BY NATHAN DOLE
Tigers fight Redbacks to reach decider
IT WILL be Sea Lake Nandaly or Wedderburn which wins through to the Goldacres North Central senior footy grand final on Saturday.
The Tigers and Redbacks meet in the preliminary final at Charlton Park at 2.30pm.
Winner advances to a grand final showdown with Birchip Watchem.
It’s two-nil in favour of the Tigers in this season’s clashes with Wedderburn.
Sea Lake Nandaly marked an 81-65 win at home against the Redbacks in round two.
The round 11 showdown in Wedderburn’s web at Donaldson Park went the Tigers’ way, 86-27.
The Tom Metherell-coached Wedderburn kicked off its finals campaign by scoring a 55-43 victory against Donald in the first semi-final at Birchip’s George Cartwright Oval.
Sea Lake Nandaly is on the rebound from a 73-75 loss to Birchip-Watchem in the second semi-final played in Donald.
The Tigers go into this match without gun forward Josh Jenkins.
Greater onus will be on co-coach Billy McInnes, Will Simpson, Tyson McKenzie, Lachy McClelland, Max Cahoon and Thomas Cox in the Tigers’ attack.
Wedderburn’s leading goalkickers are Tom Campbell, 48; and Oscar Holt, 33.
In a low-scoring first semi-final, Louis Holt kicked two goals as the red and black marked a 55-43 win against the Royals.
A major strength of the Sea Lake Nandaly line-up is the ruck and ruck-rover combination of Ryan O’Sullivan and Feeny medallist Wade Donnan.
Players to watch for the Tigers include Kane Donnan, co-coach Bryce Delmenico, Brodie Adcock, Thomas Cox and Luke Martin.
Wedderburn has the experience of captain Joe Lockhart, Danny Benaim, Adam Postle, Jacob DeAraugo and Jordan Hargreaves.
Best in the latest win included Jackson McEwen, Darcy Jackson and Corey Lowry.
In the Haeuslers reserves competition, Sea Lake Nandaly takes on Boort at 12.35pm.
It’s one-all in this season’s meetings.
Boort won 43-41 at Sea Lake in round one, but the Tigers dominated the round 10 clash at Boort Park to mark an 83-29 victory.
The Tigers finished the home-and-away series on a 14-2 record and second place.
Sea Lake Nandaly could not halt Nullawil’s run to a 50-32 victory in last Saturday’s second semi-fial.
Boort beat Birchip-Watchem by 50 points in the first semi-final in the Bulls’ pen at George Cartwright Oval.
It will be Boort against Sea Lake Nandaly in the Charlton and District Community Bank-backed under-17s match at 10.55am.
The Tigers roared to an 80-2 victory against the Magpies on the Sea Lake turf in round one.
Boort won 58-46 at home in the 10th round.
The Magpies will be keen to strike back after a 37-56 loss to St Arnaud in the second semi-final.
Sea Lake Nandaly scored a 58-49 win against Birchip-Watchem in the first semi-final.
Preliminary final day action kicks off at 9.30am with Boort against Donald in the Uniting Church-sponsored under-14s competition.
The Magpies have a two-nil record against the Royals this season.
In round eight, Boort won 22-10 in Donald.
The Magpies dominated the round 17 clash to mark a 46-1 victory.
Boort was up against Sea Lake Nandaly in the second semi-final last Saturday.
An unbeaten streak for the Tigers’ cubs rolled on as SLN won 43-22.
Donald scored a 63-29 victory against St Arnaud in the first semi-final.