Rick Drewer
THE Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association senior colts preliminary final was played at Freeling in fine, but windy conditions between second-placed Willaston and third-placed Barossa District, with the Bulldogs completely dominating in a one-sided affair 9.11 (65) to 1.6 (12).
Considering that in round one Willaston had a 20-point victory over the Dogs, the margin of victory was completely unforeseen.
The first term was anything but an entertaining spectacle, with repeated scrimmages and ball-ups and free-flowing football non-existent.
This resulted in the scoreboard attendant not being troubled until half-way through the quarter, when Nathan Johnson took a strong contested mark at half-forward for the Doggies, and kicked accurately to break this unspectacular deadlock.
Riley Horsburgh and Adrian Pullman stood out early for Barossa, while Hudson Cole and Thomas Bint had some good moments for the Donnybrooks.
A total of seven points scored at quarter-time reflected the game, and unfortunately for the neutral fans, the second term was much the same as the first, with the only highlight being a gather, off-hands, from the Bulldog's Nathan Dyer, before a slick handball to the running Craig Dowse resulted in an accurate snap for the Dogs’ second major.
This was followed by an opportunist goal from Lochlain Young to stretch the lead to 17 points at the long break.
The third term saw the Bulldogs in complete control, totally dominating play, adding four goals courtesy of Jake Lane, Josh Newman and two more from Nathan Johnson, while holding Willaston scoreless – not entering its forward zone for the entire quarter.
It took until the opening minute of the final quarter for Willaston to register its one-and-only goal for the game, with Tahjin Krieg's great snap going through.
Further goals to Jake Lane and Nathan Johnson, taking his personnel tally to four, saw the lead blowout to a massive 53 points at the final siren.
The 20-7 scoring shots accurately reflected the dominance of the Bulldogs throughout the match as they were far more determined and fierce with their tackling and attack on the ball, giving the Donnybrooks little possession, or time to constructively use the ball.
For the Donnys, Lachlan Wilkin, Tahjin Krieg, Harrison Polito and Angus Arthur gave their collective-all, but contributions from the Bulldogs’ Horsburgh, Johnson, Liam Tappert, Craig Dowse, Adrian Pullman and Jake Lane overwhelmed them.
Based on this performance, Barossa should approach next week's grand final against South Gawler with confidence.
In the junior colts, Tanunda is through to the grand final against Barossa District after a 7.15 (57) to 3.6 (24) over Nuriootpa.
The Magpies were never truly threatened on the day, with their 20-point lead at quarter time essentially the margin throughout until they pulled away in the fourth quarter.
William McCabe led the way for Tanunda with his three goals, with teammate Ben Swan excellent through the middle of the ground.
Cooper Linke and Tom Giles (two goals) were bright spots on a Tigers team that had should be proud its season.
