The side came second in Pool B courtesy of strong wins over Sapphire Coast and a divisional side from Canberra. Top spot would have been sealed if the side was able to beat Sydney Division 1. Unfortunately a very slow start saw them trailing by a large margin at half time. The side came home with a wet sail but ran out of time to defeat their talented rivals.
This inconsistency prevented the side from asserting their dominance more against their opposition as they were made to rue skill errors and a lack of accountability at times. Saying this, there was plenty of attacking flair and the rebound ability of the side was to be admired.
It ended up being a very tight pool with 2 draws being played out and the largest result being 22 points (North Coast defeating Canberra).
Unfortunately, the day's intensity resulted in a lot of sore bodies that were unable to hold back the ability of our neighbourly rivals from the Black Diamond. Keen to reverse their Day 1 efforts that saw them lose all 3 of their games, the Newcastle boys were up for the clash and dominated all over the ground and had more options in attack. Despite winning the second quarter and being within striking distance at half-time, any thoughts of a comeback were dashed when the side was held scoreless in the second half. Mick Ryan was a standout for the Black Diamond, with the Australian Army AFL side representative plugging more than 20 marks and kicking 4 goals as his big frame was impossible to counter.
There were some strong individual performances in the matches, with Darren Funston winning the award for Best and Fairest for the North Coast. Daniel Zacek was also a presence up forward, whilst Dean Nankervill was consistent down back.
The side benefitted from the rare opportunity to pit themselves against the best, especially the younger players that are our future and will learn a lot from the experience. Expect better performances in future years, as the tournament looks set to have a future; whether that is every 2 or 4 years, that decision will be made at a later date.
Congratulations go to the side for their efforts and conduct on and off the field. Thanks must also go to the coaching staff; Rod Macpherson, Paul Sheldon and Brad Greenshields, Anthony Beasley (runner), Jill Woodlock (team manager) and Jim Woodlock (league delegate) who worked tirelessly to prepare the side.
North Coast results are as follows, to access all results, visit the Regional Championships website (site can be found by accessing 'Events').
DAY 1 - Saturday June 7, 2008
|
POOL B - ROBERTSON OVAL |
TIME |
TEAM A |
SCORE |
TEAM B |
SCORE |
10.00am |
North Coast |
FULLTIME |
AFL Canberra |
FULLTIME |
|
|
6.3.39 |
|
2.5.17 |
Best Players: D Johnson, D Funston, T Snow |
Best Players: R Forsyth, B Schmid, D Rawlinson, C Spencer, S Croft, L Kensey, B Foran, J Kocmar |
1.30pm |
Sydney AFL |
FULLTIME |
North Coast |
FULLTIME |
|
|
7.4.46 |
|
6.3.39 |
Best Players: A Davis, S Hissey, P Hamer, S Murray, I Armitage, K Haywood |
Best Players: D Zacek, D Funston, C Tune, D Pritchard, M Lill, P Chadwick |
Goal Kickers: A Davis (4), S Murray, S Hissey, I Armitage |
Goal Kickers: D Zacek, P Chadwick, (2) B Hooke, E Duryea |
4.00pm |
North Coast |
FULLTIME |
Sapphire Coast |
FULLTIME |
|
|
6.4.40 |
|
3.2.20 |
Best Players: D Funston, S Gluyas, J Schmid, C Tune, E Duryea, T Snow |
Best Players: G Regan, B McBain, L Walker-Eastick, M Thompson, C Gross |
Goal Kickers:B Hooke (2), T Snow, D Johnson, P Chadwick, S Dawes |
Goal Kickers: R Pennefather, D Vanderfeen, B Hall |
DAY 2 - Sunday June 8, 2008 |
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|
MAHER OVAL |
TIME |
TEAM A |
SCORE |
TEAM B |
SCORE |
11.00am |
North Coast |
4.3.27 |
Black Diamond |
19.8.122 |
|
Progressive Score |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Progressive Score |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
|
|
1.2.6 |
4.3.27 |
4.3.27 |
|
7.0.42 |
9.1.55 |
14.4.88 |
Best Players:C Tune, D Funston, S Dawes, R Eddy, J Edwards
|
Best Players: A Clarke, M Ryan, L Rawnsley, B Jones, T Sheldon, C Grentell
|
Goal Kickers: B Ford, H Pearce, J Schmidt, Z Nankevill
|
Goal Kickers: M Ryan (4), T Sheldon (4) C Clark, A Clarke, M Hodge, J Kavanagh (2), B Wold, M Smith |
- Check out the Photos section for some more photos from the weekend.
Last Modified on 09/06/2008 20:17