THE North Central Football league senior interleague side came up short against Geelong and District Football League at Wedderburn on Saturday.
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Accuracy in front of goal proved vital for the visiting side which travelled home with a 15.1 (91) to 13.9 (87) win against its name.
North Central coach Daniel Gash said his side did everything that he asked them to do before the game.
“Our boys really had a crack,” he said. “We made the decision to go with a young team and five of our best eight players were under 22 years old.”
Geelong and District made North Central pay whenever it got an opportunity in the game. The side did not kick a behind until the third quarter and had six less scoring shots than the home team in the match.
“We believe we had most of the play but when Geelong got it they were efficient, moved it well and made it count on the scoreboard,” Gash said.
North Central trailed by 11-points at quarter time and at that point Gash expected the game to open up more.
A disciplined and drilled Geelong continued to make sure there was plenty of numbers around the contest denying North Central the chance to break it open.
“That’s a credit to them, they were a really well coached side,” Gash said.
He said for many players playing interleague is their best chance to experience a step up intensity.
“Only two sides get to play in the gran final at the end of the season,” he said. “It gives the players more of an indication of what playing a higher level of football is all about.”
Under-18s
THE class of young players in the North Central Football League shone through in the under-18 match.
The side led from start to finish to record a commanding 15.12 (102) to 4.8 (32) win against the Geelong and District Football League side.
The home side jumped out strongly and applied pressure across the ground the restrict the visiting team to a single goal in the first quarter. At the other end of the ground North Central’s forwards kicked three goals and four behinds.
The visiting side showed more fight in the second but a 16-point margin at quarter time extended to 17 points at the main break.
After the side ran back on to the ground it was all North Central on the scoreboard. Geelong and District failed to score a goal in the second half as the home side piled on a further nine goals and five behinds.
St Arnaud’s Jack Tillig kicked six goals and teammate Mitch Egan kicked two. Donald’s Harry Cashin chipped in with three of his own in the winning side Egan, Jack Tillig and Brady Tillig were among the side’s best players as was Donald defender Cooper Anderson.