Fixtures released for Ongerup Football Association as Gnowangerup eye premiership three-peat

The new Ongerup Football Association season will start next week with five teams to do battle across 15 weeks of home-and-away fixtures and then a three-week finals series.

This year’s grand final will be hosted by Lake Grace-Pingrup and they will also host another major fixture in the 2022 season, the Big Freeze match against Boxwood Hill.

Games remain on Saturdays in the OFA, which is part of Ongerup Association Sport that involves hockey and netball.

The new football season begins on April 23, as grand finalists Boxwood Hill clash with Lake Grace-Pingrup and reigning premiers Gnowangerup face Newdegate in the opening round of fixtures.

The final game of the regular season will be played on August 20 before the semifinals on August 27 and 28.

The preliminary final is set down for September 3 in Newdegate and the grand final will take place on Saturday, September 10 at Lake Grace.

Gnowangerup will be out to secure a third premiership in as many years after winning back-to-back titles in last year’s decider. In doing so, they would be the first club in OFA to achieve the three-peat since Jerramungup in 2010.

Fans of Gnowangerup and Boxwood Hill will be eagerly anticipating the round-two fixture as last year’s grand finalists go head-to-head on the Bulldogs’ home deck.

This season’s fixtures will feature four special rounds. Belt-Up Round, a road-safety awareness initiative, will be played in round five.

The Big Freeze Round, highlighted by the big event at Lake Grace, will be played in round six to raise awareness for motor neurone disease.

Regional Men’s Health Round will take place in round seven and Think Mental Health Round is scheduled for round 11.

The OFA will also have general byes on June 17-19 for the Great Southern Colts Carnival and a two-week break in early July for the annual Nutrien Ag Country Football Championships on July 8-10.