MID Gippsland football provided some surprises on Saturday when seventh placed Thorpdale knocked off fifth placed Boolarra by two-points in a thriller.
The loss did not damage the Dees’ ladder standing but may affect confidence leading into finals.
In other matches Mirboo North had an easy win over Yallourn Yallourn North, Yinnar handed Yarragon a hammering, Trafalgar picked up percentage with a 68-point win over Morwell East and Newborough met strong opposition at Hill End to win by 14-points.
Mirboo North v YYN
MIRBOO North started slowly against YYN as the dominant Tigers’ scoring shots went wild in windy conditions.
Four goals from 10 shots was a poor return as the Tigers ran all over YYN.
The Bombers’ run of disastrous scorelines looked set to continue after they kicked a solitary goal for the first quarter.
YYN’s next two quarters yielded just three behinds while Mirboo North added 4.5 (29) and 5.2 (32)for the same period.
The Bombers finally came alive in the last quarter to outscore the Tigers, who struggled in the wind and cold.
The end result could have been a lot closer but for the Bombers’ accuracy; the side put on 4.8 (32) while keeping Mirboo North to a modest 3.1 (19).
However, the bulk of the damage had been done in the previous three quarters as Mirboo North ran out winners by 69-points.
Tiger Tim Traill was again in fine form and added seven goals to bring his season tally to 87.
Kris Berchtold, Brian Waters and Shane Peters were Mirboo North’s best while for the Bombers Ryan Hearn, Steve Gore and Dale Murphy battled hard against strong opposition.
Thorpdale v Boolarra
SAFELY entrenched in fifth position, Boolarra received a shock against Thorpdale.
The lowly Blues matched it with Boolarra goal for goal in a closely fought battle.
Thorpdale led at the first break only to be overtaken by Boolarra, which took a nine-point lead into half-time.
Ben Carboni led the Blues to a four goal third quarter to establish a nine-point buffer at three-quarter-time.
Boolarra fought back in a neck and neck final term and went ahead by four points with mere minutes remaining. Tim Loft became a hero for Thorpdale with a last gasp goal to give his side a two point advantage which it held to the final siren.
The forwards for both sides were on song.
Ken Towt scored four goals for Boolarra while Tim Lappin bagged three for Thorpdale.
Newborough v Hill End
NEWBOROUGH put its past troubles at Hill End behind it to record a 14-point win in an ugly match.
Hill End provided spirited opposition and their burly boys took the game up to the fancied Bulldogs.
Newborough was sitting pretty at the first break with a 27-point lead with the advantage of a strong westerly breeze, and appeared ready to run away with the match.
Windy conditions did not help either side as the swirling breeze made good football scarce and players found trouble judging the flight of the ball. With the wind at its back in the second term Hill End kept Newborough scoreless while adding 4.4 (28) to grab a point lead at half-time.
Making full use of the conditions, Newborough drove the ball long in the third and scored a further seven goals to blow out its lead out to 37 points.
In gusty conditions the ball was almost doubling back on itself and Newborough struggled to advance in the final term.
An early goal against the odds was the Dogs’ salvation.
Hill End released long bombs to its forward line and the wind did the rest as the Hillmen added 4.5 (29).
A touch more accuracy may have made a difference for Hill End as Newborough hung on by 14-points.
Top goalkickers were Alan Chandler and Adam Kennedy for Newborough and Matt Moseley for Hill End with three each.
Yinnar v Yarragon
YINNAR built handsomely on its percentage to remain safe in third position with a thumping win over Yarragon.
The Magpies dominated in all positions giving Yarragon little to celebrate. Several Yinner regulars were back but it made no difference as Yinnar picked up speed as the match progressed.
Wind played a big part as the Magpies made full use of the conditions, particularly in the final term when they added a record 14.7 (91) to bulldoze the hapless Panthers.
Josh Swift was the main contributor with five goals as 12 players shared in 28 majors.
Liam Visser and Brendan Chapman were voted best but it was a great team effort to record a 152-point win. For Yarragon Abe Lawrence, Carson Strobel and Joel Kilday were valiant.
Trafalgar v Morwell East
TRAFALGAR failed to build substantially on its percentage against Morwell East as a persistent Hawks outfit proved difficult to subdue.
While the scoreboard indicated a big 10 goal win to the Bloods the game looked much closed on the field.
The East pushed for most of the game but lacked a forward line capable of causing an upset.
By half-time Trafalgar had kicked away to an almost 10 goal lead in the cold. Trafalgar emerged 68-point winners after a subdued final term.
