SEMI-FINALS in the Bendigo Bank Maryborough-Castlemaine District Football Netball League will be played this weekend.
Maldon takes on Avoca in tomorrow’s second semi-final at Dunolly, with Rovers and Carisbrook to contest Sunday’s first semi-final at Avoca.
A big crowd is expected to witness tomorrow’s battle between Maldon and the Bulldogs.
The Dons beat Avoca in round 12 at their only encounter for the season.
The Bulldogs were undermanned on that occasion, missing key players such as Tony Bellenger and Chris Lakey, and went down by 16 points on the tight confines of the Maldon Oval.
Maldon finished the home-and-away series on top of the ladder and earned a rest last weekend.
Avoca won a hard-fought qualifying final against Rovers.
Shaun Carroll, David Carroll and Tom Cain were in outstanding form against Carisbrook in the final home and away game for the season, but the Bombers have good all round depth with the likes of Hayden Kelly, Julian Lockwood, Joel Cross and Marc Carroll all capable of turning it on.
Wes Bell and Justin Trevan provide forward pressure and will be tough to match up on.
Avoca will have a full list to pick from this time around and it will be a great contest in the middle, with Julian Field, Sam Kaye and Lachlan Edwards all in form against Rovers last week.
Ben Harrison is a class player and he can go forward if necessary.
Nathan Coghlan returned to form last week and Mitch Etherton has improved each match.
In a battle that could go either way, Maldon finishing minor premiers may give the psychological edge to the Bombers and they may just get over the line in a tight finish.
The first semi-final on Sunday between Rovers and Carisbrook will also provide a great contest, as the experienced finals campaigners in Carisbrook will go in as slight underdogs against the much-improved Rovers.
Justin Harris has finished the season in grand form and stood out in last week’s qualifying final loss to Avoca, as did Jayden Hind who has the ability to kick quick goals.
Scott Sellers is in form and also has the ability to go forward and finish off.
The consistent Tristian Gillies can break the lines with his run and carry and will need to be closely guarded.
Carisbrook was strong in the second half last week against Newstead, but had their backs against the wall when Newstead threw down the challenge late in the game, although to their credit they withstood the challenge to stay alive in the final series.
Tom Wright and Jackson Bowen were the key players last week.
Luke Robinson also performed admirably and Ben Kick set up many attacks for the Redbacks.
A thrilling draw was the result of their only clash of the season in round nine.
Carisbrook scored five goals to one in the final quarter to level the scores with seconds to go.
Carisbrook’s finals experience will be a key factor.
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