victorious in their Elimination Final against Campbells Creek.
Royal Park come into this game full of confidence after defeating Campbells Creek and with the attitude that anything can happen in finals, which will see them provide some tough competition for Lexton who will go into the game as favourites having finished second on the ladder, and were also untroubled when these two sides met in round 12 and back in round 7.
Lexton are a more experienced unit at finals time, which will also give them the competitive edge over Royal Park who are very inexperienced at finals level, having played in their first final since 2005 last weekend.
Matthew Brown shines on the big stage and will relish the opportunity to kick a bag of goals on Princes Park, and he will probably be matched up by Matthew Walker, or someone that has plenty of pace such as Ben McKay, who is very strong in defence. Jimmy Shelton is also one that is solid across the back half and will need to be at his best if Bushy are to continue further in the finals race.
There is also the Darren Jolly factor. Jolly has played a number of games now for Lexton, has some match fitness under his belt and is ready to fire, so it would not surprise if he finishes with a handful of goals to his name.
Lexton has dominated out of the middle all season and whoever wins in this area will win the game, so Royal Park will have to shut down Damon Aspland, James Templeton & co to have any chance.
While Royal Park has definitely shown signs of improvement this season, form suggests that Lexton should be victors and will move onto meet Navarre in the Preliminary Final, but the Royal Park juggernaut is more than capable of a surprise upset.
Lexton
B: Nathan Barnes, Joel Williams, Bryce Karslake
HB: James Templeton, Jordan Phelan, Nicholas Spolding
C: Trevor Johnson, Lachlan Murray, Thomas Fisher
HF: James Cusack, Darren Jolly, Lachlan Pryor
F: Justin White, Matthew Brown, Michael Jennings
R: Nigel Reid, Damon Aspland, Michael Smith
Int: Lewis Alexopoulos, Riley Browne, Timothy Oliver
Emg: Dean Murray, Patrick Pekin, Cohan Poulton
In: Lewis Alexopoulos, Justin White, Joel Williams, Riley Browne
Out: Ashley Davies, Daniel Chester, Matthew Torpey, Justin Hobson
Royal Park
B: Zachary Dunne, Ben McKay, Matthew Walker
HB: James Shelton, William Short, Kayne Wilson
C: Shane Gray, Trent Pye, Sam Anderson
HF: Hamish Blake, Zachary Tunbridge, Ben Clay
F: Jarrod O'Connor, Zachary Stewart, Jacob Cahill
R: Dylan McLean, Jay Anderson, Brendan Birch
Int: Oliver Schmidt, Taylor Stewart, Brendan Murdoch, Thomas Quick
Emg: Zack Short, Jayden Humphrey
In: Taylor Stewart, Oliver Schmidt
Second Semi Final – Natte Bealilba v Newstead
Natte Bealiba and Newstead are set to slug it out for a preliminary final berth in the second week of the MCDFNL's finals series this Sunday.
While the Roos are coming fresh off the back of an elimination final defeat of Talbot in the first weeek of the finals series, Natte suffered a loss in its bruising qualifying final clash against Navarre on Saturday, however the Swans have had an extra day to recover from their clash.
Chief among Natte Bealiba coach Shane Green's concerns will be just how to stop the influence of Newstead swingman Mark Ramsey. Despite being sidelined for a large chunk of the 2014 MCDFNL season with a neck injury, which many believed may have forced him to end his career, Ramsey almost singlehandedly swung the result of the Roos' clash with Talbot with a five-goal haul, just when the Hawks looked like overrunning the Steaders. Natte has plenty of key defensive options, led by Chris Jardine, Jack Kennedy and Jamie Evans, with Evans possibly the most logical match-up for the high-flying Roo.
Stephen Ross and Tom Douglas will be the Swans that need stopping if the Steaders are to overcome Natte. Despite taking a battering against Navarre in last Saturday's qualifying final, Ross has proven time and time again that he is a key finals performer, while Douglas cemented his status as one of the competition's brightest rising stars with a standout display against the Grasshoppers. If the Roos are to overcome the Swans, Newstead coach Ross Smith will have to find a way to halt the run of these two key performers, along with small forward Ryan Weir, who booted four majors last week.
Natte Bealiba
B: Jack Kennedy, Christopher Jardine, Nathan Ross
HB: Dean Graco, Jamie Evans, Trent Mortlock
C: Thomas Douglas, Lachlan Cameron, Jared Hall
HF: Stephen Ross, Kurtis Torney, Zachary Perez
F: Ryan Weir, Kurt Mortlock, Matthew Stagg
R: Tyson Mortlock, Jacob Long, Brent Mortlock
Int: Evan Weir, Daniel Gifford, Jason Hunt, Joshua Tong
In: Daniel Gifford, Jason Hunt, Joshua Tong
Out: Brayden Mills, Karl Morley, Brandon Mason
Newstead
B: Patrick Cummins, Ben Krol, Shane Mcnabb
HB: Michael Dalrymple, Adrian Conn, Bradley Richardson
C: Jonty Entwisle, Nathan Webster, Adam Hunter
HF: Zachary Tanner, Liam Bright, Ethan Ford
F: Daniel Christmas, Mark Ramsey, Joel Smith
R: Tom Ruggles, David Wall, Joel Pearson
Int: Cameron Hepburn, Ashley Webster, Jayden Bott, Matthew Manning
Last Modified on 06/09/2014 08:59