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Central nails down finals spot BY TEO PELLIZZERI MELTON Central will play Riddell District Football League finals after a landmark win against Romsey in which the reigning premier was held goalless in three quarters. Central’s 6.10 (46) to 4.4 (28) win at Romsey Park put the Blues a game and a half ahead of seventh-placed Wallan with a round to play, defusing this weekend’s match against fifthplaced Macedon which had for a number of weeks shaped as do or die. Romsey was scoreless in the opening term and kicked all four of its goals in the second quarter before failing to fire in the second half. Melton Central coach Brian Wheelahan said
the senior team’s run of seven wins in the last nine games was the best two months at the club in a long time. ‘‘A lot of hard work has gone on behind the scenes and on the field it’s great for the playing group to get some reward,’’ Wheelahan said. ‘‘You never celebrate until the siren goes but I’m still pinching myself, to be honest. I know it’s only local footy but to have a win like that . . . we really think we’ve got some unfinished business, we don’t want to make up the numbers.’’ Wheelahan said previous encounters against top teams had been over before half-time and a good start was critical to competing. ‘‘If we made it a scrap it would give us the best opportunity, it was really a hard slog underfoot
and for the majority of the day it was one-onone. We’ve got that belief, that with 22 contributors our best can push most sides.’’ Wheelahan singled out Shane Frederickson as best afield and defender Josh Armstrong, who kept Romsey’s league-leading goalkicker Matt Davidson to a single goal. ‘‘The run [Frederickson] provided off half back was terrific, he’s been our most consistent performer all year,’’ Wheelahan said. ‘‘We have a few guys that are genuinely sore, but even though we’ve cemented our spot we want to continue the momentum. ‘‘The sting might be out of the [Macedon] game but we still want to treat it like an elimination final because winning form is good form.’’
Top two teams to tangle twice MELTON Central secured a top-two finish and back-toback clashes against Macedon with an 11-goal win against Romsey in Riddell District Netball League A-grade at the weekend. The 42-31 win closed the door on any hopes the Redbacks had of finishing top two, sealing Melton Central and Macedon (both 14-1) in for the qualifying final in two weeks time. However the duo also clash this weekend with top spot on the line. The Blues currently hold top with 197.97 per-cent from Macedon on 194.81. Elsewhere, Diggers Rest 20 lost to Broadford 49, Rockbank 19 lost to Riddell 84, Sunbury Kangaroos and Wallan tied 44-all and Macedon 87 defeated Kilmore 13. Go to meltonweekly.com.au for an action gallery from the clash between Melton Central and Romsey.
Hard fought: Melton Central’s Natalie Wilson and Romsey’s Prue Stanley battle for the ball. Picture: Shawn Smits
SCOREBOARD RDFL ROUND 17 Broadford 2.1 (13) lt Diggers Rest 11.8 (74) GOALS — Broadford: Aaron Gleeson, Brent Littlewood 1 Diggers Rest: Daniel McCabe 5, Cole Laurie 3, David Bourne, Jeff Heritage, Craig Thompson 1 BEST — Broadford: Liam Collier, Brendan Walsh, Matthew Coomans, Grant Wearne, Marcus Webb, Brent Littlewood Diggers Rest: Craig MARSHALL, Tom Evans, Cole Laurie, Stephen Ruane, Kristopher Marsh, Mark Freeth Riddell 17.25 (127) d Rockbank 0.2 (2) GOALS — Riddell: Haydn Ross 4, Brian Ruffell 3, Robert Henry, Matt Vandenberg, Matthew Baird 2, Cameron Casson, Andrew McCabe, Ricky Elliott, Jarrod SILVESTER 1 BEST — Riddell: Daniel Sahlberg, Haydn Ross,
Andrew McCabe, Jarrod SILVESTER, Matt Sammut, Robert Henry Rockbank: Jamie Zerafa, Bryce HALL, Craig Sargent, Jake Armistead, Russell Rich, Thomas Mainey Romsey 4.4 (28) lt Melton Central 6.10 (46) GOALS — Romsey: Bradley Mitchell 2, Mathew Davidson, Leigh McInerney 1 Melton Central: Christopher Carassellos 2, Christopher Robertson, Josh Bamford, Robert Evans, Matthew O’Brien 1 BEST — Romsey: Shannon Green, Leigh Erwin, Nathan Stephens, Leigh McInerney, Phillip Romeril, Bradley Mitchell Melton Central: Shane Frederickson, Mark Gillman, Chris Lock, Steven James, Joshua Armstrong, Scott Matthews Others: Sunbury Kangaroos 10.11 (71) d Wallan 8.9 (57), Lancefield 2.6 (18) lt Woodend Hesket 5.6 (36),
Macedon 6.12 (48) lt Kilmore 1.3 (9) LADDER 1. Diggers Rest (16-1) 181% 2. Sunbury Kangaroos (14-3) 255% 3. Romsey (13-4) 205% 4. Riddell (13-4) 166% 5. Macedon (10-1-6) 138% 6. Melton Central (9-1-7) 105% 7. Wallan (8-9) 84% 8. Woodend Hesket (5-12) 69% 9. Broadford (4-13) 61% 10. Rockbank (3-14) 54% 11. Kilmore (3-14) 53% 12. Lancefield (3-14) 42% ROUND 18: Diggers Rest v Sunbury Kangaroos, Wallan v Lancefield, Rockbank v Romsey, Kilmore v Broadford, Woodend Hesket v Riddell, Melton Central v Macedon
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INBRIEF Soccer Melton’s charge back into contention for promotion from FFV provisional league 3 northwest continued on Saturday with a 6-2 hammering of Fawkner. The Phoenix went into the match expecting to beat the relegation battler and did so to close the gap to second place and potential promotion to just three points. However games in hand due to even more postponed fixtures have skewed the ladder. Melton is one of just two teams in the 12-team league to have played 18 of 18 fixtures this season. Darebin United (played 18, 39 points, plus 10 goal difference) leads the league from Heidelberg Stars (17, 36, +33), Bundoora United (16, 35, +15) and Melton in fourth (18, 33, +21). Melton plays last-placed Balmoral at MacPherson Park from 3pm this Saturday.
Harness racing The cream of talent from both Australia and New Zealand were in attendance at Tabcorp Park Melton on Sunday to compete at the richest day of Australian Harness Racing – Blue Chip Farms Australasian Breeders Crown Day, where $1.6 million in stakes was up for grabs in the Finals for Two, Three and Four year old pacers and trotters, all races being over the distance of 2240 metres. On paper, the Kiwis appeared to have a huge advantage over their Australian counterparts, with friendly rivalry taking place all throughout the day. To cap off a memorable day, it was the Aussies who prevailed winning five of the big finals compared to New Zealand’s four, with driving honours going to Chris Alford and Kate Gath who each snared a double. WINNERS: 4-Y-0 Trotters Final (Elegant Image – Andy & Kate Gath Long Forest), 2-Y-0 Trotters Final (Blitztemcalder – Ross Payne (Lara) & Chris Alford), 4-Y-0 Mares (Miss Moonlight – Andrew Stuart (Rangiora) & John Caldow), 3-Y-0 Trotters (Triumphant Monarch – Chris Alford T/D( Bolinda), 2-Y-0 Colts & Geldings (Bit Of A Legend – Cran Dalgety (Christchurch) & Dexter Dunn), 3-Y-0 Fillies (Cheer The Lady – Barry Purdon (Clevedon – Auckland) & Zac Butcher), 3-Y-0 Colts & Geldings (Fly Like An Eagle – Mark Purdon T/D (Christchurch), 4-Y-0 Entires & Geldings (Caribbean Blaster (Andy & Kate Gath Long Forest), 2-Y-0 Fillies (Glenferrie Shuffle – Craig Demmler (Parwan) & Gavin Lang). — Len Baker
Hockey Melton Mustangs club results. Women’s state league 3: Brunswick 1 d Melton 0 Men’s state league 4: Melton 5 (M.Hosking 2, D.Baker, B.Hanley-Woodbridge, M.Slocombe) d Old Haileybury 3; Men’s metro 3 west: Werribee 5 d Melton 1 (M. McMurrie); Women’s metro 4 north west: Melton w/0 Carey 5-0; Masters: Melton 2 (M.Corban, G.Lawrence) d Brunswick 1; Under-17s: Melton 2 (J.Eastwell, L.Vallance) def Werribee 0; Under-15s: Essendon 3 def Melton 0; Under-13s: Altona Gold(2) 2 def Melton 1 (K.Lowing); Under-11s: Essendon Red (1) 3 def Melton 2 (R.Knott, T.Lawrence); Under9s: Melton 1 6 (R.Lawrence 4, B.Lawrence 2) def Melton 2 0
August 21, 2012 WEEKLY – YOUR COMMUNITY VOICE
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