Foxtel Cup round two sees three states through
- Sunday, June 19 2011 @ 12:22 pm ACST
- Contributed by: Brett Northey
- Views: 2,970
The Foxtel Cup Round 2 has thrown up the first real surprise of the tournament so far. Although North Ballarat was knocked out in Round 1, it was expected that fellow VFL clubs Williamstown and the Northern Bullants would win through over their SANFL and WAFL counterparts, given the Croweaters (SA) put up their weaker clubs and the WA league is generally accepted as a bit lower in standard. But although Williamstown honoured their part, the Bullants suffered an unexpected loss.
The SANFL has paid a high price in the credibility stakes by allowing its lower ranked 2010 clubs to represent it against the best of the other states. West Adelaide went down to top flight Williamstown by 19 points but the Bloods were only 6th in the SANFL in 2010 and were pumped by fellow SANFL club Norwood by 54 points the week before it played the Vics, so hardly in keeping with the Foxtel concept of the nation's best state league sides.
Also through to the semis are East Perth after a narrow 6 point win over the Northern Territory Thunder, and Port Adelaide Magpies after a 16 point win over North Adelaide. The Thunder doing so well was a credit to their development since the Top End entered a team in Queensland's league, and now the NEAFL.
It was reasonable to expect the Foxtel Cup would show us the best of the VFL > the worst of the SANFL > best of the WAFL, but the Sandgropers (WA) have managed to push two of their clubs through to the semis. So the battle remains alive for the top three state leagues.
Round 2 (Quarter Final) Results
NT Thunder 2.2 3.5 6.6 10.11 (71)
East Perth 3.2 6.3 11.4 12.5 (77)
West Adelaide 2.2 3.3 6.4 12.5 (77)
Williamstown 3.0 9.2 12.2 15.6 (96)
Claremont 4.3 10.6 12.8 13.12 (90)
Northern Bullants 1.0 3.1 5.2 7.2 (44)
Port Adelaide 3.1 4.3 7.4 9.6 (60)
North Adelaide 2.2 5.3 6.5 6.8 (44)
Semi-Finals
Williamstown (currently 2nd VFL) v East Perth (currently 8th WAFL) on Sat 9th July at Etihad Stadium (Melbourne)
Claremont (currently 1st WAFL) vs Port Adelaide (currently 6th SANFL) on Sat 16th July at Patersons Stadium (Perth)