FOOTBALL

MID GIPPSLAND

By MITCH BERECHREE

 

MID GIPPSLAND finals commenced at the weekend.

Foster and Yinnar have earnt the right to a week off for finishing first and second on the Mid Gippsland senior football ladder.

The Tigers and Magpies will play in a fortnight. The winner goes straight into the grand final.

While the big guns lay in wait, Fish Creek will face Meeniyan Dumbalk United following the elimination final results at the weekend.

The loser of the Foster/Yinnar game will play the winner of the sudden death semi in the preliminary final.

All games will be covered by Gippsland FM 104.7 for those who cannot get along to Mirboo North or Hill End this weekend.

 

Elimination Final

MDU 11.14 (80) def Thorpdale 10.13 (73)

Meeniyan Dumbalk United kept its season alive with a terrific come-from-behind win over an injury-depleted Thorpdale at Willow Grove on Sunday afternoon.

In front of an enthusiastic crowd who soaked up the perfect footy conditions, MDU overcame a 12-point three quarter time deficit to run out winners 11.14 (80) to 10.13 (73).

The two sides entered into this clash with a win apiece against each other across the course of the season, in what was a repeat of last year’s second elimination final.

There was a raft of individual matchups to focus on at each end of the ground and just as many in the middle as the two sides made their way to their positions.

In the MDU front half, Nick Nagel had Thorpdale’s Cougar Millson for company, while Pat Kerr had Jarrah Burgess sidle up behind him.

In the middle it appeared that Aaron Harris was tagging MDU’s prime mover Jaymie Youle, while Anthony Rosato and Shaye Walsh ran head-to-head working off the handy work of Gavan Low and Josh Schelling who were to go head-to-head virtually all day in an enthralling ruck battle.

In the Thorpy front half, Jesse Patullo had Javis Lacy to contend, with while Matthew Powell had Kieran Bohn keeping an eye on him.

Early doors it was all Thorpdale with the Blues registering the first four scoring shots. After a couple of rudimental misses, it was Jesse Patullo who snapped the first with a ripper across his body from 40 metres out. And when Matt Powell, the man they call Moose, channelled his inner Peter Wilson, think Dennis Commetti and his famous “cork in the ocean” call Thorpy were travelling nicely.

Enter the game’s biggest influence Trent McRae. The MDU forward put on a four-quarter clinic on Sunday and started his big day out with a ripping contested mark and goal to get MDU ticking over. After a few false starts, Nick Nagel slotted the first of his two for the day and as the first quarter came to a close, it was MDU who held a three-point lead.

Kieran Bohn, Tim Harris and Tom Kerr were in everything for MDU, while for Thorpy, Mitch Gorman and Shannon Pickering stood out.

While Rhett Kelly, the MDU coach urged his players on, Thorpy’s main concern at quarter time was being down a key defender, with Jacob Patullo assisted from the field and taken to hospital with a suspected broken ankle.

Being down a player didn’t seem to hinder the ‘Dales early though, as they went on a four goal to nil run. It was Powell again showing off his athleticism to get things under way with a terrific snap around the corner from a Pickering pass.

Rosato then won a free and kicked truly before turning provider and setting up Harris for Thorpy’s third of the quarter. And when Rosato found Jerimah Jones, surely one of the best named footballers in the competition, who goaled, Thorpy led by 22 points and were perhaps starting to think ahead to a clash with Fish Creek next week.

Alas, Powell went down with a game-ending ankle injury himself, leaving Thorpy with just one rotation for the second half, and when he of the helmet – Brayden Selling – kicked a goal on the cusp of the long break, MDU had some momentum going to the change and trailed by a manageable 15 points.

After just nine goals were kicked in the first half, the game started to open up with eight goals booted in the third term alone. Shaun Fella kicked things off for Thorpy, but his opening goal was offset by a Nagel major for MDU. Nagel however went from hero to villain in an instant, causing an easy shot on goal for McRae to become a Thorpy free kick.

The subsequent forward foray saw Trav Pattern kick an amazing set shot from the boundary to give Thorpy a more than handy lead.

Naughty Nick then became Saint Nick when he kicked truly to right his earlier wrong. When this was followed up by a piece of excellent team play that saw Schelling find Tom Kerr who hit up McRae, who again kicked truly, the margin was a more than manageable 12 points at the last break.

Would the margin be enough for Thorpy to hang on, or would the lack of rotations and some late third quarter momentum see MDU progress?

With Nagel moved further up the park and getting his hands on the ball at will, McRae went to work closer to goal. And it was this combination that set up the first of MDU’s five last quarter goals.

McRae then went bang, bang to round out his day with five, before handing the keys to the front half over to Shay Wilson.

The little fella in the flash boots helped himself to two majors, and in the space of 15 minutes, MDU had gone from behind to better than three goal leaders with only minutes to play.

To Thorpy’s credit, they dug in and booted the last two through Jones and 200 gamer Heath Ferguson to get the margin back to seven points when the siren rang out to end not only the game but the ‘Dales season.

For the winners, McRae was outstanding. Youle was in everything as was Zac Carroll, while Bohn and Kerr acquitted themselves well in the back half.

For Thorpy, Gorman toiled hard all day as did Rosato. Pickering and Pattern provided plenty, as did Harris who I thought was their best for the day.

For the winners, it is their second game against Fish Creek in a fortnight this Sunday (August 30) at Newborough.

 

Elimination Final

Fish Creek 13.10 (88) def Tarwin 7.8 (50)

AFTER overcoming a slow start and a spirited Tarwin last quarter comeback, Fish Creek got the win it needed to keep its Mid Gippsland season alive.

The Kangaroos won 13.10 (88) to 7.8 (50) at Mirboo North.

Coming into the cutthroat final on the back of a surprise loss to MDU in Round 18, Fish Creek made seven changes to its line-up.

Tarwin made just two changes from its winning Round 18 side, one of which was reversed on match day when Dylan Garnham pulled out.

While the ladder had three positions and four wins between the sides across the course of the season, only seven points separated the two at the first break. The first quarter was a great example of the skill and quality of both sides with what must have been close to a world record number of kicks going out of bounds on the full, including three shots on goal in a row by Fish Creek.

After a raft of failed attempts on goal, it was Tarwin’s Dal pozzo who eventually broke through for the game’s first major some 16 minutes in after he converted a strong one-on-one mark from around 25 metres out.

This was countered by the first of six to Fishy’s Charlie Wilson who snapped truly from 50. When Wilson went back-to-back after an excellent mark and goal, Fish Creek hit the quarter time break with a seven-point lead.

Blaine Coates was getting his hands on everything, and if it was not for some inaccurate kicking, the Kanagas may well have had a much greater lead at the long break.

In fact, it took Jack Hayes drifting forward from his role at centre half back to right the wrongs of the Fishy forwards and slot the second of the term for Fish Creek, and it looked like the flood gates might have opened. Indeed, when Wilson kicked truly again and the lead was out to 33 points, it looked for all money as though the contest was over.

But Tarwin refused to give up, and with Ben Chalmers and Louis Armstrong coming to the fore, the Sharks rallied, booting the last two of the half to get back in touch at the long break. Both came off the boot of Toby Mahoney and both were absolute rippers. With the margin now back to a manageable 19 points, it was a question of whether Tarwin could negate Fishy kicking with the wind in the third term to give themselves a sniff of some last quarter heroics.

Alas, Fishy snagged three for the term, with Luke Williams, Jacko Wiedemann and, of course, Wilson all kicking truly. Wiedemann’s in particular was a beauty kicking up the hill from a tight angle to slot his.

So, while Tarwin was coming home with the wind the margin of 38 points was surly too much and the league’s third-place team would see its way to week two, while Tarwin would be consigned to mothballs, right? Well yes, but not without a genuine scare before the final siren.

Even allowing for Fishy to kick the first major of the last term via, well you know who (Wilson), the Sharks dug in. Their ruckman, Ricky O’Loughlin, who had toiled manfully with Rhett Wiedemann in the ruck all day, channelled his inner Polly Farmer in the last and won clearance after clearance for his side. All the front half territory eventually paid off, and with Tarwin doing everything they could to get Jack

Hayes either deep or up to a wing, the cracks in the Fishy defence opened and Tarwin got back within a neat 20 points when they kicked four in five minutes.

Harley, who had been well held, slotted three of them, and Will Hetherington the other, and all of a sudden, the foregone conclusion from three quarter time was anything but.

However, as he had done all day, Charlie Wilson popped up and capitalised on some good work from Jai Stefani to stem the tide, and when Jacko Wiedemann slotted his third for the day as the final hooter sounded, it was Fishy by 38 once again.