General News
5 June, 2025
Lock that in! Magpies take Derby points for just fourth time in decade
By CHRIS EARL FINALS football is close to a certainty for Boort for the first time in almost a decade after Saturday’s dramatic North Central win over Wedderburn. The Pies had not won at the Redbacks’ Donaldson Park home since 2017 and risked...
By CHRIS EARL
FINALS football is close to a certainty for Boort for the first time in almost a decade after Saturday’s dramatic North Central win over Wedderburn.
The Pies had not won at the Redbacks’ Donaldson Park home since 2017 and risked buckling in the final quarter of the league’s match of the day.
Wedderburn had turned around a 30-point deficit at the last break to hit the lead with 10 minutes left on the clock in shades of a classic Loddon Derby between the rivals in 2023 when Wedderburn won by two points.
A strong mark across half-back by Boort’s Alex Chamberlain steadied the Magpies when they reclaimed the lead for a five-point win that has potentially snuffed chances of the Redbacks playing finals in 2025.
Preliminary finalists last year, Wedderburn has a tougher end-of-season assignment with a third meeting against Sea Lake Nandaly in North Central’s uneven draw this season.
Boort is likely to win the repeat matches against St Arnaud and Charlton and easily strengthen its grip on fourth sport.
North Central retains the final four format but this year, five clubs have shown they are streets ahead of Donald, St Arnaud and Charlton. League officials this week said there were no plans to change the final four this season.
“The league and clubs approved the draw before the season started - all clubs playing each other twice and then the opening two rounds also becoming the final rounds of the home and away season,” said North Central’s rules and events manager Lance Standfield.
However, Standfield said the unevenness of the draw could be reviewed at end of season debrief later in the year.
Boort’s dramatic win at Donaldson Park continued the tradition of some close finishes between the two clubs, no matter their ladder position.
The Pies were playing to effectively lock in fourth spot and keep alive chances the Dale Cameron-coached outfit could still push for a top two finish,
The win was Boort’s first against Wedderburn since winning both home and away clashes in 2017, the last time the Magpies played finals.
Their first victory that year was by 19 points at Donaldson Park and then by 42 points at Boort Park three months later.
The Magpies have found it hard to find success against Wedderburn. There was a 17 point win in 2016 that ended a five-year drought when winning by six points early in the season before the Redbacks went on to win the first of four consecutive flags