Wedderburn and St Arnaud staged an entertaining high scoring match at Donaldson Park but in the end it was the Saints getting home to collect another four points and their winning run rolls on after defeating Wedderburn by33-points, but it wasn’t before the league leaders got one hell of a fright from the Redbacks who held a handy 28-point lead at quarter time with all of Wedderburn’s six goals being kicked by Danny Benaim.
Boort matched it with Donald in the opening term but from there it was the Royal Blues who started to take control in the second period to run out winners by 61-points and at Birchip the Bulls led their contest against the Wycheproof-Narraport Demons from start to finish to claim the four points and move back into second spot on the ladder still trailing the Saints by three games with Donald now third and Charlton drop from second to fourth. Wycheproof-Narraport and Wedderburn sit outside the top four and Boort are yet to register a win for the season.
Wedderburn v St Arnaud
Wedderburn got away to a good start in the opening term when they were able to pile on six first quarter goals and hold the league leaders to just the one major score. Wedderburn’s Danny Benaim was on fire in the first term kicking all of the Redbacks six goals to set a strong foundation for the home side to build on in the coming quarters. The Saints appeared a little bit lost as the Redbacks dominated play with Bell and Hammond being prime movers for the Redbacks. The Saints sole goal scorer in the first term was Caleb Bloomer.
With a bit of ground to make up the Saints set sail to draw back the Redbacks lead and dominance of the game with Goghlan and McNamee getting the Saints started both kicking two goals for the quarter. The Saints were getting plenty of the ball and many of their forwards missing easy shots at goal resulting in them kicking 6-9 for the term and at half time they only trailed the Redbacks by just two points. Wedderburn were doing just enough to maintain the lead but the Saints were coming hard and starting to get their game together and if they could have kicked accurately then the half time lead would have been theirs but a couple of goals late in the term kept the Redbacks nose in front.
In the opening minutes of the third period it was St Arnaud’s time to take control and this they did with many players chiming in to register major scores and they kicked away to a handy lead and just as the game looked to be slipping away from the Redbacks they were able to strike back with late goals to be within a kick of the Saints at the final change.
St Arnaud as they did in the opening minutes of the third term again hit the score board to establish a handy lead which the Redbacks were having trouble pulling back. St Arnaud run the game out better than Wedderburn to defeat a much undermanned Redbacks who entered the game with nine regular players either unavailable or injured but all credit to the Saints who had James McNamee finished the game with six goals with Baldwin, Nathan Coghlan, Ben Batters and Kirk Looby being amongst their best. For the Redbacks Danny Benaim was their major goal scorer with nine, Luke Hammond was named best with Benaim, Bell and Hargreaves being their better players.
Final scores St Arnaud 19-24=138 def Wedderburn 16-9=105
Birchip-Watchem v Wycheproof-Narraport
Both sides entered this contest coming off loses in their previous games and both had a fair bit riding on the outcome of this game. Birchip-Watchem got the show on the road when Castellano kicked their first major and he repeated his effort moments later. Wycheproof-Narraports Ricky Allan responded for the Demons in what was turning into an even contest. At the first change the Bulls held an eight point lead.
In the second term the Bulls defended stoutly to restrict the Demons to just the one goal for the quarter while they were able to add a further two goals to their tally. Both sides were keen at the ball and there was many physical contests happening over the ground were both sides were doing their best to break the opposition. With only thirteen points between the two sides at half way the potential for the game to develop into a close contest in the second half. Castellano again featured in the goals in this term and Gilmore posted his first for the day, the Demons only goal coming from Mead-Harding.
After the break the Bulls were able to build on their first half efforts and posted four goals in the quarter and their defence was again holding the Demons out of their scoring zone to again restrict them to just one goal. Rick Allan was leading from the front for the Demons with Declan Lourey and Spencer Allan being better players in the term. For the Bulls Castellano was there dominant forward with five to this point and at the other end Jake Noonan was controlling the Bulls backline to also be in their best players and at three quarter time the Bulls lead was 28-points.
With the win looking to be a little further away than what the Demons would have liked entering the final period Prestige gave them a slim chance with a goal in the opening minute to bring the margin back under four goals but this was short lived when Messer restored the Bulls lead this was then followed by another Castellano goal, his sixth for the day and the Bulls lead kicked out to over five goals. Wycheproof-Narraports Rick Allan kicked his third goal for the day but his efforts were in vain as the Bulls posted another goal to extend the lead back out to the final margin of 34-points. This win now has the Bulls back in second spot and the Demons remain just out of the top four. Best players for Birchip-Watchem were Castellano, Greaney, Noonan and Sean Hogan. For the Demons, Declan Lourey, Rolly and Jesse White and Rob Binks.
Final scores Birchip-Watchem 12-10=82 def Wycheproof-Narraport 7-6=48
Boort v Donald
Boort and Donald had a very even contest in the opening quarter of their match at Boort where Boort was hoping to open their account and the Donald side looking to stake a claim on the top four. At the first change the difference between the two sides was just three points with both sides defending like their lives depended on it. Wilson for the Magpies was solid down back and for the Royal Blues Luke Fishers good form continued.
Donald started the second term better than Boort and was able to put a gap between themselves and the Magpies with Young starting to get free on a couple of occasions to add goals for Donald as they shot out to a handy lead heading towards half time. Boort through Pearce and Chalmers cut the Royal Blues lead back to just over four goals by the half time break.
In the third period Donald was able establish a bigger break over the Magpies as they posted six goals for the quarter and restricted Boort to just the two goals and at the end of the third quarter the Royal Blues lead had got out to fifty points and a big win was on the cards. Young kicked three goals for the term with Fisher kicking two and Garner getting into the action with one. Boort were held to two goals with Bleicher and Weaver being their two goal scorers.
Boort tried desperately to finish off the game in good style and keep the losing margin as low as possible and with early goals they were looking to achieve their goal. Donald regained their form and kicked goals to keep the Magpies at a reasonable distance and they retained a margin of over sixty points at the final bell. Young finished the day with seven goals and was named amongst the better players for Donald with Luke Fisher, Glenn Wyatt and Darcy Harrison also featuring. Boort who have shown signs of improvement over the past few weeks once again fell short but were far from disgraced can hold their heads high and while a win looks to be a bit off at the moments as we draw closer to the end of the season there is a chance that they may break through for a much needed win for the club.
Better players for Boort were Aaron Wilson, Dion Robertson, Sam Taylor and Cam Chalmers with Danny Harrison being the major goal kicker with three goals.
Final scores Donald 17-19=121 defeated Boort 9-6=60
Next week
Donald v Wedderburn
Wycheproof-Narraport v Boort
Charlton v Birchip-Watchem
St Arnaud bye
Last Modified on 15/07/2015 23:51