Pennants into the business end
After 9 rounds of pennants the grades and sections shape up as follows:
Grade 1 – in the Red Section Kurri Kurri have safely negotiated their way to the finals. All that is to be decided is will it be in 1st of 2nd spot. They have 1 game left to play due to Nathan’s selection in The Alley Shield with a win over Beresfield taking them above East Maitland to win the section.
In the Blue section Maitland City finished strong with 2x 10 point wins in the last 2 rounds but it was all in vein as they miss out by 3.5 points with Edgeworth taking the final spot from this section.
Good luck to KKBC as the remaining Zone 6 representative.
Grade 2 – After nominating for grade 3 originally Singleton RSL have dominated in the 2 grade taking 71 points from a possible 80 and wrapping up the Pennant with Round 10 and a wash out Round 4 to spare.
Grade 3 – Scone sit in prime position with a 5.5 lead of Kurri Kurri. Both team avoid each other in the final round with Bellbird and Lorn Park potentially having a say in where the pennant will end up!
Grade 4/5:
Section 1 – Greta losing away to Aberdeen has completely opened up this section. The 4 Grade rep in this section, Denman, have the opportunity to win the section and therefore the pennant without a play-off as Dungog cannot win their section. Greta also need 2 points to over take Singleton RSL but also need to watch their tails as a big win for Aberdeen at Maitland City could see them take the best performed 5 grade spot in the Play-off!! If Aberdeen lose and Greta fail to take 2 points of Denman at best then Singleton RSL will take the spot, the problem for Singleton RSL is they face the bye and therefore their future is out of their hands. All to play for in this section.
Section 2 – Paxton have sewn up this section and will play-off for the grade 5 flag. Dungog, although they cannot win the 4 grade flag, they can still have a spot in the State Finals but require Greta to win against Denman in the other section. The guidelines in this grade(s) being that a 4 grade flag will only be awarded to the club who can win their section, if both won then there would be a play-off. If neither win their section then they will still play-off to go to state but grade 4 will not have flag awarded, as in 2018 when Maitland Park were stand-alone but finished bottom of the Grade 5 competition. Juicy finish to this grade.
Grade 6:
Section 1 – East Cessnock have dominated to win this section with 45/50 points taken to date and 1 more game to go vs Maitland City.
Section 2 – Gresford in their first year at this level have battled through their section to win and secure their play-off spot
Section 3 – Scone B.C. will take the final spot in the play-off having won their section with a round to spare
Play-off Schedule:
Game 1 – Played at Scone B.C. – ECBC vs Gresford (25/5/19 – 9am)
Game 2 – Played at Scone B.C. – Loser of Game 1 vs Scone (25/5/19 – 1pm)
Game 3 – Played at Maitland City – Winner of Game 1 vs Scone (26/5/19 – 10am)
Grade 7:
Section 1 – Aberdeen lost to Merriwa in round 9 opening the door for Merriwa to potentially leap frog them in round 10. Aberdeen lead the section by 2 points and could be left ruing a round 4 forfeit to Merriwa which awarded Merriwa the full 10 points. Aberdeen face Scone RSL in Round 10 with Merriwa up against bottom placed Scone Blue. 10-0 to Merriwa and 8-2 to Aberdeen would see them level on points and the winner decided on countback.
Section 2 – At the time of writing this 4 team could still win the section, if Singleton defeat Gresford in the washout game they will be in prime position, a Gresford 10-0 win would open up a realm of possibility with Lorn, Singleton, Kurri and Paxton all having a chance to win the flag in the last day with only 2.5 points separating 1st to 4th. Lorn Play Kurri and Singleton play Paxton.
Section 3 – After a difficult year in 2018 including forfeits and playing games short of the required 12 players Clarence Town have regrouped and dominated Section 3 to secure it with a round to spare.
An exciting finish across some of the grades!! Roll on Round 10