INTERLEAGUESQUAD

CLICKTOVIEW ROUNDHIGHLIGHTS WBFL Senior Interleague Squad for 2023 to take on KNTFL at own on the 10th June to be coached by Clint Gallio. ons to all the following players, ainings will be North Gambier 6pm to coach Clint Gallio

Fromthearchives

AWALKDOWNMEMORYLANE FOOTY:THEEARLYYEARS:SEBFL1954

Northturfsoutmillicent

Tigerswintightgameinfirstsemi

NORTH Gambier won a narrow five-point victory in the 1954 South East and Border Football League first semi final against Millicent, played at Penola’sbigground.

It pushed the Magpies out of the finals series and the Tigers would then move into the preliminary final.

The oval was at near capacity as the two teams came onto the field with Johnnie Taylor leading Northandhewonthetoss.

North were immediately into attack and Terry O’Donnellwasfreedrightinfrontandgoaled. Bowman for Millicent had opened strongly but his long kick fell short and North defence rushed theballoutofdanger

As soon as the North centreline, led by youngster TrevorProbert,startedtopushforwardtheywere met by the brilliance of Millicent centre half back NeilMcDonald.

His athleticism was amazing as he was either taking strong pack marks or gathering the ball on the run, dodging opponents and sending the Magpiesbackintoattack.

With Ray Thompson on top at full back and Eric Roughana during well at centre half back for Northitbecameabattleofthehalfbacklinesand neither side were able to make a dent on the scoreboard.

Probert was damaging in the centre but his long kick registered a behind as the wind and the weatherelementsstartedtoplayabigroleinhow thegamewouldpanout.

Peter Thompson then took a great mark up forward and put the Tigers two goals clear with a beautifulpuntkick.

The long striding, long kicking full back Ray Thompson raced down field to intercept with great judgement and then banged the ball 60 metres to the forward line where Peter Thompson rose above the pack to pull in a top mark and then goaled for his second in as many minutes.

John Hanel in the back pocket was giving Ray Thompson plenty of support and they denied Millicentamajorinthatfirstterm.

Firstquarter:North3.3,Millicent0.3

In the second quarter the early part was dominated by the respective full backs – Ray Thompson (North) and Darkie Stevens

(Millicent).

They both took several saving marks on the last line of defence as neither attackscouldpenetratethedefences.

Attiwill was finding plenty of the ball across centre and he drilled a pass to coach Fred Bolton at full forward and put a drop kick through for Millicent’sfirstmajoroftheafternoon.

Across half back Pearce and Roughana were combining well to halt the Magpie attacks but Neil McDonald was doing much the same at the otherendoftheground.

Stevens charged down the ground, taking two bounces and then banged the ball into the half forwardlinewhereGouldsnappedupthecrumbs andpassedtoBoltonwhoagainmadenomistake for Millicent and suddenly North had a game on theirhands.

It was all Millicent as they charged forward time and again but Ray Thompson was in great touch atfullback.

Curyer who was now on top in the centre gathered and got the ball to Downes who kicked long over the pack and while it fell short it bounced and bounced and finally dribbled through for a major for the Magpies to allow themtohitthefrontforthefirsttimeinthegame.

Bolton took a mark on the siren and from 60 metreshiskickjustfellshorttogiveMillicenta13 pointleadathalftime.

Millicent5.5(35),North3.4(22)

In the third term Millicent were gaining plenty of advantage around the packs where Clive “Bub” Stevens and Attiwill were creative plus Curyer was now a dominant player, not only at the clearances but around the ground and his ability to hit teammates with his passes made him the bigdangerplayerforNorth.

Then through good work from Taylor, he got the ball to Peter Thompson and he kicked his third to narrowthegap.

BubStevens’pacewasworryingtheTigersandhe continually raced down the open spaces on the Penolaflankstopushtheballforward. Then, Roberts gathered at centre wing, got the balltoTaylor,whoturnedbrilliantlyoutoftrouble topasstoJoeWaterswhomadenomistake,then in a mini burst of brilliance Roberts again broke free and goaled on the run and North were back infront.

It was during the midway point of the third quarter that the weather became terrible and heavyhailandgaleforcewindshittheground.

It rained heavily for the remainder of the quarter and players started to play in ankle deep water in somepartsaroundtheground.

Threequartertime:North6.8,Millicent5.5 in1955

With heavy rain falling play became congested as both teams used their defence to hold the score line.

In the final term neither side kicked a goal. North didnotscorewhileMillicentaddedthreebehinds tonarrowthegaptofivepointsatthefinalsiren.

Adding to the problem for Millicent was their top ball winner Bub Stevens was injured into the final term and had to leave the ground and from there Millicentstruggledtoshowthesamedashthathe provided.

Peter Thompson finished with three goals while FredBoltondidthesamealthoughhehadlimited opportunities.

Ray Thompson was close to best man on the ground at full back and his height and baulk was handy in the many packs that were created, particularly when the rain came but he his aerial workwasfirstrate.

Captain coach Johnnie Taylor was everywhere and his disposal, even in the wet was excellent while Eric Roughana’s bullocking body work and dash from half back kept Millicent out time and again.

Curyer was Millicent’s best and his drive from the midfield really tore North’s talented centreline apart.

Healsohelpedoutindefenceasalooseman.

Attitiwill, Bub Stevens (until injured) and Neil McDonaldwereotherstocontroltheirpositions.

A GRADE

North Gambier 60 (G. Pos, M. Renko) d Millicent 50 (D. Verbena, T. Sanderson)

West Gambier 59 (S. Rier, J. Rier) d East Gambier 39 (R. Henke, T. McCallum)

South Gambier 48 (E. Bouchier, A. Duncan) d Casterton Sandford 31 (M. Cleary, C. Humphries)

A RESERVE

Millicent 64 (J. Sunderland, D. Denton) d North Gambier 47 (A. Pitson, J. Lile)

West Gambier 68 (T. Earl, C. Tremelling) d East Gambier 31 (T. Gray, B. Hicks)

Casterton Sandford 58 (E. Jarrad, G. Tomkins) d South Gambier 34 (C. Riley, C. Muller)

B GRADE

Millicent 31 (A. Hay, V. Duncan) d North Gambier 22 (A. Redman, K. Dyson)

West Gambier 43 (E. Gillies, D. Wombwell) d East Gambier 37 (J. Clark, S. James)

South Gambier 54 (H. Witherow, A. Pearce-Raisin) d Casterton Sandford 33 (E. Grigg, T. Cleary)

C GRADE

North Gambier 46 (K. Egan, R. Kathryn) d Millicent 36 (E. Bonde, R. Millowick)

West Gambier 38 (E. Pollock, E. Sutherland) d East Gambier 35 (B. Jean, M. Wilson)

South Gambier 41 (E. Egan, J. McGregor) d Casterton Sandford 17 (J. Parsons, K. Gill-Killey)

17 & UNDER

North Gambier 39 (S. Mobbs, C. Mackereth) d Millicent 33 (L. Paul, L. VanEeden)

West Gambier 46 (I. McGregor, L. Simpson) d East Gambier 44 (J. Altschwager, M. Lamb)

Casterton Sandford 49 (S. Richardson, I. Lane) d South Gambier 30 (C. Ryan, S. Grassi)

15 & UNDER A

Millicent 40 (B. Coghlan, K. Dunn) d North Gambier 30 (M. Human, R. Mitchell)

West Gambier 41 (L. Pearson, E. Jolley) d East Gambier 24 (S. Clark, E. Chileborough)

South Gambier 41 (G. Dalton, S. Grassi) d Casterton Sandford 15 (R. Forbes, C. Gorman)

15 & UNDER B

Millicent 19 (J. Hibberd, T. Grosser) d North Gambier 14 (P. Coleman, C. Mitchell)

South Gambier 47 (L. Milich, L. Sneath) d Casterton Sandford 9 (C. Gorman, A. Bailey)

13 & UNDER A

Millicent 56 (L. Crowe, A. Thomson) d North Gambier 14 (G. Collins, A. Halloran)

West Gambier 24 (E. Povey, M. Neale) d East Gambier 15 (S. McCracken, M. Lile)

Casterton Sandford 27 (Y. Grigg, A. Murphy) d South Gambier 14 (Z. Cole, L. Jones)

13 & UNDER B

Millicent 28 (L. VanEeden, P. Johnson) d North Gambier 17 (A. Kamphius, A. Halloran)

East Gambier 19 (I. Mee, O. Hosking) d West Gambier 4 (R. Lamb, M. Thomas)

Casterton Sandford 44 (A. Murphy, M. Robbins) d South Gambier 10 (A. Green, M. Fullerton)

11 & UNDER

Millicent 16 (B. Douglas, R. Johnson) d North Gambier 10 (I. Levine, P. Mulraney)

East Gambier 24 (R. Cook, H. Coote) d West Gambier 5 (S. Carruthers, G. Tremelling)

South Gambier 12 (C. Sims, M. Raedel) d Casterton Sandford 3

Castertonsandfordvsouthgambier

South Gambier seemed to be in control for much of their round three clash with Casterton Sandfordbutitwasalastquartershoongclinic from teenager Gracie Dalton that ensured the Demonshadacomfortablevictory

The young shooter nailed 15 from 18 in a dominant final quarter performance that saw Southpowertoa17goalvictory

The margin was seven at quarter me aer a late flurry from the Demons and by half me it wasa12goalmargin.

The Cats got the beer of the third quarter and haditbacktoaneightgoalgamebeforethelast quartereffortfromDalton.

Casterton Sandford reacted to their opening quarter deficit by swinging the changes, which saw coach Dani Russell and Libby Altorfer switching roles on the wings, with Altorfer moving to the aacking end of the court, while circledefendersCaeleighHumphriesandEbany Jarrad also swapped roles with Humphries moving back onto Dalton aer her opening quarter of nine from 12, alongside Alyssa Duncan’sperfectsixfromsix.

Over the next two quarters, the changes seemed to have an impact but an injury to Jarrad that forced her from the court, saw the Cats line-up again forced to shuffle, with Madalene Cleary moving from the centre to goaldefenceandIvyLane,whousuallypliesher tradeasagoaler,takingthecentrebib.

In a good sign for Casterton Sandford, the shoong combinaon of Chloe Foster and Chelsey Galpin looked to be finding some good chemistry and they did generate more scoring opportuniesthantheprevioustworounds.

FortheDemons,SophieWightwasoutstanding through the centre, running hard and having an impact at both ends, while Ellie Bouchier was the queen of the turnover, using her height and reach to great effect in disrupng the cats forwardsetup.

Duncanalsoconnuestobetheoncourtleader and she did a mountain of work as a key link player and out the front of Dalton to ensure South always remained ahead on the scoreboard.

Eastgambiervwestgambier

The reigning premiers appeared in control of theirMcDonald ParkcontestwithEastGambier but it was only in the final quarter that West Gambier put the result beyond doubt, winning hequarterby12topowertoa20goalvictory

That final quarter was the Sarah Rier show as she converted 17 from 18, building on her first quarterdominancethatsawhernail12from13 inanotherstunningbestoncourtperformance.

JadeRier’sreturntothecourtatthedefensive end was certainly a boost for the Roos as her combinaon with Amy Cram made scoring difficultfortheBulldogs.

East would be thrilled how hard they pushed the reigning premiers for three quarters, with Tarsh McCallum’s hard running and accurate feeding, as well as Renee Henke’s ming on the move and accurate finishing key factors as well as the injecon, due to injury, of Madison Tone at goal aack to try something new in the shoongcircle.

And with a solid defensive combinaon of Bo Creek and Morgan Amy, the Bulldogs can only hope to connue to improve as their completely new look line-up tried to develop somesynergy

West would have been thrilled with its fist and last quarters but also happy to stay in the contest when challenged more strongly in the second and third and as a complete defensive unit they are keeping sides to low scores and minimal scoring opportunies, knowing they havesuchscoringpowerinSarahRierandLisa McGregor.

Itwasbilledthematchoftheroundanditdidn’t disappoint as North Gambier and Millicent wenttoetotoeatVansiartParkwiththeTigers gengthejobdoneontheirhometurf

Despite missing key defender Mikaila Pi, North was able to place rising teenage star Stella Mobbs in the goal keeper role for her A Gradedebut.

Millicent, as they so oen do, got off to a flier andledbysixatthefirstbreak..

Inaccuracy in the North shoong circle played a role in the deficit, while the Saints were nailing mostoftheiropportunies.

In the second quarter the story was supply, with North generang 19 scoring shoots and finishing accurately, while Millicent had more trouble in finding their goalers and only 12 scoring opportunies were onoffer

The Saints reacted to that quarter, with scores ed at the main break at 24-all, by changing up the mid court, moving Lillie Paul to wing aack, Lisa Duldig into centre and freed up Kimmi Tincknell to the defensive wing with the injecon of Lauren VanEeden into the goal defencerole.

Again, North was able to just get the edge in scoring opportunies and Grace Pos and Macey Griffith were also finishing accurately, with the Tigers enjoyinga six goal three quarter melead.

That ended up being 10 by the final whistle as Pos and Griffith combined for 19 from 20 to puttheresultbeyonddoubt.

ThevictorywouldfilltheTigerswithconfidence astheyseemtohaveseledonastarngseven that is gelling as a combinaon in every area of thecourt.

Mel Renko’s move to centre has seen her control the court for North, while freeing up BriannaWalterstouseherspeedoffthemarkat wing aack, while Lauran Norman will only improveasshenailsdownthedefensivewing.

Noni McConnell has been the general of the defensiveendandwillbehangingformoreme todevelopanunderstandingwithPiwhenshe returnstotheline-up.

Saints goalers Tabatha Sanderson and Demi Verbena were the best of the Saints but there is work to be done in the connecon with the mid court.

AnditisclearMillicentisslllookingtoseleon a preferred line-up, not just making those changes at the main break but moving VanEeden to the defensive wing for the final quarter and adding Nikeisha Facey to the goal defencerole.

While Verbena and Duldig add plenty of experience and leadership to the Saints line-up itisayounger,moreinexperiencedline-upthan overthepastdecade.