Country Championships: Central Midlands Coastal surge into division two final against Great Northern

A red-hot Central Midlands Coastal surged into the Nurtien Ag Solutions Country Football Championships division two grand final after seeing off challenges from Mortlock and Great Northern on Saturday. After entering the day with a win and a loss, Central Midlands Coastal handed Great Northern their first loss of the campaign with a 10-point triumph at Pentanet Stadium. Trailing by four points at the half against arguably the favourites for division two, Central Midlands Coastal stormed home with two unanswered goals to clinch the 3.5 (23) to 2.1 (13) win. Still needing a victory to move into the top two after North Pilbara secured moved to three wins with strong results against Mortlock and Eastern Districts earlier in the day, Central Midlands Coastal smashed Mortlock in their must-win match to book their spot in Sunday’s decider. Earlier Great Northern secured their third win of the round robin with a percentage-boosting win over Ongerup, emerging 32-point victors to book their grand final place. Led superbly by former Geelong star Harry Taylor and ex-Western Bulldog Jayden Schofield, Great Northern cruised past Ongerup with a 8.4 (52) to 3.2 (20) win. North Pilbara were the hard-luck story of the division, finishing with three wins but narrowly missing out on a shot at the title after finishing third on percentage. Ongerup, captained by former Geelong-listed player Timm House, experienced a tough outing in their return to division two, managing just one win at the tournament and narrowly avoiding a double relegation after being belted by Eastern Districts by 35 points in their final match. Mortlock were the only team to not secure a win over their four-match group stage and were ultimately relegated to division three. The division two grand final of the championships will be played at Sullivan Logistics Stadium in Leederville on Sunday starting at 11.15am.