Country Championships: Upper Great Southern fall short in bid to reach final, Ongerup winless in top division

A heartbreaking two-point loss in the final game ended Upper Great Southern’s hopes of playing in the division one grand final of the Nutrien Ag Solutions Country Football Championships. After an inspired win over reigning champions South West on Friday to kick off their division one campaign, Upper Great Southern went down to Peel by one point. Peel entered the second day of senior action on top of the standings but were emphatically beaten by South West on Saturday morning to open up the division. Upper Great Southern thumped rivals Ongerup by 43 points to win a second game of the carnival on Saturday and then needed to take care of business against Avon later in the day. Avon were victorious over Peel to keep their grand final hopes alive and then South West thrashed Ongerup by 68 points to ensure they would be in Sunday’s decider. It would come down to the winner of Upper Great Southern and Avon in the final division one match at Mineral Resources Stadium. Skilful forward Ryan Bennell kicked the first goal of the game before Ryan Mawer answered at the other end. Avon then took the lead after two goals in as many minutes, Cameron Sharp with a class finish on the run before captain Marshall Jones kicked one off the ground in the goal square. Avon led by 11 points at the break and that was quickly 17 after an early conversion from Zac Casey. Upper Great Southern hit back quickly through Laurence Collard and then Ryan Melvin reduced the deficit to five points. A costly 50m penalty gifted Casey his second at the halfway mark of the second half and then Mawer made it tough for Upper Great Southern, pushing the margin to 17 points. However James Lauino and Kade Stewart failed to give up in the middle and they pumped the ball inside forward 50 where the dangerous duo of Bennell and Sandover medallist and former WAFL star Haiden Schloithe were operating. A downfield free kick handed Jimi Gillespie a simple goal and when Schloithe was too strong for an opponent to mark and convert close to goal, it was swiftly back to four points. Upper Great Southern had the majority of the play in the final minutes, a rushed behind and then Daniel Harley missed a chance on goal. Avon defended desperately in the final 90 seconds to record a famous win, 6.1 (37) to 5.5 (35) and progress to the division one grand final. Kaidyn Fullgrabe, Jamison Ugle, Corey Dixon and Andrew Fisher were vital for the winners while Casey and Mawer kicked two goals each and spearhead Tom Lee, despite not kicking a goal, also took some strong marks in attack. Upper Great Southern were best served by Schloithe, who played deep forward with his left leg heavily strapped in the last half, while Laurino, Stewart and Melvin all won plenty of the ball. Tall Anton Hanson and wingman Flynn Spark were also strong contributors. Earlier Upper Great Southern powered to a big win over Ongerup, as Bennell, Schloithe and Coen Marwick all kicked two goals. Ongerup held their rivals to just two goals in the first half but Upper Great Southern broke the shackles after that to run out winners, 6.8 (44) to 0.1 (1). Schloithe and Bennell were electric for the winners, Laurino, Daniel Stubbs and Simon Panizza provided plenty of drive and Billy Clay was a great target going forward. Dean Rintoul was kept busy in defence for Ongerup while Mitch O’Neill, Luke Bairstow and Jacob Conti were also in the best players. Ongerup lost by 34 points to Peel in their first game on Friday before a 13-point defeat at the hands of Avon. The loss to Upper Great Southern left Ongerup facing powerhouse division one side South West for their final chance at a win in the carnival but it wasn’t to be. South West kicked six goals straight in the first half and continued on that dominance in the second half, on their way to a 12.3 (75) to 1.1 (7) triumph. Key forward Zac Trigwell was on fire early and had three majors by half time while Kelvin Lawrence and Ben Horsman also finished with multiple goals. Connor Hawkins ensured Ongerup would finish with a major after his conversion with two minutes to play but his side were outmatched from the first bounce. Lewis Davis went into defence and battled hard while Mitch Smith and Charlie Kelsall also won plenty of the ball for Ongerup as they closed their 2023 campaign without a win and at the bottom of the division one standings.