The Limestone Coast’s three football leagues converged on Bordertown on Saturday for the region’s much anticipated interleague carnival.
The best players from the Kowree-Naracoorte Tatiara, Mid South Eastern and Western Border football took the field to represent their clubs and leagues in junior and senior action.
The day kicked off with the host league KNTFL losing to the Western Border side in the under 15s.
The two leagues then faced off in the under 17s which was also claimed by Western Border by four goals.
Mid South East then came up against KNTFL in the under 15s and this time the hosts managed to grab a win.
The under 17s match between the two sides was a similar result with KNTFL finishing 25 point winners.
Western Border then defeated Mid South East in both the under 15s and then the under 17s quite comfortably.
The seniors finished the day with Western Border taking on the KNTFL, with the host side emerging victorious with a commanding 83 to 57 win.
Right from the first quarter, KNTFL displayed dominance, establishing a solid foundation with 27 points on the board while limiting Western Border to only seven points.
Western Border struggled to move the ball out of its backline with KNTFL forcing a marking contest every time, slowing its opposition’s ball movement.
Western Border coach Clint Gallio admitted his side started slowly.
“In the first quarter they got out of the blocks a bit and we ended up playing catch-up,” Gallio said.
Some inaccurate kicking from the KNTFL kept Western Border in the match, as the difference became 29 points, thanks to a well taken set shot from Sam Stafford and Brayden Kain.
The second half provided a more even contest with Western Border spending more time in its forward half than in the previous quarters.
Western Border managed to win the quarter scoring 27 to KNTFL’s 20.
However the side had not done enough to get back into the game, still playing catch up to be 18 points behind at three quarter time.
The final quarter saw KNTFL run away with the game scoring two goals to put the match to bed.
While the result was disappointing, Gallio was pleased with his side’s effort.
“We competed hard all day and we had some good moments, but we just could not string it all together,” he said.
“Overall we’re pretty happy with how we competed for the whole four quarters.”
For KNTFL Daniel Bibby, Blake Read, Jacob Eats, Jacob Grosser, Henry Tregoweth and Josh Gregg showcased their exceptional skills and were named among the best players for the game.
Western Border had commendable performances from Brandon Newton, Kade Bradley, Clinton Gallio, Shaun Lock, Mark Rumbelow and Sam Waring.
Gallio was pleased with the performances from his defence.
“Braden Newton was our best player, he created some drive off half back and Kade Bradley was really good down back as well,” he said.
“Brayden Kain down the other end kicked four goals and took some really good marks.”
Gallio was also pleased with the performances of some of the younger players in the team, in particular Kade Varcoe.
“Kade Varcoe was our best young player, he got some touches in the midfield and worked really hard,” he said.
KNTFL’s Blake Read stood out with an impressive tally of three goals, closely followed by Henry Tregoweth and Thomas Whittlesea, who scored three and two goals respectively.
For Western Border Brayden Kain delivered an outstanding performance, leading his team’s goal-scoring efforts with four goals, while Frazer Bradley chipped in with two goals.
