The first week of the finals is in the books in the Kowree Naracoorte-Tatiara football league and wins to Border Districts and Kingston were recorded after both teams put on a great display of finals football.
On Saturday Border Districts overcame Keith in a tough bruising encounter in the Qualifying Final.
The Eagles and Crows went hard at the ball and the body as you would expect in a final.
Keith worked hard in the first half to have a slight lead by half-time.
The Schreiber boys in Seb and Will were strong in the contest and worked hard to get the ball forward for the Crows every chance they got.
Billy Wade and Jack McAuley also were strong in the first half for the Crows.
Border Districts stuck with the Crows all the way as Fraser Adams, Dylan Schoenmakers and Daniel Skinner shone for the Eagles in the game.
Border Districts pushed hard in the third quarter and were able to get their running game going during the quarter.
The Eagles found the Crows napping early and they took full advantage as Issac Hewson, Mark Quinn, Fraser Adams and Chase Bowler were making an impact for the Eagles in either kicking the goals or helping to set them up.
The Eagles took over the game and used the third quarter to set up a 16-point lead by three-quarter time.
Keith tried to bridge the gap in the fourth quarter as Will Schreiber continued to run hard.
Billy Wade, Jacob Graetz and George Johnson kept trying hard for the Crows.
Border Districts proved to be too strong around the ground for Keith.
Dylan Schoenmakers, Daniel Skinner and Fraser Adams were putting in the hard yards for the Eagles to make sure the Eagles booked a second semi-final spot.
The Eagles ran out winners by 22 points in the end in a great performance.
On Sunday Naracoorte played against Kingston at Keith in the Elimination final.
Kingston got the jump early in the game by kicking the first three goals.
Kingston’s James Siviour was proving to be a problem for the Naracoorte Demons as he was taking marks and he had two goals in the opening 15 minutes of the game.
Naracoorte kicked two late goals to bring the margin back to four points by the quarter-time break.
Naracoorte dominated much of the play in the opening 15 minutes of the second quarter.
Kingston got the first goal of the quarter through Ethan Murdock, but the Demons had most of the ball in their front half for the next 14 minutes.
Rory Taggert kicked two goals in that time span to help the demons grab the lead.
Keenan Jacobs, Matt Willson, Joshua Gregg and Mitch Pulmer influenced the Demons’ play as they got control of the game.
Kingston hit back late in the quarter as they were able to get back the lead before halftime.
The Saints got goals from Jack Harding and Chad Wood to help them open up an eight-point halftime lead.
Jack Harding, Thomas Matsouliadis, Chris Draper, William Watts, and Jack Armfield had a big second quarter for the Saints.
The third quarter was all about Kingston as they used it to make a big winning push.
The Saints kicked six goals to nil to build from their half-time lead of eight and expand it to 46 by the time the three-quarter time siren sounded.
Two goals from Todd Lockwood and singles to Travis Burns, Ethan Murdock, Jack Harding and Thomas Matsouliadis were added to the Saints’ score during the quarter.
William Watts continued his great form for the Saints with another big quarter of getting the ball.
Campbell Watts, Jack Harding, Todd Lockwood, Tom Rogers and James Siviour were all important contributors for the Saints in the third quarter.
Naracoorte struggled to stop the Saints from getting the ball inside their forward 50.
The Demons had little chance to get back into the game in the fourth quarter but they kept fighting all the way.
Rory Taggert was one of the better Demons for the game as he ended up with four goals including two in the last quarter.
Zac Peake was held to two goals as well by the Kingston defence.
Zac was able to get on the scoresheet in the fourth quarter.
Thomas Rogers, Ben Rogers and Jarryd Hill had great defensive games for Kingston.
Jarryd did a lot of good spoils on Zac Peake and made him work hard for his touches.
Jarryd was able to rest in the fourth quarter as the Saints had a winning margin.
James Siviour, Ben Warner and Chris Draper added goals to the Kingston tally by the end of the game.
Naracoorte finished off the game the better, but it was Kingston who recorded the victory and set up a semi-final showdown against the Keith Crows on Sunday at Padthaway.
