It's a ding dong battle in the semi final between the Blowflys and the Crocs! So far, the ball has been living in the Crocs defensive half with guns Sheezel (122), Clark (138) and McGrath (104) holding down the fort and repelling repeated Blowfly attacking drives. Xerri (185) has been absolutely dominant in the ruck providing first use to Dunkley (105) and Kelly (93) with Boak (120) and Martin (130) providing plenty of offensive run down the wings. If only we had an effective forward to kick to! New recruit Georgiades being sorely missed this week along with Nick Daicos (66) being well held with a Crocs team wide tag applying the clamps on the young superstar. At the 6/9 siren it looks like Korumburra has parked the bus, trying to protect their lead and leaving the final result in the hands of the defensive efforts of Steele, D'Ambrosio and Vlastuin. Cow Bay has plenty of legs left in this one with the likes of Taranto, Hopper and Worpel still running on top of the ground along with the X-factor up forward provided by Rankine, Moore and Bolton! This one could go down to the wire!!... @fresh KB 1085 / 12 / 90 COW 559 / 6 / 93
With 30 minutes to go including live scores NV 1258/15/83 Libba English Crouch in play PP 1313/15/87 Darcy in play
site rolled peeps. congrats to those finalists moving on. Commiserations to those who will be starting 2025 preseason early
...and as predicted this one did go down to the wire with the Blowflys hanging on for a hard fought 10 point victory over the Crocs @fresh KB 1365 / 15 / 91 COW 1355 / 15 / 90 Full match report to follow...
The visiting crowd were up in arms that biased match officials made some questionable decisions and denied the Crocs their first finals victory. The visitors went on a rampage. Every newspaper was taken and rolled up tightly. Every blowfly was swatted. Korumburrans. Watch out in 2025.
Congrats @YAD69 Limp finish to end a season for The Buff that never really got going. When can I clear my team so I can rage delete all the players I blame this on??
Haha! Love it! Looks like we've got a new rivalry! Great match. Stiff in the end. Looking forward to our future battles!
The Barracuda's finish on 1,271/15 84.7 defeating the Buffalos on 1,189/15 79.3 The finals series is the Armadillos hands to win or lose, however there are 7 other teams trying to make it theirs. The Buff head up to Groote, geez the weathers been shit all week, it’s going to be a muddy affair for both teams. Solid as a rock was McGovern picking up where he left off last week, leading the way with Lloyd, Weitering and Kolo in tow, send everything up the line The visitors forward line was kept on their toes with Cameron gunning for the silver foot award, Switkowski chimed in and that was about it. Grundy just got out done by Draper in the big tap. Up forward the home team was hoping Naughton would bring the house down but to no avail. Bedford shadowed Rivers, McLean was OK, however everything up forward was left to the Magnificent Zorko as he plied his magic. The visitors’ defenders spearheaded by Himmelberg kept a lid on things, Saad played well until injury forced him off. Off the bench, Sharp picked up the speed compared to last week, while Tuohy needs a rest. The visitors nearly got it done with Dangermouse and Viney off the bench, they really took it to the Cuda’s. The Bont was good while getting tagged by Parish, Corn Boy Cripp, Oh Errol and Jarrod Flavour Berry did enough to push the home side to the front. Zerrett was amazing trying to lift his team to victory, , unfortunately Neale was Berry’d and Kelly fluffed a couple in the dying moments of the game. In the end the Barracuda’s got away with it, will definitely need to do better in their next match up. Foe the Buffalos @wrightbrendan, their season is over to which they will be counting the cost of the match in more ways than one. BOG – McGov (GEB), Zerrett (SB) & The Bont (GEB)
In a final for the ages, this battle between top 4 teams in the first round of the 2024 finals was always going to be a close one. The Blowflys buzzed hard early putting the bulk of their score on the board and holding a handy lead at 6/9 time. The Crocs came hard in the last 3/9 to mount a huge comeback with Worpel (102) and Moore (97) providing plenty of run and carry. For the Flys, it was Steele (100) and D'Ambrosio (100) holding strong, turning defense into attack and keeping the scoreboard ticking over as they held a slender lead as the siren approached. In the end it was the young wizard that is Rankine for the Crocs who had the result on his boot after a contentious free kick was awarded in the forward line which saw him line up 45 metres out on a slight angle - safely within the wheelhouse of this superstar. He began to stride in slowly and confidently, needing this precious sausage for a personal score of 86+ FTW. You could cut the tension in the air with the proverbial knife as one clubs 2024 season would be decided by this solitary kick. A particularly vocal, loud Korumburran supporter bellowed the classic line "Chewy on ya boot!!!" as Izak increased his speed. He must've taken it in the barb on some level as he smirked and briefly glanced down at his aforementioned boot. Quickly confirming there was no masticatory substance stuck to the boot, he launched a drop punt which sailed twice the height of the goal posts! As the magnificently rotating agate peaked and began it's descent, it became obvious to the awed crowd that it would be touch and go to actually make the distance! A pack formed on the goal line, jostling for position as the ageless athlete Jeremy Howe leapt onto and then stood up on the shoulders of the hapless Cow Bay ruckman Williams. As the ball, seemingly in slow motion, reached the line for what would've been a match winning goal, Howe unleashed a mighty intercepting fist in a blow which saw the red pill return all the way to the spot from where it was launched. As the ball rolled back past Rankine he fell disappointedly to the muddy ground accompanied by the groaning sounds of Croc supporters being drowned out by the elated screams of ecstatic Blowfly fans. What a finish! 3 - T. Xerri (KB) 185 2 - J. Clark (COW) 138 1 - N.Martin (KB) 130 KB 1365 / 15 / 91 COW 1355 / 15 / 90 @fresh
A fast start for the Blowflys again this week, jumping out of the blocks for an early lead in this Preliminary Final largely on the back of the run provided by Nic Martin (135) At 1/9 time @ddsaints KB 199 / 2 / 100 PAKP 0 / 0 / 0
A ding dong battle this one - will this be another match that goes down to the wire!?.. So far it's been gun mids Butters (156) and Anderson (122) dominant for the Parasites, getting early first use from Marshall (146) who's been everywhere! Seemingly unopposed in the ruck thus far with Xerri as yet unsighted. The Blowflys have slipped behind on the scoreboard seemingly unable to find a decent target up forward. The sheer grunt and will to win from Steele (136) and the magic of Daicos (116) providing a few brilliant goals from the midfield has kept this one close. Pakenham have had no such problem with spearhead Hogan (124) already putting 6 on the board! The Flys have even had to flip the magnets, briefly throwing last weeks defensive hero Howe (116) forward to provide an option. Still plenty of questions to be answered that will decide this match. The Flys have rolled the dice playing Caleb Daniel for his first game of the season after returning to the club. Will his exquisite ball use be enough to help the Blowflys kick a wining score!? Mid season recruit Teakle has also been given his first game of the year in this do or die clash - what role will he play? Will Tim Kelly produce again on the big stage? Will Vlastuin and D'Ambrosio be able to do enough to limit the opposition scoring power? For the Parasites, will young bean pole Darcy be used in the ruck to support Marshall? If he plays forward who's going to stop him!? What about Oscar Allen? Another tough match up. Will Kemp be able to stand up left one out in defense!? Will the aging runner Gaff play out the remainder of the game or will he just be used sparingly again this week?... At 6/9 time @ddsaints KB 834 / 9 / 93 PAKP 1070 / 11 / 97
Re: Darcy - "If he plays forward who's going to stop him!?" Answer: No-one 7 goals for a 146!! At 7/9 time - the Parasites surge in front... @ddsaints KB 1090 / 12 / 91 PAKP 1216 / 12 101
Xerri (141) doing what he's been doing all season. Daniel (97) inspired. These mighty Blowflys won't go down without a fight!!...
At 8/9 time - the Blowflys regain the lead on the back of Vlastuin (96) and D'Ambrosio (110) repeatedly turning defence into attack. KB 1296 / 14 / 93 PAKP 1216 / 12 / 101
site rolled and confirmation the Armadillos dodged a bullet via opposition selection. I think all but 3 of @ddsaints players smashed their weekly average versus an unlucky @Mick GF week, where's my parade?!?!