CENTRAL V NORTH
North continued its charge towards the finals in the A-Grade competition with a compelling 71-point win over Central at Memorial Oval on Saturday afternoon.
While the Roos got the first goal of the game, the Magpies kept up the fight in the first quarter. Even when the visitors got on the end of a string of consecutive goals, Central replied quickly, but North proved too strong in the second half, running out the game.
Central’s Samuel Wilson kicked a game-high four goals which included two in the first term, with Josh Hanford kicking the side’s other two majors. Luke Jones, Cooper Oates, and Bailey Shepherd each kicked three goals for North.
“I felt that we had the game on our terms in the first quarter. We had plenty of looks, we just didn’t capitalise on the scoreboard, that’s all it was,” South coach, Craig Thomas, told us.
West coach, Nathan Pearce, said he thought his team came out of the blocks well despite scrambling for players in the lead-up to the game, adding South was just better than his side on the day.
“I thought our first half was pretty good and competitive. We took a lot out of it, we tried a lot of people in a lot of different positions after halftime, some worked, some didn’t. We’re pretty happy with where we’re at but definitely not happy with the scoreline,” he said.
|
TEAM |
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | TOTAL |
| CENTRAL | 2.1 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 6.5 | 41 |
| NORTH | 5.3 | 9.10 | 13.13 | 16.16 |
112 |
Goals: Samuel Wilson (Central) 4, Luke Jones (North), Cooper Oates (North), Bailey Shepherd (North) 3
WEST V SOUTH
South proved once again it is top contender this season, beating West by 119 points at Jubilee Oval on Saturday afternoon in what was the penultimate round.
The Robins kicked the first goal of the contest through Jack Burke with the Roos left to rue inaccurate goalkicking; scoring six behinds before being able to find the big sticks. The second started exactly the same for the home side – a goal to the same player – but South dominated after that point, scoring 19 of the next 21 goals, including holding West scoreless in the final quarter.
Without spearhead Cody Schorn in the lineup, South still found plenty of goals, with Jordan Holmes (seven) and Todd Davidson (five) leading the way. Jack Burke kicked two goals for West, with Suni Forner and Daniel Milne kicking one apiece. 
“I reckon the players showed a great connection all over the ground,” North coach, Mark Pitt, said.
“We moved the ball with speed through foot and ran and carried the ball with great purpose and intent, we played some composed possession footy when needed as well and I think it started from our back six. Unfortunately we didn’t capitalise very well on the scoreboard considering the high inside 50 numbers that we had.”
Central coach, Sheldon Hall, told us his side got a fair share of the ball, but it was a North midfield unit that pounced on turnovers that hurt the team.
“It’s just been the story of our season. We just get to about half-forward and we’re just lacking that last kick into our forward line hitting a target,” he said.
| TEAM | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | TOTAL |
| WEST | 1.2 | 2.4 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 32 |
| SOUTH | 2.6 | 7.12 | 10.18 | 21.25 | 151 |
Goals: Jordan Holmes (South) 7, Todd Davidson (South) 5, Riley Schorn (South) 3
Round 15 marks the end of the regular season and will see a Sunday afternoon doubleheader at Jubilee Oval on August 20. It kicks off with an entrée to what will be the following week’s preliminary final as North take on West from 2.40pm, with Central and South doing battle from 5pm.
