Three teams still have chance to claim last spot
Sunday week’s elimination final will be between Drouin and ... Warragul? or Wonthaggi Power? or Sale.
A drama packed penultimate Gippsland League home and away round has produced a spine tingling finish to the battle for the finals.
Drouin “secured” its spot but not by its own doing.
The Hawks lost to Sale but Maffra’s struggling win at home against Wonthaggi Power by eight points has given Drouin the breathing space to finish 4th or 5th even allowing for it not winning against undefeated Leongatha at Leongatha next Saturday.
Maffra has done the Hawks few favours in the past but it delivered a big one on Saturday.
Warragul produced the big upset, beating Traralgon (third on the ladder) at Traralgon in a terrific fighting effort especially in the last quarter.
The win by three points has well and truly opened the door for the Gulls making the finals but and it is a big BUT - they almost certainly have to defeat second placed Maffra at Western Park next Saturday.
If they don’t it’s likely Wonthaggi or Sale - strong favourites to win at home against Bairnsdale and Moe respectively - will leapfrog Warragul on percentage.
The way the season has panned out with unpredictable results there are no certainties in the three key last round games.
At the season’s halfway mark - round nine - Wonthaggi, Moe, Warragul and Bairnsdale all had 16 premiership points and occupied fourth to seventh positions in that order.
Drouin looked well out of contention in eighth place on 10 points and Sale was a clear last on the ladder with only two wins.
How things have changed.
Bairnsdale now looks likely to finish with the wooden spoon and Moe has no chance of making the “five”.
Drouin is in but its worries extend beyond next weekend’s trip to Leongatha.
It will have to find cover for its key forward and leading goalkicker Ben Hughes whose two-week suspension from Saturday will take in the elimination final.
Wonthaggi Power came close to toppling Maffra at Maffra on Saturday falling just eight points short - 912 to 8-8 - after trailing by four goals at half time.
It and Sale will need Warragul to lose this week and post percentage boosting wins.
Moe made it six wins for the year, only two of them in the second half of the season, when it defeated Bairnsdale, winless since the halfway mark, 9-14 to 3-10 on Saturday while Leongatha’s unbeaten record was held intact when it took charge against Morwell after quarter time to run out 1415 to 6-7 winners.
Morwell had opened brightly with the game’s first two goals.