Senior Men


Gambier Centrals v Blue Lake


Gambier Centrals will face Blue Lake this Sunday at McLaughlin Park in the Barry Maney Group Limestone Coast Premier League preliminary final.


Both sides had very different results last week with Centrals falling to International 5-2 and Blue Lake defeating Apollo 3-1.


This season Centrals has gotten the edge over Blue Lake, defeating them all three times they have played.


All of those games have been fairly high scoring with at least three goals netted in every meeting.


These sides last met in the final game of the home and away season where the Lions took the win to secure their spot in second.


Blue Lake has been pretty consistent all season as well, playing in some high scoring games.


One of the Rangers’ key players this season has been Shar Nay Than who has scored 36 goals and is coming off a hattrick performance in his last game.


Than is sure to be looking to continue his form.


Another stand out has been the Rangers’ captain Shar Say La who has been great all season and plays a big role in the backline for Blue Lake as well as in the midfield.


Centrals club president Shane Dycer believes his side matches up well against Blue Lake but still thinks it will be a tough game.


“We match up fairly well, we beat them three times this year and it’s always been a contest but we managed to win them so we should be fairly confident that our match ups work against them,” he said.


“They have had a really good season so it’s going to be a really tough game.”


Dycer believes that midfielder Christian Fleetwood and Sam Shoemark up forward will be key players for Centrals in this game.


“Christian Fleetwood in the midfield will probably be pretty important for us, Sam Shoemark was a little bit down last week, he normally does not play two games like that in a row, so I think if those two play their roles it will go a long way for us in winning,” Dycer said.


The winner of this match up will face Inter in the grand final at Casadio Park


Senior Women


Blue Lake v Millicent United


Blue Lake will face Millicent United on Saturday at McLaughlin Park, with the Rangers suffering a tough loss last week in the qualifying final, falling to Apollo 2-0.


On the other hand, Millicent had a great win in the elimination final, beating Centrals 3-0.


In the three meetings these sides have had, both sides have claimed a victory in the contest with their first meeting ending in a 2-2 draw.


Besides the draw both games were very competitive and low scoring as they both ended in a 1-0 result.


Heading into this game Millicent have been in great form, winning four of their last five games.


Meanwhile, Blue Lake have won three of their last five with the two defeats coming at the hands of Apollo and Milicent.


A key player in Millicent’s success will be Lana Shepherd who has had an incredible season.


Shepherd has been Millicent’s reliable goal scorer all season and has proved she can have big games and score a multitude of goals.


Another key player for Millicent will be Dianne Wilson in the goals.


Wilson has had a great season and has helped her side get six clean sheets while also having four games where she only allowed one goal through.


Wilson will be looking to repeat the round 14 performance against Blue Lake where Milicent was able to get a clean sheet.


Blue Lake coach Sean Fulton believes that both sides match up evenly, declaring the match could go either way.


“We match up pretty evenly, when you look across the season they have beaten us once and we have beaten them once and we have also had a draw so it could be anyone’s game on the day,” he said.


Fulton said he would be looking for his players to step up across the board in this game, with a grand final berth on the line.


“We’re probably looking at our backline with the likes of Eve Maywald and Darcey Allen as well as young Chloe Lindquist back there, they tend to hold the fort for us pretty well,” he said.


“In the midfield Aimee Brooks is another one, she’s a big playmaker for us and Pip Crewe who plays out wide for us she will give us a lot of run out wide.”


The winner of this game is set to face Apollo in the grand final.