Unbeaten teams Great Southern Storm and Peel Cavaliers into grand final of Great Southern Colts Carnival

The Great Southern Storm and Peel Cavaliers will face off in the grand final of the Great Southern Colts Carnival after the two sides were unbeaten across their three matches on Saturday in Kulin. The Cavaliers, who are the defending champions, were emphatic in their wins over Esperance, Eastern Districts and Upper Great Southern while the Storm had to overcome Goldfields in the final game of the day to progress to Sunday’s decider. Goldfields and the Storm had won two games each in their pool but the Storm emerged 13-point winners to book another grand final berth. The Storm led by 27 points at three-quarter time on the back of classy goals on the run from Harvey Taylor and Teague Valli in the third. But Goldfields willed themselves for one final challenge in the last as a tiring and sore Storm limped home. Isaac Billing gave Goldfields a glimmer of hope and when Jake Tucker converted it was back to 13 points. The Storm’s defence held firm in the dying stages, Joely Graham, Mitch Paine and Milan Jaggi not giving in under enormous pressure as they prevailed 6.7 (43) to 4.6 (30). Teague Valli was outstanding across the four quarters, Fynn Kelleher-Bird was a valuable contributor and Evan Delbene was vital around the stoppages while Jaiden Mole kicked two goals in the win. The Storm did lose co-captain Caleb Haua to a shoulder injury in the final game but they now face Peel in the decider at 12.30pm on Sunday. The Cavaliers finished comfortably on top of their pool after three resounding wins. They held Esperance to just two goals in a 38-point win to start the campaign and then beat Eastern Districts by 72 points with Judd Flanigan and Callen Spigg combining for six of their 12 goals. Sprigg then starred with six goals to power the Cavaliers to a 50-point victory over Upper Great Southern. The Storm started with two victories to start their title campaign, beating Lower South West by 21 points before easily accounting for Ongerup to win by 83 points. Jed Schwarzbach booted five goals in the rout over Ongerup while Jaiden Mole added three. After a sluggish start the Storm kicked five goals to one in the second term and then continued that on in the second half on their way to a big victory, 14.12 (96) to 2.1 (13). Mitch Paine was superb across half back and gave the Storm great drive while Kaleb Germain, Schwarzbach and Marlon Mastalerz were also influential. The only sour point was injuries to Kaizen Beeck (collarbone) and Jarrod Pearce. As a result the Storm brought up emergencies Delbene and Brock Zambonetti, who had been playing for Ongerup, in the final game. In a low-scoring affair earlier in the day, the Storm kicked three goals to one in the final term to hold off Lower South West. Neither side kicked a goal in the third term and Lower South West trailed by only nine points at the last change only to cut that to three when Connor Brown snapped truly. Majors to Mole, Jarrod Pearce and then Ben Michael however sealed the Storm triumph, 6.7 (43) to 3.4 (22). Esperance have enjoyed a strong carnival and will clash with Goldfields for third and fourth place. Despite a draw with Eastern Districts in their final game, Esperance still finished second in their pool. Eastern Distrcits kicked three goals to two in the final term to pinch a draw, having lost their two previous games. Upper Great Southern had one win on the opening day, with a 29-point triumph over Eastern Districts, and they will face Lower South West for fifth and sixth place. Lower South West were big 86-point winners over Ongerup in their final game on day one. Seventh and eighth position will be battled out between Ongerup and Eastern Districts. Perfect weather greeted players and spectators in Kulin on Saturday and teams wore black arm bands in honour of Dennis Knill, a stalwart of the Great Southern Football Council who run the historic carnival.