North Centrals football season got off to a good start with close games at all venues. Charlton gained a little revenge over St Arnaud after their narrow loss in last year’s grand final, with the Navy Blues getting home by thirty three points. New team Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers trip to Birchip looked like it would be a sweet trip home but the Tigers dropped their guard in the final term to go down by eleven points. One of the major contenders for this year’s finals Donald had to fight hard to get the four points against a much improved Boort. Donald finally got the job done winning by eleven points.
Wycheproof-Narraport kick started their season in good fashion defeating the Wedderburn Redbacks by twenty three points.
St Arnaud v Charlton
After unfurling their 2015 premiership flag the Saints set about to defend their win over the Navy Blues in last year’s grand final and all looked promising in the opening term with the Saints leading by thirteen points at quarter time.
Charlton made a better start to the second term as they cut back the Saints lead with Gunn leading the charge and he was getting good support from Coach Aaron Walklate and this lifted the side from their quarter time deficit of thirteen points to a lead of twenty two points at the main break. St Arnaud was unable to add to their first quarter lead and was held scoreless in this quarter in a game that was of a high standard for round one of the year.
With the aid of a slight breeze the Saints clawed their way back to reduce the Navy Blues lead and by the end of the quarter they were just four points adrift but still in the fight for the four points. Vassallo and Bloomer were instrumental in getting the home side back in the game and the backline of the Saints was holding back any moves forward from Charlton and restricted them to just the one major for the quarter. Aaron Walklate and Luke Mulquiny were solid for the Navy Blues in their efforts to keep the Saints from hitting the front.
The stage was set for a great last term with four points separating last year’s grand finalists. Charlton made full use of the wind and added quick goals to give them some breathing space. Gunn and Joe McGrath were giving the Navies a focus up forward and they responded. Charlton then took total control of the game and run out thirty three point winners and for the second time for the game kept the saints scoreless in the term. Aaron Walklate, Dean McKay, Mulquiny, Kyriakides, Ben Walklate and Rhys Thompson being named as their best. Gunn was the major goalkicker with 5 and Joe McGrath 3. The Saints best was batters, Bloomer and Matthew Goode.
Final score Charlton 13-16=94 defeated St Arnaud 9-7=61.
Birchip-Watchem v Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers
New team into the North Central Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers got their season away to a good start shooting out to an early lead against a new look Bull’s team which included at least ten new players.
Sea Lake Nandaly took a handy nineteen point lead to the first change and all looked good in their first encounter in the North Central League.
Both sides matched motors in the second quarter with both finding avenues to goal hard to find. The Bulls won the quarter but still were in arrears by ten points at the half time interval.
Doering was solid up forward for the Tigers and this helped the visitors keep their noses in front for the first half. Matt Elliott in the middle was also causing the Bulls a fair bit of havoc as he gained many possessions. New players for the Bulls in Wilson and Sirett were giving a good site of things to come as they gained their share of the Sherrin.
After the main break with only ten points between the Tigers and Bulls the game looked set for an interesting second half. The Tigers drew first blood when Doering added the first of his three goals for the term to extend their lead but the Bulls through Wilson replied immediately and the Bulls repeated with another goal this time to Hallam and the lead of the Tigers was back to a goal. Sea Lake Nandaly had a couple of missed opportunities in red time and their lead at three quarter time was just eight points.
In the opening minute of the final quarter McNamara cut the deficit back to two points and it was game on. The Tigers tried desperately to hang on to their lead but when Holmes posted the Bulls second goal for the term the home side hit the front for the first time for the match. With the game slipping away the Tigers tried on many occasions to break through for a score but found the Bulls backline hard to get past. Deep into the final quarter Sam Allan put the seal on the Bulls win when he brought up both flags to sink the Tigers chances of registering their first win in their new league.
Lachlan Sirett was named best for the Bulls with Wilson, Atkinson, Monteith, Allan and Aitkin all rating a mention. Tiger’s best was Matt Elliott and he gained good support from Martin, Nelson and Bloom. Final scores Birchip-Watchem 10-11=71 defeated Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers 9-6=60.
Donald v Boort
Prior to the game there was a lot of interest in how much the Royal Blues would improve from last season and playing against a side who failed to register a win last year and what improvement the Magpies would display in the season’s opener.
Both sides entered the contest with a large inclusion of local talent returning to their former club and topped up with some talented recruits to bolster their stocks.
Both sides found the avenue to goal very hard to break through with the ball travelling up and down the ground between the two half back lines. Bothe sides kicked two goals for the term with Donald holding a two point lead at the first change.
Scoring virtually dried up in the second quarter where neither side could register a major score.
In what was becoming a real scrappy game where only four points were scored gives you a good indication of how untidy the game was and neither side gaining any advantage or benefit out of the contest, Donald went to half time with a three point lead and both sides had some rethinking to do back in the sheds.
Donald came out with a few positional changes which worked immediately as the ball was pushed into full forward Seamus Young who made no mistake. Boort responded through Taylor and the contest was again tight. Young had his kicking boots on and kicked his second for the quarter and Luke Fisher chimed in for another and the Royal Blues were looking a lot better and playing a better style of game to what they produced in the first half and this allowed them to get on top of Boort to lead by twenty one points at three quarter time. Haddow, Ross and Seamus Young were the main contributors to getting Donald back on track. Orr was giving his all for Boort with Taylor and Weaver doing their share to keep the magpies within reach.
Boort set about reducing the Donald lead and they were able to achieve this in the early part of the final term with Nolan, Maw and Taylor scoring goals to bring the margin back to under a goal. Young and Dunstan gave the home side the break they needed when they posted goals. Boort played good attacking football in the last term kicking six goals but it wasn’t enough to get them over the Royal Blues from Donald. Donald with an improved second half would eventually run out eleven point winners. The royal blues win although not pretty was a good way to get their season off to a good start and Boort who had a season to forget last year will be much more competitive in the coming weeks and look certain to collect some wins in the not too distant future.
Brody Haddow was Donald’s best player with Ross and Seamus Young, Sam Dunstan, Scott Wood and Daniel Pearce being named in their best players. For Boort James Orr was the outstanding player with Rohan Nolan, Harry Weaver and David Johnston featuring in their better players.
Final scores Donald 11-13=79 defeated Boort 10-8=68
Wedderburn v Wycheproof-Narraport
The opening term of this game, seen both sides a fair bit off target, as they kicked in the new season. Both sides were very scratchy in the first quarter with both sides missing very gettable shots at goal. Wycheproof-Narraport made the better of a scrappy first term and took a nine point lead to quarter time.
The Demons were again off target in this quarter and registered a further seven points and could have had this game sown up by the main break but their bad kicking kept the Redbacks in the game and at half time their lead was twenty seven points.
In the third quarter Wedderburn looked like they were getting back into the contest as they posted a couple of early goals to get back within touch of the Demons but some costly turnovers didn’t help the Redbacks and the Demons took full advantage of the Wedderburn mistakes. The Redbacks were constantly missing their targets and this made the Demons job fairly easy as they went to the final break twenty one points clear.
With both sides showing signs of tiredness leading into the final term it looked like the side that could run the game out the best would get the points.
The Redbacks were looking for a better start in the final term to get them back in touch with the Demons but they let themselves down by allowing the visitors to much latitude and when going forward they seemed to always take the long road which played into the hands of the Demons midfield and Backmen who continued to turn back any forward moves without a great deal of pressure. Wycheproof-Narraports gained the four points with a twenty three point win but their bad kicking cost them a greater percentage, as for the Redbacks they showed some good signs and will improve in the coming weeks. Boe Bish, Matt Riordan, Dan Zambon, George Turner, Tim Holobowski and Ricky Allan were the Demons Best and better players for the Redbacks were Robbie Tonkin, Jake DeAraugo, Jake Hernan, Danny Benaim, Daniel Gash and Jordan Hargreaves.
Final scores Wycheproof-Narraport 9-15=69 defeated Wedderburn 6-10=46.
Next week
Charlton v Birchip-Watchem
Wycheproof-Narraport v St Arnaud
Sea Lake Nandaly v Donald
Boort v Wedderburn (N)
Last Modified on 20/04/2016 15:25