Donald v Birchip-Watchem
A GOAL on the siren by Brody Haddow saw Donald scrape over the line against the highly fancied Birchip-Watchem on Saturday.
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In front of a home crowd on their past players day, the Royal Blues won 8.7 (55) to 7.12 (54).
Coach Tom Bell said wins did not get much better.
“There is nothing better than a one-point win over Birchip at home,” he said. “The clubs have a bit of history and have had some great stoushes over the years.”
After kicking into a stiff breeze in the first quarter Donald was 14-points down at quarter time but back in the contest by the end of the half.
“There was probably a patch of football that let us down in the second quarter but then we worked hard to stay in the game during the third,” Bell said.
Facing a four-point deficit at the last break Donald dug deep to get the win in front of some boisterous past players.
“They were making a fair bit of noise up on the hill,” Bell said.
The scoreboard showed a draw at the final siren but Bell and his teammates knew they had secured the win after working hard to move the ball quickly and efficiently as a team all day.
St Arnaud v Charlton
AFTER fighting hard for the first five rounds of the season St Arnaud were rewarded with a first win on Saturday.
The four-quarter effort coach Jason DeGraaf had been asking for resulted in a 15.9 (99) to 13.12 (90) win.
He said it was very pleasing to see the young team rewarded.
“There is only so many times you can say it was a good effort in a loss,” he said.
“With a young side it is about confidence and getting that win helps them keeping putting in the effort we require.”
The Saints led at every change and built on a 15-point three-quarter time lead by kicking the first two goals of the last quarter.
Charlton continued to fight and clawed its way back to within three points late in the game.
DeGraaf was nervous on the sidelines but it was two of his side’s youngest players that showed composure to put the icing on the cake.
“Fifteen-year-old Jack Tillig had the ball on the half-forward line and took his time lowered his eyes looking for the right option,” he said.
“That option turned out to be Bailey Durwood who had worked up from the backline, then he went back and slotted it with about four minutes to go in a long quarter.”