No fairytale for Gascoyne as North Midlands also struggle in Country Week Championships

While Midlands Coastal enjoyed a strong carnival the same could not be said for the other two teams from the Mid West region. Gascoyne supplying their first country week team in more than 25 years were always going to be up against it but they gave a good account of themselves despite results not going their way. The team was dominated by Ramblers, who are yet to be beaten this season, with Exmouth supplying seven while Warriors had four with three top-up players from the GNFL also turning out. They were outclassed in their first game against runners-up Central Coast Midlands struggling to match their intensity as they went down 41-8. They were better against Central Wheatbelt with Kim Schofield one of the best afield going down 44-28 before an excellent performance against Eastern Districts. Gascoyne pushed Districts all they way and finished with more scoring shots but were unlucky to fall by four points 4.4 (28) to 5.2 (32). Schofield again was amongst the best, while Rambler Jake Laycock also had a good game before they faced the all-conquering Ongerup side. In what should have been the biggest mismatch of the tournament, Gascoyne were not embarrassed going down 4.7 (31) to 1.3 (9). Rambler Yarren Raven had a strong finish to the tournament, Schofield was the best player for all four games and Ramblers captain Fraser Daly picked up an All-stars nomination. It would have provided invaluable experience for the players and can hopefully inject some interest into the struggling competition up north. North Midlands football had an up and down tournament, winning one game while copping a hiding in two others to finish sixth. They started brightly enough, sporting a fair few GNFL players but they went down 2.3 (15) to 2.7 (19) to Eastern Districts in their first match. Rovers’ Chirstopher Scott was good as was East Perth reserve Joseph Ugle, but they struggled to get their ball movement flowing. Mortlock was their next opponent and North Midlands lowered their colours in a 42-point loss as they were completely overrun. Ugle was again one of the few bright spots but it was a hugely disappointing performance made all the more strange by their win against Central Wheatbelt on day two. It was a vastly improved performance as five different players got on the scoreboard with Carnamha Perenjori’s Len Papertalk and Ryan Baumgarten having excellent games. Their last match against Ongerup got ugly as the eventual champions put 14 goals past Midlands with Lewis Davis scoring six goals in a disappointing finish to their tournament. Ugle got the nod for the All-stars team in what was an individually fantastic performance all weekend, but North Midlands would be disappointed they couldn’t put together a more consistent weekend.