FOOTBALL
NORTH GIPPSLAND
BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
Qualifying Final
Heyfield 8.9 (57) def Woodside 7.13 (55)
WOODSIDE are on the ropes after a narrow two point loss to Heyfield in the North Gippsland Football-Netball League Qualifying Final last Saturday.
At Cowwarr Recreational Reserve, the Kangaroos moved one win shy of a grand final appearance, winning 8.9 (57) to 7.13 (55).
The pace of each side was seen early, as the two teams that sit in the passenger seat for the premiership, moved the ball frenetically, which didn’t quite equal polished skill to begin with.
Woodside’s Michael O’Sullivan had his first chance fall short from a set shot, as the opening stages of the match continued to be played in close quarters, especially in the middle of the ground.
The Wildcats disallowed Heyfield much opportunity in its attacking end, and even after the Kangaroos gained its first inside 50, Woodside was set up perfectly to stop any score with three players behind the ball.
Despite this, Heyfield was still first to hit the scoreboard, with returning forward Leigh Brown raising his hand after a ball flew over the back of the contest to trickle across the goal line, however the umpire signalled a touched behind.
With the ball back down the other end, Brody Stainer was found inside 50 for Woodside, only for him to unselfishly pass off, but the ball was punched by a Heyfield defender to clear the pressure.
Straight away, the Kangaroos rebounded, finding loose players, before Tyson Birss launched an in-play shot from 50 metres for the first goal of the match.
While much of the first 10 minutes of the finals series had been in favour of its opponent, Heyfield began to find its rhythm and create forward pressure.
Any chance Woodside had, it still wasn’t enough to even equal one point, having to exert a lot of energy just to break through the wind working against them.
As such, possession was locked in Heyfield forward half of the ground for an extended period, ultimately seeing Kyle Graham snap from a tough angle for the second major of the day.
With the goals switching after the first break, the wind advantage for anyone going at the far end of the ground was evident, as O’Sullivan quickly added Woodside’s first goal to begin the second quarter.
Heyfield, in reverse circumstances to the previous term, found it incredibly difficult to create any movement, with the ball virtually stuck in the Wildcats’ forward half of the ground.
Luke Johnson picked off an average Kangaroos exiting kick to slam home Woodside’s second goal and hit the front.
The Wildcats continued its dominance through the first 10-plus minutes of the second quarter, with patience and grit, but whiffed on multiple opportunities in front of goal.
Heyfield finally had some chances to score, with Finn Stephenson requiring every bit of himself to send home from beyond 50 metres through the wind.
An impressive goal was matched soon after through Woodside playing-coach Hudson Holmes, who broke out of stoppage heading straight for the boundary, and snapped off his left foot on the finest of angles.
The Kangaroos answered immediately though Graham again, off the back of a free kick.
Halftime arrived with Heyfield holding a minor lead, 4.4 (28) to 3.6 (24).
Returning from the main break, scores continued to be hard to come by, with Kangaroos playing-coach Daniel Bedggood eventually sending through the first of the second half to extend Heyfield out to 11 points.
Trouble mounted further for Woodside, with Birss adding another goal for Heyfield to create a 19-point buffer.
The Kangaroos could have made it worse after rebounding from the backline to find Birss free running inside 50, but his shot went awry.
At the other end, Woodside was in survival mode, attempting to maintain possession where it could, but unable to find anyone in its forward line to create a contest in its advantage.
The third quarter ended with the Wildcats unable to garner any score during the period, but still trailed by only 20 points.
Despite now holding the wind advantage, Heyfield still mounted the first score of the final quarter, but Matt Dyke quickly ceased for Woodside to bring the margin back to 14 points.
After a few missed shots, including from himself, Holmes stood tall with a monster shot from past 50 metres on the run to suddenly bring the game back to a single goal.
The Kangaroos were the ones now scrambling, fighting to get away from its opponents, but Woodside continued to press and tallied more scoring shots, even minorly.
Four attempts sailed poorly, which kept the window open for Heyfield to move a goal clear.
Mitch Bennett was found on the run along the wing, taking a few bounces before centering to Stephenson, who was able to take the ball and turn immediately, putting through what would be the sealer.
The Kangaroos, now into stoppage time, fought desperately to stop any chances for Woodside, which worked for a time.
A comedy of errors took place as the Wildcats anxiously sought a response, with O’Sullivan pushing out his opponent to take a mark metres away from goal, only to attempt a snap immediately and miss the ball entirely.
Teammate Ryan Foat then tried to soccer it through, subsequently failing, with a Heyfield player diving on top, but O’Sullivan was there again to tap it through and move the margin to two points.
Unfortunately for Woodside, the siren blew just as the goal umpire signalled a major score.
The Kangaroos held on and now matchup with Cowwarr in the second semi-final at Yarram Recreation Reserve this Saturday (August 29).
Heyfield had Bennett, Bedggood, Jack Christian, Tyler Anderson, Birss (two goals) and Brayden Woodland as its standouts.
Rowan Missen, Robert Michaelides, Luke Johnson, Jeremy Morgan, Tom King and Adam Janssen were best for Woodside – who play Yallourn Yallourn North this Sunday (August 30) at Tyers Recreational Reserve.
Elimination Final
YYN 17.12 (114) def Rosedale 7.12 (54)
YALLOURN Yallourn North extended its North Gippsland season with a massive Elimination Final win over Rosedale.
Arriving at Fred King Oval, it was clear who was and who wasn’t in form heading into the do-or-die match.
The Jets were winners of six of its last seven games, while the Blues had stumbled to the last spot in the top five, saluting in just three of its previous seven.
As such, YYN let go of the handbrake and soared to a 17.12 (114) to 7.12 (54) victory to move on an extra week.
The form of each side was evident from the start, with the Jets ceasing on all of its opportunities across the ground – whether it be on the ball, down back or into its forwards.
In contrast to the previous days’ qualifying final at Cowwarr, YYN and Rosedale couldn’t have asked for a better day, with clear skies and little wind affecting the skill and determination on display.
Role-playing defenders let themselves be known early, while through pace, the Jets stars combined through the middle of the ground.
The sign of the times was seen early, with Brandon Mcauliffe finely finding YYN superstar Dean MacDonald, who was in doubt to even lace up in the hours leading into the final due to a sustained injury the week before against Heyfield.
MacDonald launched it from 50 metres with little effort to give the Jets its first of the day.
YYN followed up with the next three goals – first out of the ruck from big Hayden Mowat, then Todd Dixon, and finally Lucas Fry sending another home from a distance.
Rosedale finally got on the scoreboard majorly, after the ball was sent in high, seeing a plethora of players lose sight of it in the air, only for Will Logan to take a nice mark and put through the Blues’ first.
The first blemish didn’t stop the Jets in its tracks, working feverishly with the ball out from a stoppage along the wing before a nifty handball from lively forward Dylan Keyhoe found Dylan Bath running straight for goal, marking YYN’s fifth and a 23-point lead.
After a surprising miss from Dean MacDonald, the Jets recovered following an intercept to find Tyler Brown directly in front.
Brown had qualified for finals after YYN had applied for an exemption from the league, as Brown had missed a majority of the season due to injury and personal reasons, but he made the most of his first opportunity to push the margin to six goals by quarter time.
After a five minute wait to begin the second term, in which possession swung from each side’s forward 50, YYN skipper Jai Massese was found shooting forward of the ball unmanned and sent through a goal on the run from 30 metres out.
Things just kept seeming to get worse for Rosedale, as rampant pressure couldn’t see the Blues exit the ball outside of its defence, and Dylan Bath ended up sending home a third long bomb from beyond the 50 metre arc.
The Jets continued to work at a pace untested, and Dean MacDonald ended up coming from the side to snap truly for his second of the match and push YYN out to a 48 point lead at the 10-minute mark.
Rosedale began to tempo the football much better, picking off the Jets once in possession, and found a number of chances in front of goal, that initially went awry, before Riley Atlee gave the Blues its first of the quarter.
The trailing side continued to do themselves little favours, missing on another easy opportunity close to home, and after a scuffle broke out in which Rosedale caught the Jets undermanned from a 50 metre penalty, the Blues still couldn’t prove successful.
Still, it was the Blues who scored the next major, with Declan Barnett connecting brilliantly on the run to move the deficit back to 35 points.
Dylan Keyhoe responded for YYN almost immediately to keep the margin 10.6 (66) to 3.7 (25) at the main break.
Despite harbouring a 41-point lead, coach Barrie Burnett still offered a reminder to the Jets that it still needed to go up a level to withstand any push Rosedale might make.
Cody MacDonald subsequently connected on the opening goal of the second half for YYN in the first minute, however Blake Safstrom sent one home from deep soon after for Rosedale.
Blues forward Lachlan Speairs was the recipient of an interesting free kick, which added to back-to-back goals for Rosedale.
Coach-to-coach, Burnett found Dean MacDonald forward after a hard lead, in which the full forward of 1000 career goals got the Jets back on track.
MacDonald went bang again from a similar distance, only straight on, pushing the margin out to 47 points at the 17-minute mark.
After that, it appeared all would be wrapped up for the Jets, however Brodey Rudd and Brandon McConnell responded for Rosedale to move the deficit back to five goals.
While it was put to the group at halftime, the Jets were clear that it needed to put its foot down to trample any chance Rosedale would have.
After an eight minute scramble after the break, Brown broke through a pack for YYN and shot home his second for the game, while also shooting down the Blues’ season.
Ultimately, Rosedale had little left in the tank, with the Jets outscoring the Blues four goals to none in the final term.
The stars of the show for YYN were some of the lesser knowns, in Riley Byrne and Will Jenkinson, while Massese, Cody MacDonald, Bath and Mowat were also great.
Rosedale named Atlee, Barnett, Spencer Fox, Lachlan McDonald, Riley Boyle and Jake Pawley as its best.
The Jets now set up a date with Woodside this Sunday (August 30) at Tyers Recreation Reserve.
The match signalled a return to the finals for YYN, after a rare miss last season. The Jets have missed finals just once since 2015 across Mid Gippsland (2015-2019) and North Gippsland (2022-present).
