Donald have breathed new life into the North Central Football League when they defeated St Arnaud at Lord Nelson Park. St Arnauds hold on top spot is now under pressure with the Royal Blues and Charlton just one game behind the Saints. Wycheproof-Narraport were never troubled by the Redbacks to run out winners by just under 100-points, this win now has the Demons a game and percentage clear of Birchip-Watchem who had the bye in this weeks round and front up to St Arnaud next week in what will be a must win match for both sides. Charlton were held to a reasonable score in the first half of their game against Boort but got away in the second half to record a good win.
St Arnaud v Donald
Donald went into this game knowing that they had to make a statement against the ladder leaders or they could just fall back into the pack and they got away to a percfect start with Young regidtering their first goal. St Arnaud were making forward moves but they were turned back by the Donald defence who kept the saints to just three points in the opening term. Donald were able to establish a seventeen point lead by quarter time and this boosted their confidence.
In the second quarter Donald again controlled the game with Haddow and Wyatt featuring in many of their attacking moves and Young was again giving the Royal Blues a focal point in front of goals. St Arnaud finally broke through for their first goal midway through the term but they were still being second to the ball and Donald took full advantage and by half time their lead had extended out to 31-points. Pearce and Garner came into the game in this quarter with plenty of possessions to set up many moves for their forwards. The Saints who were well held had good players in Baldwin and Batters doing their best to keep the Saints in the contest but were gaining little support from their teamates.
After the long break the Saints came out with a bit more purpose and were able to score early goals to pull the margin back and a couple of shot that went astray could have had them much closer. Donald regrouped and it wasn’t long before thay had regained a handy lead as they went on to outscore the Saints and take a lead of thirty eight points to the final break and things in the Saints camp were looking a little clum as they had no answeres to the dominance of the Royal Blues.
With their tails up the Donald side was preparing for a comeback from the St Arnaud team but this did not eventuate as they Donald defence again stood tall to restrict the Saints to just one major score for the final term. Donald were all over the Saints and posted another four goals to give them a win of fifty five points. This would turn out to be one of the best wins the club has had for some time with Yound being their top goal kicker with four and while they had plenty of good players their most consistent for the day was Haddow, Pearce, Garner, Murrie, Wyatt and Dunstan. The Saints will now look to regroup for their game next week when they take on Birchip-Watchem and they will again call on players like Baldwin, Batters, Bloomer, Thompson Goode, Wells and Looby to give them the spark they require to get back on track in their quest to win the Halfhide Cup.
Final scores Donald 14-11=95 def St Arnaud 5-10=40
Wedderburn v Wycheproof-Narraport
Wycheproof-Narraport were first to hit the scoreboard when Prestige opened up the scoring for the Demons. Ricky Allan kicked their next goal but from there the game started to get scrappy and neither side could get any rewards for their efforts. Wedderburn pushed the ball forward but could not get past half forward and from the rebound the ball went to the Demons end where Lourey posted their third goal. Late into the quarter Wedderburn got their first major through Tom Campbell and the Demons responded with two late goals to see them lead by 23-points at quarter time.
A few stern words from the Wedderburn Coach didn’t appear to make much difference to the Redbacks players who were just being outplayed by the Demons. The Demons had winners all over the ground and Wedderburn who were getting their share of the Sherrin just coundnt make it happen in the scoring department while the Demons were scoring with ease and at half way they held a convincing lead of 58-points and were in a strong position to go on and record a strong win even at this early stage and the Redbacks who had been held to just one major score for the half had a lot of work to do.
The third term produced much of the same as the first half with the Demons controlling the game and for the second quarter in a row they would hold the Redbacks goalless as they extended their lead out to 84-points at the final break. Once again the Demons had plenty contribute to their large lead, Joey Coatsworth was a prime mover for the Demons as was Rolly and Jesse White. The Demons were first to the ball and won many contests that was rewarded on the scoreboard where they posted twelve unanswered goals. It was the oppositite for the Redbacks who may have been further adrift only for Tonkin,Strange and Taylor who never gave up and were giving their all for the Redbacks for little return.
In the final quarter the scoring for the Demons slowed as could be expected as they had put a lot of effort into the first three terms to set up what would be a good win for the club. Wedderburn who kicked their first goal late in the first term and had not added a goal since then finally added another goal which would turn out to be their last for the day. Wycheproof-Narraport would go on to kick three goals in the final quarter to extend their winning margin out to 96-points in a game that would give them a real confidence booster as we draw closer to our finals series. Mead-Harding was the Demons main goal scorer with five and named amongst their better players which also included Howgate, Rolly and Jesse White, Joey Coatsworth and Binks. In a bad day for the Rdbacks they were able to find some best players in Tonkin, Strange, Taylor, Holt, Hayes and Jake DeAraugo.
Final scores Wycheproof-Narraport 17-13=115 def Wedderburn 2-7=19
Boort v Charlton
Boort coming of a bad loss in their previous game was out restore a bit of pride back into the club and they got off to a better start in their opening term and at the first break only trailed the Navy Blues by just two points. The Magpies effort in the first two quarters of their game against Charlton was a far cry fromm the previous week as they were able to hold the Navy Blues to a reasonable score to trail by four goals at half time.
After the half time break Charlton found another gear as they banged on seven goals in the term and were able to halt the Magpies scoring to just three points. Wilson for Boort was solid down back but the task to hold the Navy Blues was never going to last as they showed their authority to take control of the game and their lead at three quarter time was over ten goals.
In the final term Charlton added eight more goals to their tally while Boort was able to kick two more goals but Charltons margin of over 100-points at the end of play gave their percentage a great boost which may help their cause drawing closer to finals time with the competition being very tight and percentage may decide the final ladder positions.
Charltons goal scorers were James McGrath 5, Daniel Thiesz and Luke Kyriakides 4 each and for Boort Shaun Pearce kicked two. Better players for the Navy Blues, Aaron Walklate, Luke Kyriakides, Sam O’Connor, Dean McKay,James Baird and, Daniel Thiesz. Boorts best were Aaron Wilson, Keiran Wilson, Daniel Perry, Cam Chalmers, Joe Kane and Shaun Pearce.
Final scores Charlton 21-14=140 def Boort 5-8=38
Next week
St Arnaud v Birchip-Watchem Saturday
Wedderburn v Charlton Sunday (Worksafe game of the Month)
Byes
Donald, Boort and Wycheproof-Narraport
Last Modified on 03/08/2015 20:26