Mundulla won their way to a grand final showdown with Kybybolite after they defeated Keith by 33 points in the preliminary final at Lucindale on Saturday.
Both teams were fresh and ready to play once the siren sounded to start the game.
Keith got the first goal when Ryan Bartlett won the ball at half-back for the Crows and got the ball back towards Levi Sigston who kicked the ball to the wing where George Johnson marked and got the ball to a running Daniel Bibby who found Riley Wilsdon in the forward lines and Riley converted the set shot. Daniel Bibby, Jacob Graetz, and George Johnson had started the game well for the Crows. Jacob Grosser, Elliot Jaeschke and Nathan Studham began well for the Tigers. Mundulla got their first goal of the game through James Hinge after he put through a long goal after receiving a 50-metre penalty. Mundulla soon had their second goal and seven-point lead after Nathan Studham roved off a ruck contest to put through a long goal on his left foot. Both teams were laying tackles and putting heaps of pressure on. Keith’s Travis Wilson was impressive with his defensive work early for the Crows. Will Schreiber was also another Crows player who provided a lot of drive for the Crows during the first quarter. Keith worked hard and was rewarded with a goal after Max Cunningham won a tough contest inside the forward fifty and got the ball to Aaron Young who put through the goal to bring the margin back to a point. Mundulla hit back as the Tigers worked the ball out of the centre bounce through Jacob Grosser and Elliot Jaeschke and moved the ball into their forward line where Billy Wiese handballed the ball to Daniel Noll and he centred it to James Hinge who took a diving mark. The Tigers had opened up a seven-point lead. Mundulla went into quarter-time seven points ahead.
Mundulla struck first in the second quarter after Marcus Young found Lincoln Weatherald on the half-forward flank and Lincoln sent the kick long into the forward line as James Hinge took a mark in the goal square. James put through another goal for the Tigers as they started to open up a little gap on the Crows. Mundulla were 14 points ahead and looking full of confidence. The Crows responded as Riley Wilsdon was able to convert a shot on goal after he won a free kick. Mundulla again had the answers as Elliot Jaeschke won a free kick and found Jake McGrice at half-forward. Jake kicked it long to where James Hinge marked again deep in the forward lines and put through the shot on goal. James was looking dominant for the Tigers and the Crows didn’t look to have the answers early. Mundulla got another goal from James Hinge as he kicked five of Mundulla’s first six goals. The Tigers opened up a 20-point lead by the nine-minute mark of the quarter. The Tigers were dominating general play and any time the Crows tried to get some play going, the Tigers had all the answers. Billy Wiese added another goal as he took a big mark in front of the pack for Mundulla. The Tigers were in full control of the contest. The Crows showed some fight when Lewis Hender won a centre clearance and ran with the ball towards the forward fifty and sent it deep in the forward line where Aaron Young won a free kick and put through the kick to keep the Crows in touch. The Crows were looking for a way back into the contest and were looking like they were starting to find it before Will Schreiber got pinged for holding the ball on the wing after he was called for play on and Harry Kuchel laid a tackle on him and won a free kick. The Tigers quickly took the advantage and moved the ball through Nathan Studham who kicked the ball to a leading James Hinge. James continued his amazing first half as he kicked his sixth goal and put the Tigers 26 points ahead. Keith was finding it hard to set up any good scoring looks. Mundulla’s defence was on top as Reagan Tink and Tom Gaden were standing out defensively for the Tigers. Keith had most of the play in their forward line for five minutes and couldn’t take advantage of the play. Mundulla worked the ball back out of their defence and got it forward where they scored another goal after James Hinge flicked a handball over to Billy Wiese who ran in and put the kick through to give the Tigers a 32-point lead close to halftime. After a dominant first half, the Tigers went into halftime 32 points ahead and in control. The work of Jake McGrice, Jacob Grosser and Elliot Jaeschke around the packs was dominant for the Tigers in the first half. Nathan Studham’s run was causing the Crows problems. Charlie Hannemann, Cameron Craig and Will Schreiber battled hard for the Crows during the second quarter.
The Crows got the start to the second half they were looking for after Cameron Craig won the ball off halfback for the Crows and he sent the ball to Seb Schreiber who sent the ball forward where his brother Will won a free kick and put the kick straight through the goals. The Crows were lifting early in the third quarter. The Crows set up another shot on goal after Cameron Craig took a great intercept mark on the wing and passed the ball across the ground to Charlie Hannemann who drove the ball deep into the forward fifty where Crows forward Riley Wilsdon read the flight of the ball and took a mark at the top of the goal square. Riley went back and put the goal through as Keith had cut the margin back to 19 points at the five-minute mark. Cameron Craig was a strong brick wall for the Crows early in the third quarter as he took many intercept marks as he tried to lead the Crows defensive unit. Keith continued to work hard and get inside fifties. The Tigers’ defence was under the most pressure that they had faced for the day so far. Mundulla finally broke through for a goal after Dylan Mosey smothered a Crows clearing kick and quickly handballed the ball over to Billy Wiese who put through the goal. Mundulla scored against the run of play as the Crows were doing most of the attacking so far in the third quarter. Mundulla looked to have got the momentum back as Dylan Mosey handballed to Nathan Studham and Nathan hit Daniel Noll with a lace-out pass in front of the goals. Daniel put through the kick as Mundulla went 29 points ahead. The Tigers scored again after James Hinge took the ball out of a ruck contest and snapped through his seventh goal for the game. Mundulla looked right in control of the contest. Mundulla had some hard workers in Nathan Studham, Dylan Mosey and Jake McGrice who were getting plenty of the ball. The Crows got a much-needed goal to stay in touch as Will Schreiber found Travis Wilson with a pass and Travis found Alex Schiller on a lead. Alex snapped a goal to cut the Tigers’ lead to 28 points. Mundulla got the reply quickly as James Hinge kicked another goal after the ball bounced over the charging Crows defender’s head and back into James’s hands and he kicked his eighth goal. Everything seemed to be going Mundulla’s way. The work for Mundulla of Nathan Studham in the third quarter was dominant. The Tigers held a 33-point lead at three-quarter time. The difference in the quarter was Mundulla took their chances as they kicked 4-0 for the quarter. The Crows were wasteful in front of the goals with 3-5 scored despite having most of the play.
Keith needed a fast start in the fourth quarter to have any chance. The Tigers had other plans though as Billy Wiese got the first goal of the last quarter after Reagan Tink took an intercept mark and found the chest of Billy on the lead with a laser pass. Mundulla scored again after Nathan Studham put through another goal to stretch the margin to 45 points. Both teams battled hard trying to set up scoring plays. The Crows were able to get the ball to Aydon Innes who kicked a goal. Seb Schreiber continued to work hard for the Crows. The Crows kicked another goal after Daniel Bibby and Lewis Hender combined to get the ball to Jon Wilson who kicked the goal. The margin was back to 32 points at the 16-minute mark. Keith got another goal after Jacob Graetz found Cameron Craig in a pack of players and Craig took the mark and then passed the ball to Travis Wilson who passed the ball to a leading Blake Read. Blake kicked a goal to bring the margin back to 26 points at the 19-minute mark. Mundulla made sure there would be no miracle comeback by the Crows when Lincoln Weatherald tapped the ball onto Darcy King who kicked a long goal to put the game beyond doubt. The Crows continued to fight the game out as Rafferty McMurray kicked a goal. Mundulla kicked the last goal of the game through Lincoln Weatherald as the Tigers ran out winners by 33 points.
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