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King Island Courier
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2024
Currie storm past North
Josh Bellchambers and Bailey Rainbow with the ball.
Lying down on the job with Jack Worrall keeping it clear from Ned Hunter, Loki Bell,
Ben Cleeland.
Michael Laskey, and Ben Cleeland getting the drop, with Joel Williams, Charlie
Warner and Richard Sutton.
KING ISLAND FOOTBALL
ASSOCIATION
THE 昀椀nal game of the 2024 home and
away season was upon us—it felt like both
a long season and one that was nearing
its end all too quickly.
There was a slight change in the sun,
which appeared between the thick cotton
candy clouds and brought with it a warmth
and breezeless day. Two teams nearing
full numbers took the 昀椀eld. North looked
to keep their winning streak going after
their last two wins, while Currie sought
to reverse their last three losses as they
headed toward the 昀椀nals.
Jak Youd immediately made an impact
in his return, back from an episode of
appendicitis, with a strong mark up
forward when Currie got the first
clearance. North’s defence also came out
strong when they double-teamed Tom
Graham in the pocket, causing the ball
to spill outside.
But Currie, with another strong 昀椀rst
quarter, locked the ball in their forward
line for the majority of the term.
Bailey Rainbow was solid in the
backline for North, and Charlie Warner
had a strong, athletic start for Currie.
Ned Hunter, Alex Goldsmith, and Ben
Cleeland cleared the centre for North to
take them forward, but without success.
Currie had plenty of play in their end
but struggled to convert, with four behinds
and one goal. Harrison Lincoln robbed it
out of a contested pack after a ball-up, and
Justin Summers burst through another in
the opposite pocket, taking a quick shot
that found a waiting Jak Youd in the goal
square, who saved the sure goal.
At the other end, wing Campbell Keeler
took a run and bounce to secure Currie’s
second. Cleeland, after favouring the ruck,
received again and thundered it forward,
but found an uneven match-up in Youd
versus Lincoln and forced a ball-up.
Jeramy Walker sped from the congestion and centred it to James Jakawenko,
who switched to Warner, but to no avail.
Currie held North goalless in the 昀椀rst as
North struggled under Currie’s pressure
to push it forward and have clean possessions; their forward line at a loss to match
up against a veteran Currie backline.
North started the second quarter quickly,
heading toward the netball court end, and
Jack Worrall with the ball and Richard Sutton in pursuit.
Sutton got a quick shot on goal but only
managed to open the account for North
with a minor score.
Michael Laskey then spun around
quickly and goaled for Currie. Mathew
Button to Hunter into Rainbow resulted
in another behind.
At the other end, Graham got a behind
for Currie. On the kick-in, Hunter kicked
straight to Graham, who kicked it back to
Hunter for a second chance to eject it from
the Currie forward line. Graham took a
strong mark at the top of the goal square
and lined up for Currie’s 昀椀fth.
Hunter and Cleeland worked nicely
together in the centre, reading each
other and the play poetically, showing
a promising, albeit lanky, future in the
middle for North.
Warner penetrated the forward line
accurately into Keeler, who was of昀氀ine for
a behind. Loki Bell and Dillon Beecroft
swerved out of trouble and found Luke
Morris at a decent distance from the
goal, and he thundered it forward for
only a minor score. With an onslaught
of behinds from both sides, some of the
intensity de昀氀ated, and while it was more
free-昀氀owing, both ends saw a fair dose of
the pill. Currie’s ferocity eased, although
they continued to hold North goalless.
Walker to Bell snapped around and
found another one for Currie. Harrison
Lincoln lined up for North, but they still
couldn’t manage to convert anything
meaningful to the scoreboard. At the
halftime break, North had some re昀氀ecting to do with a 41-point margin between
the two teams that had been mostly even
this season.
The third quarter started with another
couple of behinds, the imaginary breeze
wreaking havoc, before Keeler opened
with a goal for Currie. Bell’s monster
kick into Currie’s forward line found
Jakawenko, who slowed it down and lined
up, but was of昀氀ine.
Youd made a gallant smother in North’s
forward line, and some lovely intercept
marks between Tyler Smith, Duncan
Clemons, and Youd still saw North bereft
of a goal. Rainbow received a 50 but his
found the behind post.
Play got a little spicier with a delicious
little highlight reel up the canteen wing,
resulting in a turnover for North. Through
