Bombers make finals statement
Yallourn-Yallourn North won the game and made a statement to the league, at the same time when they monstered Morwell East 16-20-116 to 5-8-38.
Four just won’t go into three no matter how hard you try, so with that in mind the winner of this clash was always going to be better placed for a top three spot.
The unbeaten Bombers were prepared for the very best of the Hawks, who themselves had been unbeaten up until last week’s loss to Mirboo North.
The signs of what was to come might not have been obvious in the opening 30 minutes of the afternoon when the Bombers although leading by seventeen points at the first quarter were also preparing to unleash some of their best football of 2019.
Six scoring shots to four at the first break might indicate that the match was unfolding as expected between two sides on track for finals football in a few months time, but with the Bombers converting three of those six shots on goal, and the Hawks unable to find the big sticks, the writing was on the wall that the visitors might be in for an even tougher afternoon than they had planned for.
East coach Devon Soutar said “when I asked for a response, we executed our plan we wrestled it our way for very short periods after half time but this is never going to be enough to challenge the competition’s juggernaut.”
Those fears were realised at the main break, as the home side started to control almost every position on the ground and play with their visitors much like a cat does with a ball of wool, Morwell East still stuck on just four points as they watched the home side dance around them to a sixty one point lead, peppering the goals another 13 times and added five goals eight.
Bombers coach Barrie Burnett said “we stuck to our game plan and executed it well, our pressure was great all day, if anything we just need to work on our goal kicking.”
It’s almost ironic that the aspect of the Bombers game that Burnett concedes needs work, is, possibly their biggest strength, goalkicking.
Dean MacDonald finally kicked more majors than his team mate Keenan Hughes, but both were part of the unit that could have done so much more with the opportunities they had, that said five and two goals each is nothing to be sneezed at.
The Hawks woke from their slumber in the third quarter, to at least let the Bombers know they were there, with a couple of goals but they were still outscored by the league leaders who were just going through the motions.
Newborough v Boolarra
Boolarra did what they had threatened to do and claimed their second victory of the year with a gutsy 11 point win over Newborough 9-10-64 to 7-11-53.
The Bulldogs prepared themselves for a winning streak of two in a row a few weeks back, even on the end of a four game losing streak to open up the season.
Newborough coach Dean Caldow witnessed “glimpses” of what was required in those losses that pointed towards a change of fortunes.
What he and his team confronted however was a desperate Demons outfit, eager to show their travelling supporters they appreciate their patience over this journey.
The opening quarter delivered what most thought it would, two sides not so much fighting for finals contention as competition respect, and in some ways that may be just as important, if not more so than the points.
The visitors’ accuracy gave them a three point lead at quarter time, five goals from six opportunities would be crucial later in the day, as the Bulldogs wasted half of their eights attempts on goal.
Newborough coach Dean Caldow said “I’m really disappointed we didn’t get the four points. Our first 20 minutes is the best ball movement and skills I’ve seen all year, but from there it was our inconsistency and turnovers that let them back into the game, we certainly let that one slip away”
The second quarter was without question an arm wrestle - 36 players giving their best, all desperate to part of a winning team for just the second time this year, and picking a winner from the major break would only have been a guess.
Third quarters are seen as premiership quarters, when teams make their move to claim a victory, and that’s what the visiting Demons did, adding three more goals and a 10 point lead as they faced a final thirty minutes of hard work.
It might not have been pretty at times, but it was entertaining and did have the crowd on the edge of their seats, Boolarra gutsy to the final siren and winners for the second time this year.
Mirboo North v Trafalgar
It might have taken everything they had, but the Tigers finally got what they wanted with a narrow four point win over the Bloods 6-10-46 to 5-12-42.
The Tigers biggest opponent might have been complacency within the group given their perfect start to the season.
Six wins in as many matches has a way of making a group feel pretty good about themselves and it’s usually at this time they might also become most vulnerable.
The visitors got off to a solid start, their week off courtesy of a bye appearing to be just the tonic for a reversal of form and fortunes as they lead the unbeaten Tigers to the first break by four points.
Trafalgar earned respect and admiration for the way they played the game under coach Clint Eisendel through their premiership season of 2018, but in the early parts of this year something appeared to be missing that had the Bloods struggling for wins and fighting for survival with a pack of teams in the middle of the ladder.
It was only at the final break that Mirboo North had finally found the lead, a three point margin, that promised a final quarter to remember.
The Tigers had run out games well on almost every occasion this year, leaving their opposition with hands on knees wondering how they could match it with what appeared to be a vastly fitter side. But it wasn’t to be on this day as the Bloods fought with everything they had, in an already low scoring day it was the last 30 minutes that was the lowest of all four, no side kicking a goal and Mirboo North only kicking one more point than Trafalgar, three to two, to hold on for a win that extends their streak to seven in a row.
Trafalgar, not winning, but showing they will cause some problems for opposition sides in the future.
Clint Eisendel said “plenty of positives for us to take into coming weeks we are definitely right back on track and I’ll look for consistency over the next few weeks”
They might not quite be a contender yet, but watch this space closely.
Yinnar v Thorpdale
Yinnar finally delivered a comprehensive victory n front of a home crowd when they trounced Thorpdale 21-23-149 to 10-3-63.
This was one that the Magpies, just couldn’t afford to lose. An inconsistent season to date has meant they were on the precipice of falling further down the MGFL ladder than they wished, given the significant improvement of clubs around them.
A fast start was always going to be crucial for the Magpies, but that’s not quite how it worked out, the visitors throwing everything into the contest.
Yinnar might have led by 13 points at quarter time, a lead that they extended to 27, at the main break, but they were also well aware they were in a game of footy.
Thorpdale coach Ray Pickering said ”considering we only had 17 Saturday morning and some boys having to play two games we were great in the first half and really took it up to a much bigger Yinnar unit with hard tackling and pressure unsettling them but in they end we ran out of legs and with no bench in the second half we got completely over ran”
The third quarter was possibly the Magpies most impressive, seven goals and seven behinds an indication of the control the had and the damage they could have done.
To have 44 shots on goal, gives a clear indication of the dominance they had after half time, and it’s the sort of effort that will need to give more often against the better teams in the league if they are going to be part of the real action in three months time.