A DETERMINED Donald have held on to record a one-point win over a fast finishing but inaccurate Sea Lake Nandaly at the weekend.
The Tigers would rue their inaccurate start, kicking 2.8 in the first half including four straight behinds in the opening term, as the Royal Blues opened a 19-point lead at half-time.
While Donald held firm in the third term, the dam wall burst in the final quarter, when the reigning premiers dominated play to get within one point in the 9.4 (58) to 7.15 (57) loss.
However, the Tigers missed several gilt-edged chances in front of goals the final quarter, kicking 2.5.
The loss knocked Sea Lake Nandaly from top spot on the North Central ladder with just three rounds remaining
The Royal Blues maintained their six-point advantage over fifth-placed Nullawil and now need to win two of their final three games against Charlton, Boort and Wedderburn to secure a top-four finish
Saturday’s result was seven years in the making, with the Royal Blues having last defeated Sea Lake Nandaly at Sea Lake in 2017.
Senior coach Josh Potter said it would give Donald a boost of confidence ahead of a highly competitive finals series.
“We’ve had a fair few injuries throughout the year and we haven’t been able to field a full side, but the positive is that we’ve had a lot of kids coming through the ranks and getting a bit of exposure at senior level,” Potter said.
“They’re starting to find their feet and understand the game now, and the most pleasing thing was that they all contributed on the weekend.
“Although we might not have had the results against the top sides that we would have liked prior to Saturday, we know we’re not far away and once we get those guys back on the park, we’re going to be a real threat come finals.”
Donald lost centre half-forward Todd Stevenson to an ankle injury late in the third quarter, which resulted in a reshuffle of their structure.
With the Tigers pressing hard, Ryley Barrack and Andrew Browne stood up across half-back, along with Dyson Bell-Warren, intercepting several of Sea Lake Nandaly’s forward entries in the final quarter.
“We’ve been working really hard on our brand of footy over the last four or five weeks and how we want to play, and we just went out and executed it perfectly for three-and-a-bit quarters,” Potter said.
“The wind was becoming a bit of a factor in the last quarter, and (Sea Lake Nandaly) had the advantage and were coming hard.
“They’re a really good side and showed again why they’re so good, but for whatever reason we just had the momentum for most of the game and managed to hold on.
“We lost Todd late in the third quarter and we just lost a bit of exposure across half-forward and having someone to go through forward of centre.
“(Sea Lake Nandaly) started to rebound off our half-forward line a bit more after that, but Ryley Barrack and Andrew Browne were huge for us in that final quarter.
“Another couple of minutes and the result might have been different, but we just managed to do enough.”
Also among the Royal Blues’ better players were Logan and Hayden Geddes, with Noah Berry the only multiple goalkicker for Donald with three, while Jack Poulton, Wade and Kane Donnan, Tyson McKenzie, Thomas Cox and Luke Martin were the named as the better players for Sea Lake Nandaly.
Birchip-Watchem’s 38-point win over Boort, 11.15 (81) to 6.7 (43), returned them to the top of the ladder.
The result all but extinguished the finals hopes of the Magpies, who must rely on winning their final three matches and having other results go their way.
Likewise, Wycheproof-Narraport’s 27-point loss to Wedderburn left them eight points behind the fourth-placed Redbacks.
With the Demons having the bye this weekend, their hopes of playing finals in the club’s final season before merging with Nullawil are now over, with Wedderburn’s Oscar Holt kicking six goals in the 11.10 (76) to 7.7 (49) win.
Meanwhile, Nullawil secured a dominant 26.12 (168) to 3.7 (25) win over Charlton.
The Maroons kicked nine first-quarter goals to blow the match wide open, with Adam Thomson leading the way with six goals.
