The Daylesford Division 1 team had another huge challenge, and they passed with flying colors with an impressive 2-1 win against Sebastopol Vikings on Sunday night. This sends the league champions straight to the grand final in two weeks time, their first appearance since 2000.
Early goals should have gone to Daylesford, but they hit the post in the first 20 minutes and had another clear one-on-one chance saved by the Sebas Keeper.
It was all Daylesford, until Vikings quietened the strong crowd with a nice goal from Bosher, the league top scorer, against the run of play.
This lifted Daylesford, with two great goals before half time. The first was from Josh Duffy, who again dazzled all game, who calmly slotted home after a top dribble.
Owen Turbitt then scored the winner after a good cross was not cleared and Bear Hackenburger went for a bicycle kick fiasco.
The second half was much closer, with Vikings having some very good chances to pull a goal back, and Daylesford hanging on thanks to the tight defence of Jim Milesi, Jordy Barnes, Ivan Carter and Lachlan Torpedo.
The team now head to the grand final in two weeks time, Saturday, September 14 at 7pm in Ballarat.
Score: 2-1
Best: Milesi, Carter, Turbitt, Bear, Mrowiec, Duffy
Under 12 girls
Daylesford took on their great opponents in Ballarat North.
Ballarat North have shown great improvement during the year and we look forward to our friendly rivalry continuing in 2020. Unfortunately North could only get seven girls onto the pitch, but despite this gave an energetic performance.
The girls did not disappoint in their first final. With coach Paul Righetti pulling the strings and rotating the players, the girls adapted very well and showed great spirit. Ellah Carpenter and Maddie Lemphers, were fantastic upfront. Evie Righetti again terrorised the North defence with her runs. The defence again was resolute with Stevie Courtney, Mackenzie Thompson-Wells, Anouk Wyer, Rosie Oloughlin and Olivie Righetti standing strong. Imogen Waldon controlled the defence in set pieces with mastery.
The final score was 4-1. The team will take on Ballarat SC who had a narrow 3-2 loss to Ballarat City at 9am next Sunday at Morshead.
Under 13s
After securing the championship with a 3-0 win against Ballarat, the under 13s played off in the first qualifying final against Sebastopol, with the prize being direct passage into the grand final.
Sebastopol were always going to bring the intensity, the Saints not only matched it, they also brought composure and great ball movement. Tate opened the scoring midway through the first half. Otis, Tulley, Jacob and Codie were fantastic in defence, winning crucial contests and feeding our midfielders with plenty of balls.
The match ended 1-1, and headed to extra time, where the Saints dominated play but struggled to finish in front of goals. They hit the lead after a fantastic attacking play from Zach, going to 2-1.
Score: 1-1 full time, 2-1 extra time.
Goals: Tate, Monty. Best: Team effort.
