Live stream: Brighton, Huonville, Cygnet, Lindisfarne feature in second week of the SFL Finals

Cygnet needed nerves of steel to see off a late challenge from Lindisfarne, while an eight-goal third quarter helped keep Huonville’s season alive. Catch up on a big day of SFL action.

A late Lindisfarne surge fell agonisingly short as Cygnet edged into the SFL Senior Men’s Grand Final by a solitary point.

Minor premiers Cygnet looked to have the game under control when Toby Cowen kicked them out to an eight-point lead with just minutes remaining.

But Lindisfarne made life interesting with a behind and a goal from Daniel Blazely, but they ran out of time as Cygnet won 58-57.

Cygnet now get another week off while the Two Blues face another showdown with Huonville in the preliminary final.

Meanwhile, an eight-goal third term broke open a tight contest and kept Huonville Lions season alive.

The Lions toppled Brighton by 44 points - 14.8 (92) to 7.6 (48) - in the eliminator, but the game was very much in balance at halftime with the scores locked at 33-33.

Ethan Brock contributed three as part of his match haul of five and Tom Wright kicked two as the Lions won the quarter 52-0.

Brighton took the final term honours 15-7, but it was far too little too late.

Check the full LIVE STREAM schedule below.

REPLAYS

Huonville Lions v Brighton (SFL Seniors semi final)

Hutchins v Port (SFLW Div 2 prelim final)

Claremont v New Norfolk - SFLW Division 2 semi final

PREVIEW

While they may both be just six goals away from notching up the magical ton, SFL super boots Ed Stanley and Joseph Direen agree the chance to earn direct passage into the grand final is front of mind heading into Saturday’s second qualifying final.

Stanley’s Lindisfarne and Direen’s Cygnet will meet for the third time this season but the stakes of their impending matchup are clearly as high as they have ever been.

The duo have run rough shot over the competition this season, both booting 94 goals ahead of the semi-final.

Direen notched the tally inside the home and away season to claim the Col Smith medal, while Stanley’s six in last week’s first qualifying final put him equal with the Port skipper.

And while they both admit bringing up triple figures this weekend would be nice, it’s a team-first mentality that’s front of mind.

Joe Direen Cygnet and Ed Stanley Lindisfarne. SFL and SFLW livestream previews. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“I haven’t really thought about it,” Direen said.

“My main goal this year is to obviously win the grand final. I don’t really care too much if I kick six the rest of the year or not, as long as we’re in it, I’ll be quite happy.

“It’d be an amazing achievement for both of us and I’d love to kick six because I think we’d win the game if I kicked six,” Stanley said.

“But in regards to that, I’d trade every goal I’ve kicked this year to win this game and get to North Hobart Oval in two weeks (for a grand final), so that’s the main focus.”

After finishing top of the table, Cygnet enjoyed a week-one finals bye while the Two Blues had to overcome a 19-point half-time deficit against Huonville to earn a shot at the Port.

Kicking 12 goals to two in the second-half, they ended up recording an impressive 39-point win with Stanley confident that they can once again secure victory with important midfield duo Dylan Fyfe and Sam Adams set to return.

Ryan Martin has proven a crafty goalkicker for Lindisfarne this season. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“They’ve beaten us twice this year and they’re a fantastic side, but we think we’ve got a couple of things wrong against them structurally and a little bit effort based at times,” Stanley said.

“The first quarter a couple of weeks ago they put us away and outside of that the games have been really close, so we’ve got to work on a few things to mitigate that and we’ve got a good plan this week to hopefully go down to Cygnet and we’re pretty confident we can get the job done.”

With Stanley, Ryan Martin (65), Dylan Johns (35) and Matteo Paolini (28) all proven goal kickers inside 50, Direen made no secrets that was their biggest area of concern heading into Saturday’s match.

In division two women’s action, reigning premiers Claremont will face New Norfolk for a shot at going back-to-back in next week’s grand final with Magpies skipper Kelli Smith not shying away from the pressure given they also finished the season undefeated.

“I’m sure that’s there,” she said.

“It’s probably expected given you go through the year without losing but we know we need to play our best footy to get the job done against New Norfolk.”

Hutchins and Cygnet will battle in the other division 2 semi-final.

Robins eye big SFL scalp after breakthrough success

With both gradual improvement and long-term success two key pillars of Brighton’s rebuild under coach Paul Kennedy, it’s fair to say securing their first senior finals win in 23 years came with an element of relief.

Finishing on the right side of a 30-point win in last week’s elimination final, the victory over Sorell saw the Robins win their first final since 2001.

And while the win may have erased a piece of unwanted history, what it did for the current outfit under Kennedy’s regime may be even more important in the club’s long-term future.

Catch their semi-final showdown with Huonville Lions LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV from 2pm as part of four games at three venues on Saturday.

Watch two SFLW2 preliminary finals from 10am as well as the massive Cygnet v Lindisfarne Seniors clash and Brighton’s match-up with Huonville.

Southern Football League. Dodges Ferry Sharks vs Brighton Robins. Fletcher Salter of Brighton Robins takes a mark. Picture: Linda Higginson

After missing finals in 2022 – Kennedy’s first year at the helm – and losing an elimination final last season, their victory over the Eagles ensured an improved record every year since returning to the SFL senior competition after the club fielded a stand-alone reserves side in 2021.

“There was an element of relief last week, I think,” Kennedy said.

“We did a lot of hard work this year, so to get a home final was really good. And then just to get the job done, and get it done really well, was even more pleasing. It was a good celebration afterwards, but we know the job isn’t done.”

While facing one of the competition’s powerhouse sides of the last five years may present its challenges, Kennedy is confident his side can match it with the Lions and lock in a preliminary final date with either Cygnet or Lindisfarne next week.

“Our big focus has just been on sticking to what we want to be good at and to keep improving. Keep adding to what we’re doing, just keep taking those steps and believe in the process,” he said.

Can Brighton knock over one of the big guns this weekend?

“Obviously we haven’t knocked off one of those three power clubs (Huonville, Cygnet or Lindisfarne) yet, but a few weeks back at Huonville, we were five points behind at the 27-minute mark of the last quarter, and the game could have gone either way.

“So the boys have a lot of belief. They understand what the things are that give us the opportunity to win these games.

“They go into the game knowing we can win this game and we know what we need to do. The confidence is there and the group is very good. They understand the different ways we want to play our football.

“They’ve really grown this year in their ability around tempo control, and when to go fast, when to go quick, and how to make the opposition go slow.

“They’re in a good spot and we’ll give it a real shake this week.”

Originally published as Live stream: Brighton, Huonville, Cygnet, Lindisfarne feature in second week of the SFL Finals