Finals look shaky for Industrials

A six-point break has opened between the two teams at the bottom of the Ellinbank and District Football League “six” and the seventh team, Warragul Industrials, as the weeks to the finals tick down. Some targeted off-season recruiting had Dusties tagged a premiership contender but they looked anything but against Neerim Neerim South, that has quietly emerged as a contender, on Saturday. Dusties will need a lot to go right over the last few rounds to even make the finals. Neerim South’s six-goal second quarter blew Industrials away and set up a strong 16-8 to 10-7 win that has it well in contention for an important top two finish. Nilma-Darnum, with Nar Nar Goon, six points clear of Dusties on the ladder was breathing a huge sigh of relief after luckily falling over the line against Catani. Usual defender Luke Bartlett doesn’t get too many shots at goal but his match-winning goal - the last kick of the match - pinched the Bombers a five-point win 8-5 to 7-6 at Catani. It could have been the kick that has his side bound for the finals. In another thriller Koo wee up got home by one-point against another probable finalist Nar Nar goon, 10-9 to 9-14. Nar Nar Goon would be rueing its inaccurate 1-8 in the third term that probably cost it the match. Garfield gave the fancied Cora Lynn a fright leading by five points at half time before the Cobras found their better form to run away and score 13-11 to 9-8. The other three games were one-sided. Buln Buln belted Nyora by 133 points, top side Bunyip was a 96-point winner against Lang Lang and Longwarry trounced Poowong by 100 points. In Gippsland league Warragul strengthened its place in the “five” and probably ended any hope Bairnsdale had of getting there when it posted its sixth win for the season at Bairnsdale. The Gulls had to come from behind after a slow start eventually getting the points 14-12 to 9-17. Wonthaggi Power stayed one rung ahead of the Gulls on percentage but only scraped in by seven points at home against an improved Sale. Moe got within striking distance, one game and very little percentage out of the “five”, after its solid win against Morwell on Sunday to move into 6th spot. Traralgon proved far too good for a depleted Drouin while the clash between the top two, Leongatha and Maffra, didn’t go ahead because of the state of the Maffra ground that was under water after heavy rain during the week. A decision on whether the match will be rescheduled was due to be made by last night (after the Gazette’s publication deadline). Mid Gippsland league’s Morwell East, fifth on the ladder, got back on the winner’s list after some indifferent recent form accounting for Boolarra to remove any possible challenge to its finals spot. Morwell East’s nearest challenger, Thorpdale, trails by six premiership points. Thorpdale was on a high on Saturday night while its opponent on the day, Trafalgar, fell to one of its lowest ebbs in many years. A bad season for Trafalgar got even worse courtesy of its 194-point thrashing by Thorpdale that kicked eight, eight, 11 and eight goals across the four quarters, midfielder Josh Collie slotting through 12 of the goals. Another to boot a dozen at the weekend was Yallourn Yallourn North’s Dean MacDonald in his side’s 29-9 to 3-1 thumping of Hill End. Yinnar was also a big winner, 19-14 to 3-7 against Yarragon, while top of the table Newborough downed another finalist Mirboo North 9-12 to 7-7. Newborough might have taken the foot off the pedal a bit after leading 7-8 to 1-4 at half time.