THE Riverina Anglican College warmed up for next week's Carroll Cup decider with a 12.8 (80) to 0.3 (3) win over their final opponents-in waiting Mater Dei Catholic College at Robertson Oval on Wednesday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mater Dei was slightly more undermanned and will no doubt provide far stiffer opposition in next Wednesday night's final but it was a timely confidence boost for TRAC, the unbeaten defending champions.
Forwards Sam Stening and Tom Howard both booted three goals for TRAC as they sent a statement how difficult it will be to wrest the cup from their cabinet.
Mater Dei coach Nathan Irvine said his team was missing plenty of players, but said TRAC were also missing their fair share of quality and they'd need to lift for the final.
"We had ten out but they still probably had about five missing, we're going to have to be a whole lot better," he said.
Kildare and Kooringal's last round game on Wednesday night doubled as the third v fourth playoff, given the two schools were guaranteed to play in it next week regardless of the result.
Kildare was missing the likes of Sam Emery and Will O'Connor in their 14.7 (91) to 3.6 (24) win, while Kooringal was without their best player in Luke Lawrence.
IN OTHER NEWS
Kooringal battled hard for the first half, but Kildare piled on nine goals to one in the second half.
Only a last gasp loss to Mater Dei earlier in the competition prevented Kildare from advancing to the final.
Kooringal coach Andrew Schmetzer said scrapping next Monday's game and playing for third on Wednesday night made sense.
"The boys are playing a lot, and backing up on Monday after playing on the weekend was going to be tough. It was common sense to make it tonight's game," he said.
"To be in the game up until the third quarter against quality opposition, I was absolutely thrilled. Their work rate and attitude and improvement they showed throughout the series was first class."
Kildare coach Peter Gaffney said it was a difficult game to motivate his team.
"In past years in the Carroll Cup we didn't bother about third and fourth, but it's a fitting end to the competition for our year 12 boys," he said.
"We had a fair few out tonight but Kooringal made it bloody hard for us, especially in the first three quarters."
KILDARE CATHOLIC COLLEGE 3.1 5.3 9.5 14.7 (91) def KOORINGAL HIGH SCHOOL 1.3 2.4 3.4 3.6 (24)
GOALS: Kildare - Nick Madden 5, Tom Nejman 2, Ben Quilter 2, William Moloney 2, Tom Sase 2, Joe Gowland; Kooringal - Macauley Armstrong 2, Luke McGowan; BEST: Kildare - Tom Sase, Nick Madden, Ryley Watson, Jackson Nejman, Braydon McClintock; Kooringal - Macauley Armstrong, Tom Matheson, Jake Scott, Noah Killeen, Liam Davies, Luke McGowan
THE RIVERINA ANGLICAN COLLEGE 4.3 7.4 9.7 12.8 (80) def MATER DEI CATHOLIC COLLEGE 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 (3); GOALS: TRAC - Sam Stening 3, Tom Howard 3, Luke Fellows 2, Sam McNaughton, Jack Glanvill, Ryan Collins, Billy Glanvill; BEST: TRAC - Billy Glanvill, Sam McNaughton, Jack Glanvill, Sam Stening, Luke Fellows, Tom Howard; Mater Dei - Harry Hallcroft, Bailey Hilton, Baxter Wallett, Harry Wichman, Charlie Stratton.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
