South Alice Springs and Pioneer will fight it out in the Central Australian Football League grand final

A former North Melbourne footballer's five-goal haul has helped kick his team into the Central Australian Football League grand final. FULL CAFL FINALS WRAP

SOUTH Alice Springs and Pioneer will contest the 2022 Central Australian Football League men's grand final.

An accurate Pioneer eliminated Federal in Saturday night's preliminary final to advance to their first premiership decider since 2020 when they lost to Rovers.

The Eagles' 14.3 (87) to 11.6 (72) win was created through a hard working defence, skilful midfield and an opportunist forward line.

Former North Melbourne player Matt Campbell continued his goal scoring form with five majors and at least four score involvements where his handballs over the top to teammates resulted in six-pointers.

Thomas Swan on a wing, Jackson Cole through the midfield - where his delivery to the forwards was exemplary - and Shannon Club in the backline were other good players for Pioneer.

Henley Driffen continued his stellar finals series by kicking three majors across half forward in a game where only 15 points separated the two sides.

Ben Campbell and Tyrell Woodbury in defence were other standout players and Tyson Miller did some clever things up forward. 

Campbell put his five goals down to a consistently good supply of the football from his midfield.

"We pretty much controlled the game all day and always felt like we were out in front, particularly the second and third quarters where we kicked some important goals," Campbell said.

"We kicked five goals in the third term to get away from them, but Feds being a quality side came back at us in the last until we kicked a couple of late ones to steady the ship.'"

Federal's coach Izaak Ankers had no excuses despite his side coming into the finals with momentum after claiming second position on the ladder and the double chance.

"We were without a big piece of our forward line with injuries and unavailabilities,'' he said.

"But there's no excuses, we still should have won with the side we had, it's just a case of having key players missing at the wrong time of the year again.''

Warren Schubert in defence, Patrick Coffey at centre half-back and Sam LaPorta up forward were the pick of the Demons players.

Ankers is unlikely to coach the red and whites again after two seasons in charge.

"That's probably me done, I've got a young family I need to spend a little more time around,'' he said.

"I'll still be involved in some capacity but it won't be as senior coach.''

Meanwhile, in women's football, West Alice Springs qualified for another shot at flag favourites and reigning premier Rovers in the grand final after they beat a youthful Alkamilya side in Friday night's preliminary final.

The Bloods' 6.2 (38) to 2.5 (17) win also created a big slice of club and league history when the red and black jumpers qualified for their first CAFL flag decider in the nine-year history of the Alice Springs women's competition.

Coach Alicia Stanley was full of praise for her players for maintaining their intensity and focus in such an important game.

"Overall I'm so proud,'' she said.

"We went out and stuck to our game plan for four quarters.

"There was a little extra motivation, as the playing group has now created history by becoming the first Westies women's team to make a grand final.''

Alkamilya led by a point at quarter time before Wests' strength at stoppages and a powerful forward line took over.

Hannah Murdoch across half forward, Caitlin Couch around the ball, Kate Simmons in the ruck and first year player Alix Wilyman up forward were the Bloods' best.

Alkamilya's joint coach Shaun Cusack said his side's youth and relative inexperience in finals football. and a Wests side with good players on all the lines, had worked against them.

"Westies played very well and we've had an up and down season with a lot of things happening off the field with funerals ... the Riolis (Willie Sr) and another one in Darwin involving our family group,'' he added.

Cusack pointed to the form of midfielder Jasmine Boyers, Leakisha McCormack in defence, captain Kalisha Rioli and Kaitlyn Armstrong up forward as big positives to come out of the game.

The Souths-Pioneer grand final will be played on Saturday at Traeger Park, with the start time yet to be confirmed.

The women's Rovers-Wests decider begins at 7pm on Friday at the same venue.

South Alice Springs sneak home against Pioneer

CAFL minor premier South Alice Springs almost ran out of petrol in the last quarter of its Round 14 clash with Pioneer at Traeger Park.

The Kangaroos were coming off four consecutive wins when they tackled the Eagles at league headquarters and showed fans at the ground why they are the premiership favourites when they led by 28 points at three quarter time.

But a stunning revival from Pioneer when they booted six goals to two in the last term nearly created a miracle comeback.

Souths coach Chris Forbes said another 30 seconds or a minute on the timeclock would have produced a different result.

“Pioneer had all the momentum in that last quarter and just ran over the top of us, unfortunately for them they ran out of time.’’

The Roos ran out with a number of under-17 players in the lineup, but it was joint skipper Bradley Turner on a wing, six-goal forward Thomas Gorey and youngster Angus Murphy in a back pocket who steered their side.

Souths forward Thomas Gorey kicked six goals against the Eagles in Round 14 of the 2022 CAFL.

“We’ll load up with our regulars and stars next week against Wests and get ready for a big crack at the finals,’’ Forbes said.

Federal continued its push for a first senior grand final since losing to Rovers in 2017 when the Demons exorcised West Alice Springs by 130 points on Saturday.

Marcus McDonald in a roving, forward pocket role, booted 10 goals as the red and whites ran amok on the tight confines of Albrecht Oval, booting eight goals to nil in the last quarter in a commanding performance.

McDonald’s double figure return mean he has kicked 32 goals in Federal’s last four matches in a big sequence of goalscoring.

Laurence Schubert in the backline and Ben Semmler-Farr were other standouts in a win coach Izaak Ankers described as the perfect opportunity to work on the positives that have launched his side into second position on the ladder.

“We just played our normal game and stuck to our structures,’’ Ankers said. “We concentrated on what we’ve been doing right aand what has been working lately as we work towards the finals.’’

Federal has a final round bye as they prepare for a tough second semi-final encounter against minor premiers Souths on August 27.

In the women’s competition a four-quarter cameo from West Alice Springs’ Jess Harnischfeger highlighted the Bloods’ nine-point win over Alkamilya on Friday night.

The Bloods dominated the early stages at Albrecht Oval before Atlkamilya staged a second quarter comeback that threatened to take command of the match.

But the third-placed Wests steadied through the skills of Harnischfeger and Charlotte Rudd’s run and attack on a wing to come from behind and win.

Hannah Murdoch was another player in red and black to leave an imprint on the game with her work when the ball was in the air.

Fourth-placed Souths won on forfeit against Pioneer in their scheduled game at Traeger Park, meaning next Friday night’s clash with Wests at Traeger Park will act as a preview for the elimination final a week later.

The Community competition played its first week of the 2022 finals series, with Mutitjulu coming from behind to beat Western Aranda in the elimination final and Mt Allan advancing to the second semi-final by beating Ltyentye Apurte in the qualifying final.

Both games were played in front of big crowds at Traeger Park, maintaining the popularity of the community competition.

Week 1 results mean minor premier Papunya meets Mt Allan for a grand final berth next Sunday, while Mutitjulu and Ltyentye Apurte attempt to keep their seasons alive in the knockout first semi-final.

South Alice Springs continue their hot form

SOUTH Alice Springs continued their impressive run towards this year’s CAFL finals series, and their first grand final appearance in three years, after thrashing reigning premier Rovers in their round 13 clash at Traeger Park.

Both sides were without several key players, but it was the Kangaroos who took control early before running away with a 22.13 (145) to 6.10 (46) win.

Deacon Braun through the middle, Keiffer Turner down back and seven-goal spearhead Thomas Gorey did most of the damage for the blue and whites, who avenged their round eight loss to Rovers in no uncertain manner.

Coach Chris Forbes was pleased with his side’s accuracy in front of goal and the final spread of 12 goalkickers among the 22 that were kicked.

“Those sort of things help a lot and Thomas Gorey’s bag of goals added to the scoring power, in fact it puts him in the lead in the race for the league goalkicking,” Forbes said.

The Roos played four 17-year-olds against the premiers, including Landan Edwards, first gamer Angus Murphy, Rohan Watts was prominent at centre half-forward with two goals and Tyrell Martin also bagged a couple of goals.

South Alice Springs thumped Rovers by 99 points. Picture: Charlie Lowson.

Rovers coach Danny Measures said player unavailability had hurt his side in the past month, but he expects a revitalised Double Blues when they resume hostilities after the round 14 bye.

Meanwhile, Federal moved to second following a 29-point win over long-time rivals Pioneer in Saturday’s late game at Traeger Park.

Opportunist forward Marcus McDonald added to his growing goal tally with a seven-goal haul from a forward pocket, adding to bags of seven and eight goals in the last three weeks.

Braydon Weiley produced another masterclass through the middle where he was prolific at the stoppages and Lachy Duneman was as safe as a bank in the back half.

The Demons won the game in the all-important third quarter when they kicked six goals to three against the skilful Eagles.

The win has coach Izaak Ankers in a positive mood with only the round 14 match against Wests to play before the finals.

“We had a bit of a lull early in the season, but the boys are playing some confident footy and applying scoreboard pressure,’’ Ankers said.

“We’ll be looking to carry that momentum and form in against West and take it into the finals.’’

South Alice Springs kicked 22 goals against Rovers. Picture: Charlie Lowson.

In women’s football, Rovers and Alkamilya retained the top two positions on the ladder with convincing wins over South Alice Springs and Pioneer respectively.

Rovers booted nine goals to three against third-placed Souths to secure their eighth win of the season in Friday’s match at Albrecht Oval.

Christa Lingen at fullback, Melanie Churchill running off half back and four-goal captain Delsey Ah Wang in the key forward post always kept the Double Blue jumpers in charge.

Coach Warren Lally was impressed with his charges with finals football only three weeks away.

“We’re starting to link things together on the field and play some good footy,’’ Lally said.

“We’re running the game out as well and that’s a big positive with the club having a bye next week before the last round of matches.’’

Alkamilya jumped back on the winners’ list with a comprehensive 82-point win over the Pioneer women at Traeger Park on Friday night.

The Panthers sprung into action after a three-game losing streak threatened to derail their campaign, booting six goals in the first half and eight in the second to take the points.

The top four sides in the community competition all won their round nine matches.

Top-of-the-ladder Papunya and fourth-placed Western Aranda won on forfeit against Areyonga and Yuendumu.

Mt Allan crushed Engawala by 85 points and Ltyente Apurte beat a tough opponent in Mutijulu by five points, with both of those games were played at Albrecht Oval in Alice Springs.

Federal firm for the premiership race

FEDERAL’S premiership ambitions got a big boost on Saturday night when they crushed reigning CAFL premier Rovers by 88 points in their Round 12 clash at Traeger Park.

The Demons ran all over a Rovers side that had six players pull out of the side on the 75th anniversary of the Central Australian league.

Federal coach Isaac Ankers was thrilled with the 20.14 (134) to 6.10 (46) win on such an important milestone for the Alice Springs competition.

“A confidence boosting win like that on such a massive game for Alice footy sets us up well for the last month of the season,’’ Ankers said.

“It came after a big win on the track where the players were totally focused and that showed out on the ground.’’

Ankers pointed to four quarter performances by ruckman Daniel Gorry, defender Patrick Coffey and Sam Laporta up forward as keys to the big win that shot the Demons into third position on the league ladder.

Marcus McDonald and Jesiah Minor both kicked seven goals in the rout, while Travis Smith helped himself to three.

Rovers coach Danny Measures was impressed with Federal’s intensity and smart use of the football.

“Feds had some really good ins and made us pay after we entered the match without a lot of regular players,’’ Measures said.

“It’s been a vastly interrupted season for us, some good moments mixed in with some indifferent performances in the league’s 75th year.’’

Pioneer moved to second on the league ladder after a five-goal win over bottom side Wests.

Ruck pair Tyson Woodbury and Josh Williams were prime movers for the green and golds, along with Shawn Foster and Pioneer’s Tennant Creek recruit Laughlin Lake.

Veteran Eagle Steven “Weeties’’ Hayes made a surprise re-appearance at league level for Pioneer after some late player withdrawals and impressed with his hand and foot skills at the highest level.

In women’s football Rovers maintained their position at the top of the ladder with a comprehensive 49-point win over early season pacesetters Alkamilya in Friday night’s return to Traeger Park.

The Double Blues booted 10 goals without a miss after quarter time to run away from their rivals, full forward Delsey AhWang kicking six goals at full forward to cap off the good work of Anju Goninon through the middle.

Michelle Sliwinski was another good contributor at centre half-back as the blue jumpers ran their opponents ragged.

Coach Warren Lally said his players were running into form at the right time of year after a slow start to the season.

“Being back at Traeger Park has been a positive for us with our speed and skill sets suited to the wide open spaces,’’ he added.