St Arnaud and Charlton staged an interesting first half in their game at Wycheproof where only four points separated the two sides at the half way mark. From half time onwards it was the Navy Blues from Charlton who dominated the game to run out comfortable winners and book a spot in their third grand final in as many years. For the Saints they were outplayed in the second half by Charlton and will have some serious thoughts go into their next game which is against Donald at Boort next week if they want to be there on the last day of the North Central calendar.
St Arnaud had a bad day all-round also losing both their reserves and under sixteens who also have to go through the sudden death preliminary finals matches. Wycheproof-Narrapport has advanced through to their first reserves grand final since 2005 and on their recent form, just maybe the side to beat. Donald and St Arnaud get their chance to have another shot at the Demons with the winner advancing through from next week’s preliminary final.
In the under sixteens game Wedderburn has earned the right to defend the premiership title from 2014 when they defeated a gallant St Arnaud by fifteen points. The Saints made most of the play in this game and it was just the Redbacks tall forwards that chimed in at the right time to get them over the line. St Arnaud now takes on Birchip-Watchem with the winner to earn the right for a rematch with the Wedderburn Redbacks on grand final day.
Boort who has been the ladder leader in the under thirteens competition, came up against a determined Birchip-Watchem side keen on booking a place in this year’s grand final. Boort had only dropped one game outright for the year and the closest any other side got to them was the young Bulls who had a draw with them in round eight. Boort must now defeat Donald to get another crack at the Birchip-Watchem thirteens who will be playing in their fourth grand final in a row winning with their last premiership in this grade being in 2013.
St Arnaud v Charlton
St Arnaud and Charlton entered this game with the ledger square with both sides having a win in the home and away season. Need’s put the Saints on the scoreboard with the first goal of the match after the Navy Blues had missed an earlier attempt register the first goal. Charlton won the ball from the centre and it landed in the hands of McLean who posted the Navy Blues first goal. Charlton continued to push the ball into their attacking zone for more positive results and added another four unanswered goals to kick out to a handy lead. Late in the quarter it was the Saints turn to put some respectability onto their score and through Nathan Coghlan and Daniel Needs they were able to reduce the Navy Blues lead back to eleven points at quarter time.
After the first stoppage the Saints found a new lease of life and started to get their game together and led by Coach James McNamee the Saints got the margin back to within a kick before Charlton’s Anthony Judd who had been causing a bit of havoc up forward kicked his second of five goals for the day. Both sides were defending stoutly and there was little scoring happening until deep into the term when the Saints banked on three late goals to give them a four point lead at half time.
After the halftime break the game turned into a one act affair where Charlton dominated the game as they put themselves in a good position to advance through to the grand final when they kicked five goals to the Saints solitary point for the quarter and went to the final change holding a handy 29-point lead with a quarter to go. Charlton had many good players to this point with Coach Aaron Walklate leading the way and was receiving good support from Judd, Sullivan and McLean for the Saints it was their coach in James McNamee showing the way with Bloomer, Durward and Coghlan being some of their better contributors.
With a grand final spot now looming as a real possibility for the Navy Blues, they were not about to take their foot off the pedal with Vigus and Judd extending their lead out to over forty points and the task for the Saints was getting bigger as the quarter went past the halfway mark.
Nathan Coghlan who had turned in a very serviceable game brought up the Saints first goal since the twenty minute mark of the second term, his third for the day but it was to no avail as the Navy Blues had locked in their Grand Final spot for the third year in a row and now must be rated as a good chance to take out the Halfhide Cup with their last premiership being in 2009 where they defeated Donald by two goals. The Saints will now need to regroup before their match against Donald next week. Both Donald and St Arnaud have had wins in their home and away matches with the Saints having a two to one lead over the Royal Blues but that will count for nothing in next week’s sudden death playoff for a place in the grand final against Charlton.
Final scores Charlton 14-18=102 def St Arnaud 8-7=55
Best for Charlton: Aaron Walklate, Anthony Judd, Zane Sullivan, Dean McKay, Rhys Thompson and Luke Kyriakides. Goals Anthony Judd 5, Joe McLean, Mark Vigus 2, Joe McGrath, Aaron Walklate, Dean McKay, James Baird and Michael Laffin 1 each.
Best for the Saints: James McNamee, Caleb Bloomer, Luke Wells, Nathan Coghlan, Harley Durward and Kirk Looby. Goals Daniel Needs and Nathan Coghlan 3, James McNamee and Kirk Looby 1 each.
Next Week Preliminary Final at Boort
Seniors St Arnaud v Donald 2.30 pm
Reserves St Arnaud v Donald 12.30 pm
Under 16’s St Arnaud v Birchip-Watchem
Under 13’s Boort v Donald
Last Modified on 08/09/2015 12:59