BY GARY STOCKS

A sizzling first half, a lull in the third quarter and then a powerful finish added up to the North Beach mantra of conquer and advance in the Perth Football League finals series.

The O’Rourke Realty A-Grade team set up victory with a near flawless first quarter when they kicked against the breeze in a cut-throat battle with Trinity-Aquinas.

Not only did the Beach stymie the Boomers who were looking to pile on the early pressure, but they out-scored them after conceding a goal in the opening minute.

In the next 48 minutes the Beach enjoyed absolute control where Kyle Cranley, Brayden Lawler and Sam Lamont controlled the midfield while Nic Reid (three goals) and Jack Beverley provided a menacing presence up forward.

The result was a 53-point half-time lead and the game was done and dusted.

Perhaps that permeated through the playing group too, as the pressure that had typified the first half dropped away, Trinity Aquinas kicked a couple of early goals and were soon back in the contest.

Leading by just nine points going into the last quarter – but with a powerful breeze at their backs – the Beach played a controlled final term to advance through a 27-point win.

Nic Wells also played strongly on a wing, James Garcia won a few important one-on-one contests and down back the poise of Ned Halley was important.

The Beach will now play University in this week’s first semi-final.

The Plasterwise Phil Scott Colts found themselves opposed to the same foe, albeit at Morris Buzzacott Reserves, and could not emulate their senior clubmates.

After a competitive first half, where the difference was based upon the Boomers’ ability to make better use of opportunities, the Beach dropped away and fell to a 49-point defeat – 9.7 (61) to 1.6 (12).

In the second half Trinity Aquinas proved too slick, ensured scoreboard pressure was applied and marched away with an important victory.

Harrison Baxter and Sam Halley were resolute down back, Kobi Martin and Justin Prior worked hard through the midfield in conjunction with James Cameron on the wing and both Cody Connell and Peter Coles stood out despite limited opportunities up forward.

O’Rourke Realty A-Grade
North Beach      2.3         9.7         9.7         12.10    82
Trinity Aquinas 1.2         1.2         8.4           8.7       55
Goals – North Beach: Reid 3; Lamont 2; Saunders, N Wells, Lawler, Garcia, Leishman, Canty, Hooper.
Best – North Beach: Beverley, Lamont, N Wells, Lawler, Cranley, Garcia.

Plasterwise Phil Scott Colts
Trinity Aquinas 2.3         3.3         8.3         9.7         61
North Beach      0.0         1.4         1.4         1.6         12
Goals – North Beach: Connell.
Best – North Beach: Baxter, Martin, Prior, Halley, Cameron, Connell.

Lessons Learned As Threes Advance

The purpose of the qualifying rounds are two-fold; win as many games to finish as high on the ladder as possible and to take note of opposition methodology when likely to confront them in the finals series.

The Hybrid Linings C4-Grade advanced to another Grand Final appearance on the back of those lessons when they won an engaging second semi-final battle with Noranda last Saturday.

They developed a plan to counter the Hawks’ strengths, put that into practice with devastating effect and strode to an impressive 37-point victory against a team that had lost just two games in the qualifying rounds.

Jack Merson continued his stellar late season form and was outstanding in the defensive half completely nullifying every opponent he had while Jordan Brooks, renowned as a dynamic forward, played as a high half forward, pushing into the back half where he read the ball wonderfully well to repel attack after attack.

Alex Thompson did a fantastic job on one of the quickest footballers in the competition and although he gave up a yard in pace, Thompson used his body brilliantly at stoppages to render his opponent ineffective.

Marc Crisp again marshalled his troops in the middle to be a commanding presence and up forward, Tully Wickstein was dangerous and finished with three majors while acting captain Josh Cameron played possibly his best game of the season with great forward pressure and some ferocious tackling.

The Beast Carpet Cleaning C4-Reserves found the conditions difficult to master and University proved better equipped to capitalise as the Scholars compiled a 15-point victory – 4.4 (28) to 2.1 (13).

The weather made it difficult to score at one end of the ground so each team only had two quarters to add any significant score and University took more of their opportunities, appearing to want it more on the day.

After playing most of the year as a defender Jack Stevens was thrust into the midfield early on and earned a best on ground performance for North Beach.

Vaughn Quinlan continued his strong finals form and showed his versatility having a very strong game in defence. Josh Tickner and Lucas Osborne played their roles to perfection locking down two of University’s big key forwards and were ably assisted throughout the day by Liam Vardy who constantly put his body on the line for the team.

Kahlil Campbell went head-to-head with University’s best midfielder and gave the Beach a lot of grunt throughout the game, and Alex Coleman was again great in the ruck.

The intent and pressure for the majority of the game was disappointing. And to compound the issue half-forward Jayden Hunt broke an ankle in the last quarter after being one of the better performers on the day.

After Jayden went down, it seemed as if the pressure bar was raise, winning more ball at the contests and using the voice that is needed in finals. Hopefully this can carry through to this weekend where the Beach will come up against CBC again.

The Indian Ocean Hotel Brett Jones Colts were a little short of the best and took a tough lesson on board after falling to University.

Always prepared for an arm wrestle North Beach started well and had University on the defensive early but with failure to take chances and too many skill errors gave the opposition a look into the contest.

After quarter-time, the Scholars played the game on their terms and did a good job of negating the Beach strengths. An outstanding game from Seb Smith in defence was the highlight along with a truly gritty performance from start to finish from Zach Farrell and Wil Dobson.

University kept the Beach at bay and a final push at the end wasn’t enough to propel the boys over the line.

It was a harsh lesson but having earned the right to a double chance, they now use that life-line against Kalamunda in this week’s preliminary final.

The GJ Osplumb E4-Grade also suffered a qualifying loss when out-played by Jandakot.

Hybrid Linings C4-Grade
Second semi-final
North Beach      2.2         6.4         8.5         11.9       75
Noranda             1.1         3.2         4.2         6.2        38
Goals – North Beach: M Cameron 4; T Wickstein 3; Brooks, Crisp, O’Gorman, Purser.
Best – North Beach: Merson, J Cameron, Brooks, Crisp, Wickstein, Thompson.

Beast Carpet Cleaning C4-Reserves
Second semi-final
University           2.2         2.3         4.4         4.4         28
North Beach      0.0         1.1         1.1         2.1         13
Goals – North Beach: Campbell, Zehnder.
Best – North Beach: Stevens, Vardy, Quinlan, Campbell, J Hunt, A Coleman, Osborne, Tickner.

Indian Ocean Hotel Brett Jones Colts
Qualifying final
University 6.5 (41) def North Beach 5.4 (34)
Goals – North Beach: Z Farrell 3, W Dobson, B Castiglioni.
Best – North Beach: S Smith, Farrell, Caiacob, Dobson, Bristow-Stagg, R Rose.

GJ Osplumb E4-Grade
Qualifying Final
Jandakot            5.1        8.2         10.7       13.11    89
North Beach      0.3         1.7         1.7          2.7       19