The Grafton Tigers have booked themselves a place in the North Coast AFL grand final after defeating the Port Macquarie Magpies by 33 points in the second semi final of the North Coast AFL competition played in wet and windy conditions at Coffs Harbours BCU stadium on Saturday.
It was the first time this season that both teams have met at full strength, and although Grafton have defeated Port Macquarie in both of their games this year, many believed the Magpies had the ability to upset the all conquering Tigers with their experience in finals football over the past few years.
The first quarter was played with intensity, and both sides looked to gain the early upper hand, the Magpies were the first to get the ball into the attacking zone, but were unable to score due to the outstanding defence of the Tigers backline of brothers Will and Justin Darby, Ryan Sheather and Dion Mcgregor who continually rebounded the ball back up the ground, and it was Grafton who were the first to score, with forwards Josh Sheather and Evan Duryea combining well to outplay their defending opponents, the Tigers were able to add 5 unanswered goals for the quarter to lead by 32 before Port Macquarie were able to trouble the scorers with a late goal in the dying seconds to narrow the margin to 26.
It was a different Magpies side who started the second quarter, controlling the ball to match it with the Tigers but again the Grafton defensive line was working brilliantly and constantly putting pressure on the Magpies to restrict them to 4 goals for the term, while the Tigers forward line of Captain Dan Zacek, Jarrod Meade, Josh Sheather and Duryea were able to find space inside 50 to add a further 5 majors to Grafton’s total to increase the lead to 33 before half time.
With the rain coming down in the third term, the complexion of the game changed to wet weather footy, with both sides were having trouble controlling the slippery ball in the greasy conditions, however, it was the Tigers who managed it better, with midfielders Sam Morrison, Dale Beaver and Ronald Davis dominating play in the middle and continually taking the ball from a increasingly frustrated Magpies to extend their lead to 37 with 3 goals to the Magpies 2.
The larger field at BCU stadium began to take its toll on the Tigers in the fourth quarter, with a few players experiencing cramping and giving the Magpies a chance to get back into the game with Port Macquarie dominating early to add 3 goals to the scoreboard and reduce the margin to 19 before Grafton regained their composure to finish with 2 majors and 2 behinds to win by 33.
Final Scores:
Grafton: 5.2 10.3 13.5 15.9 (99)
Goals: J. Sheather 3, E. Duryea 3, S. Morrison 2, D. Beaver 2, J. Darby, S. Purton, A. Lollback, D. Zacek, L. Hayman, J. Meade .
Port Macquarie: 1.0 5.0 7.4 10.6 (66)
Goals: M. Newton 5, C. Miechel, M. Lill, J. Schmidt, D. Nankivell, G. Chapman, J. Hall.
Best for Grafton were midfielders Sam Morrison, Dale Beaver, Ronald Davis, Ruckman Dan Gordon, fullback William Darby and half forward Jarrod Meade.
The victory will give the Tigers added confidence before the grand final on September 3 who will face off against the winner of next week’s elimination final between Nambucca Valley Lions and Port Macquarie Magpies who get a second chance after Saturdays defeat, both the final and grand final will be played at BCU stadium in Coffs Harbour.
The Tigers will be arranging for a supporter bus to travel down to Coffs for the grand final with more specific details avaliable on this site in the coming days.
Last Modified on 21/08/2011 16:48