Lucindale made their way into the 2026 Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara Football League grand final after they staged a late comeback to defeat Bordertown. The Lucindale Roos will face the Kingston Saints in a rematch of the second semi-final.
In a low-scoring contest in great conditions, the Roos repeated their qualifying final victory over the Roosters with another great performance in the preliminary final.
The contest was tight from the start. Neither team wanted to give the other team any advantage.
Lucindale struck first after Tyson Brazel snapped a goal out of a ruck contest. The Roos went ahead by seven points early. Tyson looked dangerous again after he had a dominant game against Bordertown in the qualifying final. Luke Kelsh was prominent early for the Roos. Lucindale struck again after Tyson Brazel took a strong mark and kicked a goal to extend the Roos' lead to eleven points. The Roos had started the game well. Matt Kelsh, Anthony McCarthy, and Lachie Jones had started the game in great touch for the Roos. Bordertown finally scored their first goal of the game after Jonte Dolling snapped a goal. Ryan Weidenhofer, Archie Dahlitz, Brent Shuttleworth and Billy Hayes were involved in the play to help the Roosters score the major. The Roos and the Roosters were having a great, tight contest, and both teams were giving nothing away. The Roos led by three points at quarter time. Luke Kelsh, Anthony McCarthy, Tyson Brazel, Matt Kelsh, Lachie Jones and Riley McFarlane started well for the Roos. Harrison Fromm, Bryce Damin, Troy Blackwell and Jonte Dolling were important for Bordertown in the first quarter.
Both teams brought their defensive guard during the second quarter, as only one goal was kicked during the quarter. Neither team could take advantage of the play when they moved the forward for most of the quarter. The game was very scrappy and hard and tough. Bordertown finally scored a goal through Jordan Houlahan at the seventeen-minute mark. The Roosters hit the front by two points. Both teams had multiple chances to score more goals but couldn't score the majors. At halftime, the scores were tied. Lucindale and Bordertown didn't want to give anything away. Tom Gould, Anthony McCarthy, Jack Yates, Matt Kelsh and Lachie Jones were good for the Roos in the second quarter. Cooper Machin, Joshua Searle, Bryce Damin, Sebastian Trenorden and Jordan Houlahan did some good things during the second quarter for Bordertown.
Bordertown started to get good momentum in the third quarter as the Roosters brought the defensive pressure. Billy Hayes kicked an early snap goal in the quarter as the Roosters hit the front. The Roosters started to take advantage of Harrison Fromm's ruck dominance. Bordertown struck again to extend their lead to twelve points after Ben Jarrett kicked straight as they started to take advantage of their ball dominance. Troy Blackwell and Billy Hayes were causing the Roos all kinds of problems. Both teams' defences stood firm in the second half of the quarter. Neither team could add goals to the tally for the rest of the quarter. Tom Gould was very strong for Lucindale in defence. Anthony McCarthy, Tom Fisher, Jack Yates and Ryan Kemp were others who had good third quarters for Lucindale. Ben Jarrett, Joshua Dodd, Bryce Damin, Archie Dahlitz, Billy Hayes, and Sebastian Trenorden were strong for the Roosters in the third quarter.
Both teams were desperate during the opening stages of the last quarter. The Roos got the opening goal of the last quarter as Matt Kelsh cut the Roosters' lead to five points after he kicked straight. Lucindale got the perfect start to the quarter they were looking for. Matt Kelsh, Jack Yates and Tom Gould were standing out for the Roos. Bordertown was trying to hang on to the lead as the Roos were attacking hard. Sam Pitt was one of the main players for Lucindale during their fourth-quarter charge. Lucindale hit the front late when Anthony McCarthy kicked a clutch goal to give the Roos the lead. Anthony got a great reward for the great game he had played so far. The Roos were now in front and trying to hold on. Bordertown had another shot on goal not long after to get the lead back, but a behind was scored. Billy Hayes was in everything for the Roosters, trying to get them over the line. The Roos defended strongly late in the quarter as the Roosters tried everything to get another shot on goal. Time ran out, and the Roos held on to book their place in the Grand Final. Tom Gould, Matt Kelsh, Anthony McCarthy, Riley McFarlane, Luke Kelsh, Lachie Jones and Jack Yates were great contributors for the Roos during the game. Harrison Fromm, Troy Blackwell, Billy Hayes, Bryce Damin, and Archie Dahlitz had good games for Bordertown.
Photo provided by https://www.acecootephotography.com