Bombers take top spot
Yallourn-Yallourn North claimed top spot and made it six wins in succession with their 13-7 (85) to 6-12 (48) win over Trafalgar.
The shape of the top three in the Mid Gippsland Football League was always going to be determined by the result of this clash between the two in form teams of the competition.
In front of a healthy crowd but in blustery conditions, the home side were dominating the early minutes with good attack on the ball and supported by good numbers, but it was the league’s leading goal kicker Dean McDonald who put the first major on the scoreboard at the five-minute mark.
Bombers coach Barrie Burnett was busy linking many passages of play with clever handballs, in a match that really was an arm wrestle for control.
Ben Doran got the Bloods’ first goal after his teammates previous attempts were all proving inaccurate.
For the visitors Keenan Hughes was marking well around the ground but all forward entries for the visitors were being cut off by a well organised Trafalgar defence.
In fact the structure of Trafalgar was giving the Bombers very little room to use their pace and ability to move the ball quickly through the lines, but when they did enter forward 50, McDonald was causing chaos and soon set up his teams’ second with a walk in goal for Anthony Young.
The Bloods would later be counting the cost of their early inaccuracy, but for now were leading at quarter time by five points but with five more scoring shots 2-5 to 2-0.
Trafalgar’s job got so much bigger when they lost forward Rhys Holdsworth in the first minute of the second quarter, with what appeared to be a serious leg injury.
The battle for supremacy continued with both teams’ midfields unable to assume control and both teams defence standing strong. There was to be no goals for 10 minutes until Doran grabbed his second for the home side.
As if on cue, just moments later McDonald was rewarded a free kick after chasing down a Bloods defender, which he duly slotted from 50 metres.
The game locked away now as the half time siren sounded, 4-3 to 3-9. Yallourn Yallourn North coach Barrie Burnett remaining confident that his side was about to pounce.
It was Jesse Stone that opened the third term with a goal for Trafalgar however, but you did get the feeling, that if the visitor could grab some room to wiggle they could break the game open, but at this stage there were no weak links in the Bloods unit.
The pressure was being felt by both sides with plenty of fumbles and frustrations, some of which led to 50-metre penalties, although some were dubious decisions by an enthusiastic umpire, but all were starting to prove costly.
The Bombers Dylan Bentley was clever in heavy traffic opening the door for Connor Hughes to find a rare goal, but opportunities were now starting to present, and this opened the door for McDonald to share the ball with Tim Phillips who goaled, before McDonald added another for himself after a being held illegally by Daniel Puglia.
The cracks starting to show in Trafalgar for the very first time this year, the Bombers by 13-points at the last change.
All the hard work of the prior three quarters, the relentless running, the constant entries into forward fifty was now starting to pay off for the visitor. McDonald was finding room, the Hughes boys were brilliant and battling each other for goal of the day, as the ball was being shared amongst a tidal wave of red and black.
Trafalgar’s inability to apply scoreboard pressure when it had the chance, now had come back to haunt them as their opponents added a handful of goals in the final quarter increasing their lead to better than six goals and sending an ominous warning to the rest of the MGFL competition.