Reining North Central Football League premiers Wedderburn celebrated the unfurling of their fourth premiership pennant in fine style with a convincing victory over their opposition of the past two grand finals in Charlton at Donaldson Park.
At Cobram Park Estate Oval Boort, the home side came up against an improving Birchip-Watchem side who gave a strong notice that they will be well in the mix come September.
The St Arnaud Saints hosted the Demons from Wycheproof-Narraport and with a fine effort from veteran full forward Daniel Needs with nine goals, the home side got their first premiership points for 2015.
All host clubs reported good crowds for the kick off for the 2015 season with many reporting that it was great to have the footy, netball and hockey back.
Boort v Birchip-Watchem
Boort entered this game with one of the youngest senior teams they have ever presented in the North Central against the Bulls from Birchip-Watchem. In their last meeting these two sides played for a spot in the 2014 finals, with the sides playing out a draw with Birchip-Watchem won through to play finals due to a greater percentage.
The Bulls have done well in the recruiting department and were keen to show off the results of the off season and they were not let down. Matt Gilmore from Eaglehawk rewarded the Bulls faith with an opening round ten goals and was well supported by last years leading goal kicker at the Bulls in Daniel Castellano with seven goals.
Birchip-Watchem controlled the game from the outset and with the enthusiasm of the possibility of future fortune in sight the visitors had plenty of winners throughout the day against the young Boort Magpies who were best served by their coaches in Sam Taylor and Aaron Wilson. Jack Smith was good for the Magpies but there efforts could not match the overall dominance of the game from the Bulls. In the end Birchip-Watchem run out winners by over 150 points and their future looks bright, while Boort will be hoping to add some key players to help the young group develop in 2015 and if that cannot happen it looks like a long year for Boort who have lost a large group of the 2014 seasons playing group.
Final scores Birchip-Watchem 25-12=162 def Boort 1-3=9
Best for Birchip-Watchem: M. Gilmore 10 goals, Paul Messer, Daniel Castellano 7 goals, Sam Martin, Sam O’Loughlan.
Best for Boort: Aaron Wilson, Jack Smith, Sam Taylor, H. McConnell, S. Pearce and J. Thorp.
St Arnaud v Wycheproof-Narraport
St Arnaud got the points over the Demons in what was a reasonably close contest form the outset. St Arnaud took the honours in the first term to take a five point lead to the first change with their prime recruit Luke Wells giving a strong showing in his first outing for the Saints. The Demons also unveiled their top line recruit in Chris Howgate who also showed that he will be a great inclusion for the Demons.
Both sides were very competitive in the second with the balance of power not fluctuating to any great advantage for the majority of the term with the Saints going to the main break holding a nine point lead.
As was the formula in the first half neither side could get any great break from their opposition. St Arnaud again proved superior but only just as they increased their lead out to two goals with a term to go but the game was well and truly in the balance with Needs doing his job at full forward for the home side and Mead-Harding doing his part to keep the Demons within touch of gaining their first points for the 2015 season.
With the margin not that great both side were keen to breakaway and it took until midterm for the Saints to gain a winning margin. With the never say die attitude of the Demons they set about pulling back the Saints lead, this they were able to do but the clock was against them as they fell short of the Saints lead by 17=-points at full time.
Final scores St Arnaud 15-10 def Wycheproof-Narraport 11-17=83
Needs with nine goals was the Saints best and he had good support from Wells, McNamee, M. Goode, Tillig and Vassallo. Wycheproof-Narraport new recruits Mead-Harding, 5 goals and Chris Howgate were the Demons best with locals in Jesse and Rory White, Ben Brennan and George Turner turning in serviceable games.
Click Here for Photo's of Saints v Demons (Opens in new page)
Wedderburn v Charlton
In a replay of last year’s grand finalists Wedderburn and Charlton faced off at Donaldson Park. With the unfurling of the 2014 premiership flag behind them the Redbacks drew first blood after an even start from both sides. The Redbacks showed that with the loss of a couple of top key forward and some premiership players moving on they will still have a fair say in the outcome of this year’s finals results. In the opening term neither side gained any advantage but the Redbacks who were off target could have established a bigger margin than a 13-point lead at the first break.
In the second quarter Wedderburn set about making a break away and to a small degree they were successful going to half time with a thirty point lead and having the Navy Blues only kicking the one goal for the half.
Both sides were giving a good display of their skills but at times both sides concentration was lacking with both missing targets from close range but the contest was providing plenty of entertainment.
As the teams headed to the final change Charlton had registered their second goal but the Redbacks were still well in control and in a comfortable position and the Navy Blues would have to produce a big turnaround in their scoring department if they were going to claim victory over the Redbacks in the season’s opener.
In the final term the Redbacks were able to extend their lead out to 51-points with the Navy Blues only able to kick a couple of late goals to pull back the Redbacks lead to the final margin. Regardless of the outcome of this match both sides will benefit from this game and the indications of the day would point to both sides still being strong contenders deep into September.
Wedderburn’s Jake Hayes was clearly BOG and had good support from Cam Perry, Brett Strange, Luke Phelan, Jacob DeAraugo and Corey Lowry. Charlton’s best were Luke Kyriakidies, Zane Sullivan, Daniel Thiesz, Joe McLean, Anthony Judd and James Baird.
Final scores Wedderburn 11-18=84 def Charlton 4-9=33.
Next Week
Birchip-Watchem v Wedderburn
Charlton v St Arnaud
Wycheproof-Narraport v Donald
Boort Bye
On a sad note in the game, Charlton’s Tom Finlay who was playing his first game back from a knee reconstruction unfortunately went down and injured his other knee and the signs did not look good for Tom, who may have to go through another twelve months of operations and rehabilitation, we all wish that Toms injury results are in the better area.
Last Modified on 14/04/2015 11:29