Double dose of misery for Dogs
It was a double dose of misery for Newborough as both their seniors and reserves went down to their closest rivals Yallourn-Yallourn North in Saturday’s second semi finals.
The Bombers now advance to their second grand final in two seasons after a hard fought 13-point win over the hot favourites Newborough, who had won their last 16 matches and went into the semi final full of confidence.
But the spirit of the Bombers’s camp was strong, especially after being beaten twice by the Dogs throughout the season, to win 8-8 (56) to 5-13 (43).
Yallourn-Yallourn North opened with the breeze but it was Newborough through James Todd who scored the first goal after just four minutes of play. It was congestion early as the windy conditions made it difficult to score.
Even by 12 minutes it was a low scoring effort with Newborough 1-2 to 0-2.
Yallourn-Yallourn North centre-back Darcy Shellcott was shell-shocked as he hit the cricket pitch and had to leave for treatment. There were plenty of errors by both teams but Tyler Brown equalised at 18 minutes.
The Bombers were starting to play their best football and attacking moves by Dean MacDonald and Tim Phillips brought goals to give the Bombers a substantial lead. Todd Dobson was knocked up getting kicks and coach Adam Bailey was a great leader.
Newborough were falling behind as Yallourn-Yallourn North were quicker to the ball. By the first break YallournYallourn North led Newborough 3-2 to 1-3.
Newborough’s Chris Hancock looked to be injured and Derk Pol took over the ruckwork for the Bombers, Newborough had the wind and fans were expecting them to utilise the advantage but it was Yallourn-Yallourn North who produced the goods as Newborough seemed flat.
Tom Hutton dropped back to defence as a loose man and sweeper and he curtailed some of Newborough’s forward moves but Anthony Battista weaved through the blockade to score the Dogs second goal.
Even at this stage Newborough were being forced into errors by a strong Bomber defence. Matt Slattery was strong for Newborough but many of their regular stars were out of action as the Bombers took over.
Adam Bailey showed brilliance when he passed to Dean MacDonald who kicked his second goal. Not to be outdone Newborough’s Stuart Robertson goaled on the half time siren to make it a six-point ballgame as Yallourn-Yallourn North led 4-4 to Newborough 34.
The third term prove something of an anti-climax as Newborough were held down to only three points while the Bombers scratched around for two more goals and by three quarter time the Bombers had blown their lead out to 18 points.
Luke Mulqueen broke away from his minder Tom Hutton for Newborough’s fourth goal and it was game on as the Dogs got within 12 points only a minute into the last quarter.
Yallourn-Yallourn North held steady as Newborough were lacking their usual skill base and were hopeless around the goals, piling up points on the way going from 3-4 to 4-12 in the space of 20 minutes.
Tim Phillips was sent off which left the Bombers down a man as the game got more heated, Steven Pearson was left sprawling on the ground after a heavy knock which was converted to a 50 metre penalty allowing the former Bulldog Josh Keyhoe to score the Bombers eighth goal.
At that stage both teams had 16 shots at goal but Yallourn-Yallourn North with 8-8 were more accurate with Dean MacDonald at the pivot (four goals) as Newborough could only manage 5-11.
In the dying stages Newborough tried valiantly to recover lost ground but only a string of points resulted which left them stunned as Yallourn-Yallourn North took out the game.
The Bombers were well led by their skipper Adam Bailey but it was Tom Hutton who showed how he won the medal last season with a top game. Dale Murphy was also good and the running smalls Tyler Brown and Todd Dobson also played well.
Dean MacDonald scored four goals but unselfishly gave many away and was the best forward.
Newborough would have been somewhat disappointed with their display and will now need to regroup for next week’s do-or die battle. Better players were Damon Hansen, Mat Slattery, Evan Price and Liam Charles.