Strong display from Upper Great Southern to finish fifth at Great Southern Colts Carnival with two victories

The Upper Great Southern Football League finished the Great Southern Colts Carnival on a high, winning their fifth and sixth playoff against Lower South West in Lake Grace on Sunday. The young Rams lost their opening match of the long-running carnival to Goldfields, who went on to reach the grand final, but they responded with two wins to claim fifth place overall under the guidance of coach Tony Micale. Micale is a four-time WAFL premiership coach and has also had roles with the WA Football Commission and Stephen Michael Foundation in recent years. In the first game on Saturday, Uppers were quickly on the back foot after Goldfields kicked the first three goals but they fought back strongly to get into the contest. Goldfields proved too strong at the finish, however, claiming a 13-point win despite the best efforts of Callum Giles-Morton, Tom Kilpatrick and Damon Penny. Tyler Rowe and Izzac Barry kicked two goals each in the 8.5 (53) to 6.4 (40) defeat. In their second game on Saturday, Uppers were in control for the majority of their clash with Esperance, running out 24-point winners in the end. Barry and Cumoram Desmond were fantastic up forward with three majors each as their side prevailed 7.9 (51) to 4.3 (27). The Rams were best served by Desmond, Rowe and Marshall Browne. On Sunday, in the fifth and sixth playoff, Uppers got across the line in a low-scoring affair as Barry and Giles-Morton combined to kick their side’s four goals. Rowe was again electric, Anton Hanson won plenty of the ball and Penny led from the front as Uppers secured their second victory, 4.10 (34) to 3.3 (21). Browne finished in the top 10 for the Harry Reeves Medal, for the best and fairest player across the carnival, with 19 votes. The Great Southern 20 was also named and three Uppers players — Narrogin’s Hanson, Kukerin-Dumbleyung’s Browne and Brookton-Pingelly’s Penny — were selected. Uppers named their best player for the carnival with Hanson getting the nod ahead of fellow Narrogin representative Rowe.