THE senior Limestone Coast Football Association pre-season cup semi-finals were contested under lights on Anzac Day last week, with Gambier Centrals and International earning their places in the A Grade decider this Sunday.
Centrals was first to book itself a grand final berth, after a dominant win over Naracoorte in the day’s first senior match at Casadio Park.
The Lions entered the clash with an undefeated record and that went unthreatened on their way to a 6-1 victory.
But it was not all smooth sailing, as Centrals could have put the game away in the first half.
Nathan Fleetwood and Lewis March hit the scoreboard before half time, while two disallowed goals saw the Lions just 2-0 up at the break.
A slow start to the second term saw Naracoorte with a chance to get back in the game, but when Fleetwood was awarded a penalty and Mitch Thomson stepped up to put it through, a three-goal margin seemed too large a task.
Naracoorte’s Takbirullah Ahmadi answered for his side to provide some hope, but that was short-lived as Thomson banged through his second for the match soon after.
From there Centrals took back the control it had in the opening term and with a second goal to Fleetwood, plus a third to Thomson, the team cruised to the grand final in dominant fashion.
Centrals coach Dave Beaman was impressed with his team’s efforts and is pleased to see both senior sides represented in the cup final this season.
“We are happy we got to the final,” he said.
“It is something we did not do last year in either of our senior grades.
“I thought we played probably some of our best football this season.
“We knocked the ball around pretty well, especially early in the first half.”
The return of Fleetwood from injury saw Thomson start on the bench, but when he was brought on in the second half it made a difference.
“Lewis March has picked up a bit of a hamstring problem which does not seem to want to go away, so Mitch came on and took his chances,” Beaman said.
“Three goals in a half is pretty good.”
Beaman was also impressed with Fleetwood, who has proven on more than one occasion his presence alone can make a difference on the ground.
But once again the coach gave credit to the youth in the side.
“I thought our fullbacks were very good, especially Jasper Whitehead,” Beaman said.
“I thought he had a very good game on Thursday.”
Tom Renzi has also started to find his groove and performed well in the centre, while Mitchell Cutting was out due to injury.
However, Beaman is confident he will gear up for Sunday’s grand final against Inter.
