football
MID GIPPSLAND
Boolarra put an end to Hill End’s winning streak, halting the Hillmen 12.14 (86) to 6.8 (44) in round seven of Mid Gippsland football.
Inaccuracy hindered both sides throughout the game, but it hit the Hillmen hard in the first quarter when they only managed four behinds.
Hill End was missing forward Karl Mutke and was unable to capitalise on its forward 50 entries, while the Demons were able to run the ball from their backline to kick a winning score.
Boolarra coach Tony Giardina said the win had boosted his players’ confidence after they received a hiding from Mirboo North last week.
“We changed the team around and we used the ball better coming down from our backline, which makes it easier on your forwards and your midfielders,” Giardina said.
He said Courtney Sherriff played well in his first game back from a knee reconstruction and expected him to improve as he played more games.
Sidelined Hill End coach Phil Town said his side’s endeavour and attack were “brilliant”, but their forward line let them down.
“Boolarra’s pressure that they had around us coming into our forward line was really good,” Town said.
“Their pressure made it hard for us to deliver the ball cleanly into our forward line.”
Mirboo North v Thorpdale
The Mirboo North juggernaut continued on its winning way with Tim Traill’s 10-goal haul spearheading the Tigers’ 167-point demolition of Thorpdale.
Inaccuracy plagued the Blues who, after a goal in the first quarter, could only manage 13 behinds for the remainder of the match.
However, this was not where their problems ended.
The Blues were outmatched in all areas and their failure to man up allowed Mirboo North to kick easy goals.
The 29.12 (186) to 1.13 (19) win boosted Mirboo North’s percentage significantly, making the task of toppling it much harder.
Yallourn Yallourn North v Yinnar
Yinnar was able to stave off resurgences from Yallourn Yallourn North to win 14.10 (94) to 11.6 (72).
After getting out to a 39-point lead in the first quarter the Magpies let their guard down and allowed the Bombers to come right back into the game.
The Bombers booted four goals while keeping Yinnar to one behind in the second quarter to get within 15 points.
The Magpies were not going to relinquish their lead so easily and made the most of their opportunities in the third quarter to widen the margin out to almost six goals.
Despite a strong last quarter effort, the Bombers could not bridge the gap and went down by 22 points.
With this win the Magpies worked their way back into the top five.
Newborough v Morwell East
Newborough asserted itself as a premiership contender by thrashing Morwell East, 23.17 (155) to 2.4 (16).
Returning players Chris Hancock and Luke Webber made an impact for Newborough, kicking three goals each, and helped the side win most of the stoppages.
Newborough coach Allan Chandler said it was nice to have his side play four consistent quarters as a team.
“We started to play some good footy; some very team-oriented footy and that probably shows with the goal kickers,” Chandler said.
“There was quite a few goal kickers.”
Despite the large win Chandler said he did not think his side was playing its best football, but was getting there.
Yarragon v Trafalgar
The Waterloo Cup will remain at Trafalgar after the Bloods recorded a 10-goal win over Yarragon.
Trafalgar led all day, stretching its four-goal quarter-time lead to five by the major break.
Yarragon coach Anthony Pavey said his “well and truly undermanned” side kept up with Trafalgar and made up some ground early in the third quarter.
The Panthers kicked the first two goals in the third and replied when Trafalgar kicked another, but then allowed the Bloods to boot a few more to trail by 37 points going into the final term.
The score blew out further in the final 10 minutes of the match.
Pavey said his side put in a better team effort on the weekend and was starting to play a good brand of football.
“It’s sort of disappointing that we played all the bottom sides early on when we were trying to find our feet and now the harder sides are coming when we’re starting to play a bit better,” he said.
After a round of heavy losses for some the upcoming break will allow tired and injured bodies an extra week to recover and reflect on the season so far.
