MOLONG is one step away from a third GrainCorp Cup grand final appearance in four years after scoring a grinding victory over the resurgent Geurie Goats in Saturday’s Northern Division minor semi-final at Dr Ross Memorial Oval.
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The Magpies shot to a 10-0 lead before half-time and despite being down to 14 after Matt Hobbs was sin-binned in the second half, they extended that lead to 16-3 by full-time.
However some of the gloss was taken off the win by an ankle injury to halfback Will Oldham, which has the potential to keep him out of Saturday’s preliminary final clash with the Wellington Redbacks.
Oldham’s ankle gave way in the first half and although he battled on through the remainder of the match there is some worry regarding the severity of the injury.
“It (was) pretty fat (on Sunday morning). I think it’s just muscle damage though. I might have to give training a miss this week but I’m confident of being able to play,” Oldham said.
“It was a good win on Saturday, Geurie certainly aren’t the pushovers they used to be. They made us work for it, that’s for sure.
“The boys really stood up when they needed too. It was a much better performance than what we’d produced in the last couple of games.”
2014 grand final hero Kyle Travis scored his side’s, and the game’s, only five-pointer in the opening period and combined with Oldham’s conversion and first-half penalty goal the Magpies took a 10-0 lead into the break.
The Goats slotted a penalty goal of their own just after the break and although Hobbs was sin-binned for repeated infringements not long after, Molong extended their lead to 16-3 by full-time thanks to two more Oldham penalty goals.
The Magpies will play the Redbacks on Saturday after they held minor premiers Trangie to an 11-11 draw in Saturday’s major semi-final.
Because of their higher standing prior to the finals the Tigers will have the week off before hosting the grand final in a fortnight.
“If we can play the way we did against Geurie I’m pretty confident we can get a win over Wellington,” Oldham said.
In the Southern Division, where the regular season ran one week longer, Blayney wrapped up the minor premiership with an 81-7 thumping over Canowindra in a rematch of last year’s grand final while the Cootamundra Tri-Colours edged past the West Wyalong Weevils 25-20.
As a result, Blayney will host the Temora Tuskers in Saturday’s major semi-final while Cootamundra and the Weevils will meet for the second straight week in the minor semi-final.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
