Score change on siren gives Drouin a draw
Drouin’s immediate feeling of defeat after its clash with Bairnsdale on Saturday was short lived when a score board correction saw the scores were level.
After umpires conferred on the final siren the score was declared 6-9-45 apiece.
The Redlegs must have felt like turning around when they go to Drouin’s gate. Coming from their city which is known to be the Riviera of the east in winter, they arrived on a torrid day.
In Drouin it was the winter time trifecta, cold, wet and windy.
The ground had already turned to mud because of Warragul and District junior games which were played in the morning.
Even with the draw Drouin, still depleted from injuries and not at full strength, showed it is continuing to improve.
In a hard-fought affair throughout the four quarters Drouin did its best to constantly attack.
Bairnsdale was first to score a goal courtesy of a long kicking run into an open goal by Russell Cowan.
Drouin failed to score a goal in the first quarter with Liam Anderson missing an easy goal at the end of the quarter.
Both sides were making plenty of mistakes in the wet and muddy conditions.
At the end of the first quarter Drouin had managed four behinds but Bairnsdale had 1-2.
The Redlegs came out strong in the second quarter with Bairnsdale’s Jaryd Gilroy winning a ruck dual with Bob McCallum and Bairnsdale going on to score a goal.
Drouin was depending on short passes and kicks with neither working well in the heavy mud, constant rain and strong wind.
However, David Miller and David Olsen were solid in defence and Rhys Salter was able to score a great goal levelling the scores.
It was his first game back after some time spent overseas and he played well all day.
Drouin’s backline of Jordan Kingi, David Olsen, McCallum and Brendan Dower were doing a great job in what was now shocking conditions.
Coach Jordan Kingi was leading by example, in everything early and constantly attacking the ball.
A goal to Bairnsdale from 30 metres out made the difference just a point in Drouin’s favour.
At half time the message from Kingi was simple, be first to the ball and kick it long.
But that was easier said than done in the heavy conditions. The ball was wet and slippery and footy boots were heavy with water and mud.
It was even difficult for spectators to determine who was out on the field.
By the third quarter the game was an end to end slog.
When Josh Seri soccered a great goal the scores were again level.
By the end of the third quarter the result was 4-6 Drouin to Bairnsdale 5-8.
The Hawks had all the play in the last quarter. Rhys Salter stampeded out of the pack to goal. Drouin’s score was aided in the goals when a Bairnsdale player kicked an “own goal” which in this case was a point.
Tom Barr took Drouin’s score within a point of Bairnsdale’s with a strong goal at the 28minute mark.
When the final siren sounded Bairnsdale thought they had won by a point but when the umpires conferred it was realised the scores were in fact level.
Long-time Drouin supporter Graeme Davies aptly described the result “it was like dancing with your sister.”
It was a flat conclusion to a hard day with neither side having the opportunity to belt out their songs.
Drouin’s goal kickers were Rhys Salter and Joshua Seri 2, while Jordan Kingi and Tom Barr scored a goal each.
Best players were David Olsen, Bob McCallum, Jeb McLeod, Rhys Salter, Clayton Kingi and Brendan Dower.