KOONDROOK/BARHAM will go into tomorrow’s Central Murray Football Netball League preliminary final at Tooleybuc aiming to learn from last weekend’s second semi-final loss.
The Raiders – who are in their second consecutive penultimate match of the season – take on Nyah-Nyah West United, who mounted a final quarter comeback on Sunday to remain in the finals.
Although losing to the Blues by 21 points after leading for three quarters six days ago, the border side did not receive any injuries and should go into the match unchanged.
“Our midfield was overrun in the third and part of the last quarter last week,” Raiders coach, Neil Bradley said.
“We had a difficult breeze to tend with in the final term, but if we had kicked two to three more goals before half-time, it could have been a different situation.”
The Demons will be a different prospect for the Raiders, with the match the first meeting to occur away from the Barham Recreation Reserve this year.
Nyah-Nyah West United won by 68 points when the sides met in round nine, before the Raiders prevailed by 32 points in the qualifying final two weeks ago.
Koondrook/Barham hold a better record since their first meeting in June, with the club winning seven of its past nine games compared to the Demons’ 6-4 record.
“We’re not a high-scoring side, and we admit that, but we need to take our chances,” Bradley said.
“Nyah is a high-scoring side, and with the Campbells (Joel and Matt), Alex Erlandson, and the Stokes (Brad and Jarrod), as well as Daryl White in the goalsquare, they are a very difficult side to line up against.”
Daniel Mowat and Matthew Dean will oversee the Raiders’ defensive efforts to shut down Erlandson and White, with Rhett Sutton’s height to give the border side the edge in ball-ups against Ross Rohde.
Tom May and Troy Rogers will battle the Stokes brothers, with Frazer Neate and Lucas Matthews set to shut down the Campbells.
“We would like to return to the grand final. We want to go one better than last year, but we have to get through this weekend first,” Bradley said.
PREDICTION: Koondrook/Barham will win by 20 points.
