BATHURST Bushrangers Rebels will face Dubbo Demons at George Park this weekend for the Central West AFL elimination semi-final thanks to their 28-point win over Orange Tigers in the last round of the competition.
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Rebels needed victory at George Park on Saturday to assure themselves of a home finals match and it was thanks to a dominant third quarter – where the Bathurst side kicked five of their 10 goals – that they made it happen.
The final score was Rebels 10-14-74 to Tigers 7-4-46.
Had the Bathurst side gone down in Saturday’s match they would have faced a trip to Dubbo for their sudden death match instead, thanks to the Demons’ victory over the Cowra Blues.
Rebels held onto third spot thanks to their superior percentage.
“Third place is all that we could have asked for and we got a win to top it off,” Rebels co-coach Tom Regan said.
“We were playing off for the Long-Byrne trophy so there was a lot of pride on the line. It was their last game, like a grand final for them, and it was one of the strongest sides that they’ve put on the park all season.”
The Long-Byrne trophy was first contested back in 2008 and has become an annual fixture between the Bushrangers and Tigers clubs.
Satruday’s win completes a sweep for the Rebels this season of all three matches against the Tigers.
Tigers were held scoreless in the opening quarter by a dominant Rebels side who took themselves out to an 18-point lead at the first break.
Orange threatened to make a comeback in the second quarter when they outscored the Rebels three goals to two.
Rebels took a 4-7-31 to 3-1-19 lead into the major break.
Bushrangers produced their best football of the match after half-time as they blew out to a 37-point lead at three-quarter time.
Tigers attempted to get back in the match with a much-improved final quarter but the damage was too great to recover from.
Jack Vogan added to his impressive goal count this season. His four goals took his personal tally for the year to 59.
Brady Bennett was the leading scorer for the Tigers with four goals.
Regan said that third quarter football is what his side will hope to replicate for three weeks to come.
“We pointed out a few things that we needed to fix at half-time. We came out fired up and knew that we would have to lift,” he said.
“Hopefully with all things going to plan we can have two Bushrangers teams into the grand final.
“We’ve had two on the trot now – a couple of handy wins – and hopefully we can take that footy into finals.”
Rebels and Demons, at this stage, are pencilled in for a midday clash this Saturday.
