Donald & Charlton reach for the NCFL Cup!
Round 1
| 1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final Score |
|
| Donald |
1-3 |
6-5 |
9-5 |
12-10 |
82 |
| Charlton |
2-2 |
5-5 |
5-7 |
6-11 |
47 |
| 1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final Score |
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charlton |
7-5 |
12-7 |
15-8 |
18-9 |
117 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Donald |
3-3 |
4-8 |
13-10 |
18-14 |
122 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
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Tomorrow in North Central Football League action two of the most successful clubs in recent years battle it out on that one day in September to take home the Holy Grail. Wedderburn’s Donaldson Park plays host when the Ross Funke Coached Donald Royal Blues take on the Navy Blues from Charlton.
The Navy’s will be looking for a big game out of their coach Rick Andrews, although Andrews only played 11 games through the home and away season it has not shown through his football with his huge work load in the middle and fierce attack on the football Donald will need to find some way of curving his influence on the game.
As the record stands for the Season Charlton are yet to defeat the Royal Blues but everyone knows come that last game of the year anything is possible. With Charlton playing extra time in appalling weather conditions last week against the Birchip Watchem Bulls, Charlton showed that they can dig in and fight games right till the end.
Both Charlton and Donald were very busy in the summer months, and both teams were fortunate enough to land a number of quality players in their side, a huge pick up for the Royal Blues was former AFL player Trav Baird. Baird spent time on Both Brisbane and the Bulldogs list before being delisted and spending time in the SAFL only to return to Donald. Having played a variety of roles up forward and through the midfield, Baird has been a consistent performer for the royal Blues regularly amongst their best player and capable of putting the score on the board.
No one loves the big stage more than Charlton’s Matt Gretgrix. Charlton faithful will be hoping their key forward can find some of the form he produced in last year’s Bendigo Football League Grand Final where he was awarded the best a field medal for his efforts in kicking 8 goals. Having already claimed two Premierships with Eaglehawk Gretgrix will be looking to claim his hat trick Flag with his home club.
G-Train express! Charlton will be hoping for a big performance from Matt Gretgrix.
Donald’s Full Forward Geoff Berry will be looking to add another Premiership to his impressive Resume, a stalwart at the Club Berry looked to have hung his senior boots up and played majority of the home and away season in the reserves before being called backup to senior duties where he finished the year with 10 senior goals from just 3 games. While his kicking may be unorthodox his marking ability is second to none.
While Tim Hill has played majority of his football in the back half, keeping all opponents very honest and is very rarely beaten, as he showed last week he can also be thrown up forward to add that much need score board pressure. Hilly prevailed as Charlton’s saviour last week and will again be looking for a big game, Hilly the only player to score During the extra time, putting the Navy blues in front by a point and then followed it up with a goal after the final siren to seal the victory.
Both sides should have virtually unchanged sides this week, with only Donald having to replace the Suspended Leigh Burke. With Burke out the Donald on ball brigade may take a bit of a reshuffle, but still have more than enough ball carriers to get their side over the line with Former Leitchiville/Gunbower and South Bendigo midfielder Brendan Jennings playing some very impressive football of late, the Runner up Feeny Medallist has proved to be a real danger man in the middle and is capable of winning the tightest centre clearances with his strong body work.
For the Clueless Guru both Charlton and Donald have shown though the year that they are the two best sides in the competition, and on their day are very hard to stop both with their fair share of reliable back man, hard running on baller’s, and avenues to goal. The game will come down to the last quarter and for the Clueless Guru I think Donald will kick away in the last Quarter to prevail as the 2009 North Central Premiers and win by 25 points.
