Sport
4 September, 2023
Bulls charge into grand final match
SHOCK waves were sent through the Edge Hill Tiger’s field over the weekend in a “frantic” semi-final showdown, with the Mareeba Bulls securing their spot in the grand final after a 4-2 win.
The first half saw back and fourth game with little action until Edge Hill’s defender Ryan Murray dislocated his elbow, halting the game for almost an hour.
When the match resumed, it was the Bulls who looked to be the better side from the get-go, and midfielder Robert Pendenza gave the away side a deserved 1-0 in the 36 minutes, a lead the Bulls held into halftime.
It was the opening five minutes of the second half that set the tone for a frantic 45 minutes of finals football, where seventeen-year-old Kalan Prizmic curled in a fantastic left-foot strike into the bottom left-hand corner of the Tigers goal to give the Bulls a 2-0 lead.
Striker Dylan Cummings then scored a contender of the goal of the season with a bullet right foot volley to bring the score to 3-0 to the away side before the Tigers clawed one back to make it 3-1 all in the opening five minutes of the second half.
The Bulls were then forced to withstand several attacking forays from the home side, but the defensive line led by Victor Madrid stood resolute before in the 33rd minute.
A piece of Wayne Srhoj magic put striker Steven Cater through on goal with only the keeper to beat, with Cater making no mistake to give the Bulls a 4-1 lead with 15 minutes to play.
The Tigers did get a consolation goal back with the clock winding down, with the game finishing at 4-2 to the Bulls.
Coach Kane Alderton said the game was one of the best games he has seen yet, feeling nothing but pride for the team.
He said the second half of the game really secured their spot in the final, and he hoped they could bring their electric energy into the finals.
“To be 3nil up into the second half was a credit to the boys, but at that stage, there is still a lot of football to play, and if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile, so we had to be disciplined and controlled in the last 45 minutes,” he said.
“I am definitely confident after the way the boys have been playing over the last month, and I am definitely confident they will do well.
“We can’t get ahead of ourselves, though, we just need to embrace the grand finals and not look into it too much.”
The win now gives the Bulls the weekend off before the grand final on Saturday, the 16 September, at Endeavour Park.
Meanwhile, the Edge Hill Tigers will host the Leichhardt Lions on Saturday in Cairns to see who will take on the Bulls in the grand final.
In other grades, the club’s Under 14 team also won direct passage through to the grand final, while the men's division 1 boys lost to the Douglas Dragons but have a second chance and will host the Atherton Eagles this Friday night in Mareeba for another shot at the grand final.
