BY NATHAN DOLE
St Arnaud celebrates long-awaited victory
ST ARNAUD celebrated a long-awaited victory in Saturday’s eighth round of the Goldacres North Central senior footy action.
It had been 25 matches since the Saints had claimed premiership points.
On Saturday they were at home turf at Lord Nelson Park to take on Charlton.
The Navies led 9-7 at quarter-time, but from there it was the Scott Driscoll-coached St Arnaud which took control.
A tally of 3.3 to a goal in the second put the Saints up by 13 points at half-time.
The Saints then won the third quarter, 25-12.
Led by the play of Mitch Egan, Zac Phillips and Bailey Durward it was St Arnaud which kicked away to record a 77-34 win.
Bailey Durward led the attack on three goals as Brayden Phillips added two.
A great sign for the Saints was seven other players chipped in with a goal.
Charlton’s leading goalkicker was Chris Gavaghan on three as Deek Roberts added two.
Best for St Arnaud included Thomas Bertalli, Harley Durward and Ryan Lempa.
Deek Roberts, Elliott Fitzpatrick, Jed Thompson, Sam Woods, Darcy McCallum and Thomas Finlay were best for the Mitch Collins-coached Charlton.
Another draw was played out.
This time it was at Donald where the Royal Blues took on Boort.
The Magpies made a flying start and led 22-1 at quarter-time.
In the second the Josh Potter-coached Donald slammed on 6.2 to 1.3.
Both teams scored three goals in the third as Donald led 58-52 going into the last term.
The Dale Cameron-coached Magpies scored 3.3 as the Royals added 2.3.
At the final siren scores were locked on 73-all.
Leading goalkickers for Donald were Jamie Papalia, three; Noah Berry, Blake Grant and Ross Young, two.
Boort’s attack was led by James Keeble on three as Jhye Baddeley-Kelly, Ethan Coleman and Jarrod Fitzpatrick chipped in with two.
Best for Donald were Andrew Browne, Jesse Wallin, Ryan Hards, Dale Kerr, Blake Grant and Jamie Papalia.
Jhye Baddeley-Kelly, James Keeble, Tom Potter, Jayden Dick, Ryan McGhie and James Wilson were Boort’s best.
Nullawil kicked clear in the second half to record a 93-65 win at home against Wedderburn.
The Nullawil line-up included Collingwood premiership player and key forward Travis Cloke.
At quarter-time the Daryl Wilson-coached Nullawil led 29-28.
By half-time the Maroons were up 57-47.
A tally of 4.2 to 1.4 in the third gave the home team a 26-point buffer going into the final quarter.
The Tom Metherell-coached Wedderburn worked hard, but it was Nullawil which took the vital four points in a 93-65 result.
A list of goalkickers for both teams was not supplied.
Best for Nullawil were Andrew Casey, Daniel Watts, Rylee Smith, Zac Caccaviello, Dean Smith and Andrew Oberdorfer.
Jackson McEwen, Joe Lockhart, Darcy Jackson, Tom Campbell, Jordan Hargreaves and Adam Postle played well for the Redbacks.
The ladder-leading Birchip-Watchem marked a 31-point win against Wycheproof-Narraport at Birchip’s George Cartwright Oval.
The Trevor Ryan-coached Bulls led 21-3 at quarter-time.
Wycheproof-Narraport hit back to win the second term, 19-12.
The Bulls charged clear in the third quarter as they slammed on 6.2 to 2.1.
Nicholas Rippon kicked three goals as Daniel Bell, Ty Colbert, Ben Edwards and Joseph Reid added two in a 91-60 victory.
Maysen Murgov kicked a match-high four goals for the Demons.
Best for the Bulls were Ty Colbert, Sam Simmons, Daniel Bell, Meyrick Buchanan, Nicholas Rippon and Matthew Rickard.
Former North Melbourne and Golden Square forward Corey Jones was Wycheproof-Narraport’s best.
Best for the Demons included Maysen Murgov, Matt Trzeciak, George Turner, Robert Fawcett and Josh Walsh.
North Central senior footy ladder:
Birchip-Watchem 196 per cent, 30 points; Sea Lake Nandaly 187, 24; Donald 109, 18; Nullawil 113, 16; Wedderburn 130, 14; Wycheproof-Narraport 84, 12; Boort 74, 10; St Arnaud 43, 4; Charlton 44, 0.
Leading goalkickers:
49 Ben Edwards, Birchip-Watchem.
24 Nicholas Rippon, Birchip-Watchem.
21 Jack Exell, Nullawil.
20 Trent Grant, Donald.
19 Mitch Farmer, Nullawil.
19 Anthony Zelenich, Wedderburn.
18 Tom Campbell, Wederburn.
18 Josh Jenkins, Sea Lake Nandaly.
17 Billy McInnes, Sea Lake Nandaly.
14 Joseph Reid, Birchip-Watchem.
13 Oscar Holt, Wedderburn.
12 James Keeble, Boort.
11 Ethan Coleman, Boort.
10 Blake Grant, Donald.
10 Lachy McClelland, Sea Lake Nandaly.
9 Ty Colbert, Birchip-Watchem.
9 Nicholas Grabowski, Wycheproof-Narraport.
9 Corey Jones, Wycheproof-Narraport.
9 Will Perryman, Boort.
8 Daniel Bell, Birchip-Watchem.
8 Thomas Cox, Sea Lake Nandaly.
8 Chris Gavaghan, Charlton.
8 Steven Kennedy, Wycheproof-Narraport.
8 Josh Potter, Donald.
8 Rylee Smith, Nullawil.