Second Semi Final
Redcliffe will head to Jubilee Drive to take on Nambour who will be fresh after a week’s break.
While the Blues were resting up, Redcliffe spent last Saturday taking care of business against Cabboolture.
On this occasion it was the same story as round 18 as caboolture were unable to keep up and the Tigers who ran away with a five goal win in an impressive display.
The big guns were firing up forward with James Niven booting three goals and Aaron Kingdom, Tim Lynne and Jason Apps finishing with two majors each.
Tim Lynne was superb in a standout game, as was Aaron Kingdom and NickSpring.
Nambour will be full of confidence after finishing the year on top of the ladder and allowing themselves a week off before they get stuck into the finals for 2012.
Redcliffe will be weary of the fresh legs of the Blues players but should take a great deal of confidence out of their match winning efforts last week.
If Nambour are able to eliminate the complacency that can sometimes come with a week off in finals time, they will be very hard to beat.
With players like Ben Stanley, Shane Rawlins and Chris Abraham lining up for Nambour this contest will be worth watching as Redcliffe proved last week they have enough weapons in their arsenal to kick a winning score against a quality opponent.
Head-to-Head This Year:
Round Eight
Nambour 19.21.135 def. Redcliffe 10.6-66
Round Seventeen
Nambour 11.14.80 def Redcliffe 5.13-43
The Last Five Weeks:
Nambour – WWWLW
Redcliffe – WWLLW
First Semi Final
Logan City will travel to Alexander Barr Oval to face Caboolture on Saturday as both
sides fight to progress to the next week of finals action in the SEQAFL Div 3.
In last week’s elimination final the Cobras recorded an emphatic victory over Beenleigh to knock them out of season 2012.
The 43 point win was setup through a brutal five goal third quarter that had the Buffaloes playing catch up for the last quarter.
Although they fought back gallantly, Logan did enough to book their place in the first Semi and send an ominous warning to the doubters who questioned their finals prospects.
Daniel Milligan turned it on for his finest game of the year in a best on ground performance, while Rhys Thomas was also a big contributor throughout the day.
Chris Fletcher proved to be lively up forward and finished with six goals.
Caboolture will now have to win to stay in the finals race following their 31 point loss to Redcliffe in the first Qualifying final last week.
The Lions went into the main break only one goal behind but were worked out of the game in the second half as Redcliffe created plenty of scoring opportunities with relative ease.
Steele Draper played a lone hand up forward and booted three of his side’s six goals for the day and Bryce Smith was named Caboolture’s best.
Michael Pratt characteristically battled hard all day, as did Grant Wilkinson and Michael Matthews.
On the two occasions these two sides have met this year there is only a twenty two point difference in favour of Caboolture.
The close tussle that we have already seen this season is sure to continue with both sides needing a win to continue their hopes of going deeper into the finals.
Caboolture have now lost two games on the trot but have showed plenty this year that suggests they are amongst the most skilful teams in the competition, while Logan City have continued to rise to the challenges put in front of them over the past month.
Although the Cobras are running hot at the moment they will need to be well aware of what the Lions are capable of.
Caboolture’s ability to test the league’s big sides is not something that any other team has been able to do and they will be more than ready for Logan City after last week’s loss.
Head-to-Head This Year:
Round Six
Caboolture 10.7.67 def. Logan City 8.12.60
Round Fifteen
Caboolture 14.14.98 def.Logan City 12.11.83
The Last Five Weeks:
Caboolture– LLWWW
Logan City – WWWWL