YINNAR will take confidence from a much-needed win last round into this weekend’s round five Mid Gippsland football clash with Mirboo North.
Magpies coach Sam McCulloch said it was sticking to the game plan and moving the ball quickly that got them on top of Boolarra in the last quarter, and he hoped Yinnar continued the trend on Saturday.
“It’s going to be a good challenge, Mirboo North at home are always hard to beat, so we’re really looking forward to it,” McCulloch said.
Both sides had close matches last weekend and spectators should be in for another exciting match.
Yarragon v Hill End
HILL End now has a winning streak on its hands after beating Yallourn/Yallourn North last week.
A win this round would leave the Hillmen with three wins and two losses, which Hill End coach Phil Town said would put his side in a better position to push for a finals spot.
“Hopefully we are switched on and ready to go, because we’ve got to play our best footy over there and look for the finals now,” Town said.
He said the game was also important because the side had set a goal to win away games this year after a poor record in 2012.
Meanwhile, after a slow start led to a loss last week, Yarragon is still in ninth position and; with a tough run ahead, will be desperate to pinch this one to keep from settling there.
Boolarra v Morwell East
AFTER a bitter loss last week in which it let the game slip away, Boolarra is keen to get back on the winners list when it hosts Morwell East.
Boolarra has proven this season it is competitive and will be in the race for finals.
Morwell East coach Paul Henry said this week was the beginning of a tough run for the Hawks and it was important for them to win a few of the upcoming games.
“Realistically now we are going to play all the best sides in the comp, so it’s going to be a hard few weeks ahead,” Henry said.
“One thing we didn’t do last year was we didn’t beat anyone in the top half, we beat Yinnar in the first round, but other than that we didn’t beat a top side so we need to do it this year.”
YYN v Newborough
Yallourn/Yallourn North will hope to use its home ground to its advantage in this clash against rivals Newborough
Bombers coach Rick Hearn said he expected a good match against the Bulldogs.
“Our record against them is usually tough games; it doesn’t seem to matter what position on the ladder each team is, it’s usually a tough game,” Hearn said.
“Hopefully the boys will lift for the big rivalry game because we play for the EnergyAustralia Cup.”
Bulldogs coach Allan Chandler said his side needs to play four quarters of football and be switched on come game time.
“Last year they nearly pinched the points off us up there so we’ve got to be ready to go,” Chandler said.
Thorpdale v Trafalgar
Trafalgar coach Chris Kyriacou said he expected Thorpdale to come out hard after suffering two heavy losses and he was looking forward to their clash this weekend.
“Generally they’re hard to beat up there. We haven’t played too well up there the last couple of years, so it’ll be good to go up there and see a much improved Thorpdale,” Kyriacou said.
He said after a string of victories he hoped the side was “back on track” and could keep up their winning ways. Thorpdale’s loss to Hill End acted as a wake-up call to the side, which put in a much better effort against Newborough last week. The Blues still need to ensure their skills are consistently good and avoid the turnovers that hurt them in the last two rounds.
