Noble Park 1 will take on reigning champion High 5’s in the Division 1 grand final of the Mountain Dart League after a spectacular 11-6 victory over The Chiefs on Friday night.
Noble set the tone early in the preliminary final, leading 2-1 after the doubles.
In singles, Stewie Bell and Bill Richardson each claimed two legs over Rod Olsen and Jack Pearce respectively, pushing Noble Park further ahead.
The Chiefs rallied briefly through Harry Pearce, who struck back with two legs against Chris Richardson, but the comeback was short-lived.
David Putt steadied the ship for Noble Park with a 2-1 win over Stewart Taylor, before Noel Beasy sealed the deal with the final two legs against Tennessee Kell.
In a high-quality outing from both teams, a dozen 140s were scored on the night while a 92-pegout from Beasy also provided a highlight.
Noble Park 1, who finished fourth and now have wins over Bullseyes and The Chiefs in finals, will start a massive underdog this Friday after High 5’s won both ties during the home-and-away season. Noble has gone two steps further to reach the big dance this season and will be hungry to prove they belong on the biggest stage.
In Division 2, third-placed The Night Trawlers (TNT) edged out second-placed Spectrum 11-9 in a true heavyweight clash.
The Trawlers exploded out of the gates, racing to a 7-2 lead after doubles and two singles ties, with TNT’s Paul Quinn adding two legs over Tyde Preis, and Aaron Kirkmoe dominating with three legs over Brian Birties.
But Spectrum weren’t done; Mick Bellette fought back with three legs against Mitch Kirkmoe, while Chris Riddle added two against David Kirkmoe to close the gap to 7–8.
TNT’s Darcy Paterson then stepped up with two legs over Kevin Frost, setting the stage for a grandstand finish.
It came down to Kylie Zahra vs Andrew Sherriff, with Kylie needing all three legs to steal the win for Spectrum.
She pegged out the first, but Andrew held his nerve to take the second, securing The Night Trawlers’ passage to the grand final.
TNT now take on Division 2 benchmark The Bandits in this week’s grand final and will to turn around a 0-3 record this season to take home the biggest prize.
And the top-two teams, The Goodies and Madarras, will battle it out for Division 3 glory after Madarras scored an 11-5 victory over Stingrays in the prelim.
The doubles dominance of Madarras set the tone, racing to a 3-0 lead before singles began.
The Stingrays fought back with Brett Dykes and Tony Ciantar stealing two legs, and Ethan Dykes adding another, but it wasn’t enough.
The Madarras’ firepower shone through with Dave Caddell (3 legs) and Steve Clarke (2 legs) leading the way and contributions from Michael Bignell, Brent Wright, and Terry Faragher; with Faragher striking the fatal blow to seal the win.
Caddell was on fire for Madarras, landing a magnificent 128-pegout.
The Goodies will enter the grand final confident, having won two of the three home-and-away clashes this season as well as their week one preliminary final.
But the Madarras carry invaluable experience, knowing exactly what it takes to play on the biggest stage after narrowly losing 11–10 to Redbacks 2 in last season’s grand final.
MDL GRAND FINALS
Friday 5 December
Elliott Road, Dandenong
DIVISION 1: High 5’s v Noble Park 1
DIVISION 2: The Bandits v The Night Trawlers
DIVISION 3: The Goodies v Madarras
