Ararat in charge
How exciting that we have made it to round 16, the final round of the Mininera and District league 2022 season, after the past two years of COVID-19 interruptions.
It would be very unlikely that Ararat Eagles would not come away with the win this week against Hawkesdale-macarthur. But even if that didn’t happen, with the Eagles having a four-point advantage and a better percentage than second-placed Tatyoon, they should finish the homeand-away season on top of the ladder.
Tatyoon will have a harder hit-out when it travels south to play fourth-placed Woorndoo-mortlake, who still have a slight chance of taking third spot with a win, depending also on results from other games.
Tatyoon’s 13-goal win against Wickliffe-lake Bolac in round 15 will fill them with plenty of confidence. With only three goals separating them at half time, the Hawks put their foot down in the second half, kicking a further 10 goals on the scoreboard with the Magpies only able to score one point for the same period.
It was a great team effort with Tatyoon having 10 players sharing the goal scoring. Better players were William Henderson, Andrew Maconachie, Jack Fraser and Mitchell Cronin.
Woorndoo-mortlake, in its previous round, did not have much trouble getting the four points against Hawkesdale-macarthur, winning by 135 points. Jordan Buckley was a definite target in front of goals kicking nine, while William Paulin, Damien Pemberton, Matthew Pemberton and Jordan Buckley made the most of their opportunities and stood out for the Tigers.
After a loss last week to Glenthompson-dunkeld, Penshurst lost its top-five position and will need to bring its best football to give itself any chance of getting back into finals contention when it takes on Caramut.
Although with Glenthompson-dunkeld coming up against Moyston-willaura on Saturday, it might be out of Penshurst’s control.
In other games, Lismore-derrinallum will play Great Western and a win for the Demons will secure third place on the ladder and a double chance.
Sitting on 24 points each, eighth-placed SMW Rovers and seventh-placed Wickliffe-lake Bolac will battle at Conna Wilson Reserve.
Finals venues
Finals venues have also been announced. The qualifying final, on August 20, is at Woorndoo and the elimination final is on Sunday, August 21 at Lismore.
A second semi-final is on August 27 at Willaura with the first semi-final on Sunday, August 28 at Macarthur.
The preliminary final is at Penshurst on Saturday, September 3.
Glenthompson will host the grand final on September 10 with Great Western working the bar.