FOOTBALL
GIPPSLAND LEAGUE
By Sam Darroch
A ROUND chock full of upsets reignited finals prospects for the sides occupying the bottom half of the Gippsland League ladder.
While Sale and Morwell were surprise winners over Traralgon and Warragul respectively, Drouin made perhaps the biggest waves when it upstaged second-placed Maffra to move within two points of the top five.
Fresh from the encouraging display Drouin will lock horns with a side on similar footing this weekend in round 14.
The Hawks will face Moe, which sits one spot and two points below in seventh, in a match which will keep one side’s finals hopes alive and potentially cripple the other’s.
The Lions crushed Drouin by 63 points in their first meeting this season, but given eight regular Hawks starters were missing from that line-up Saturday is shaping as a tougher prospect for James Blaser’s men.
Coming off a heartbreaking two-point loss to Wonthaggi, which cost Moe a spot in the top five, the Lions will be hard at it, but Drouin coach Bob McCallum is prepared for the test and full of confidence after knocking off the Eagles.
“We’d been hoping to put together a four-quarter performance for a while now against one of those top three sides; we’ve won a few games now and had a pretty good last month but they’ve been teams either below us or just in the five and we hadn’t had a great showing against those top three,” McCallum said.
“The first time we played Maffra down there we put in a good half and fell away from there, so it was really about sticking to our structures and our game plan for four quarters and that’s what we can produce.
“It was just great for the boys going forward to get that win.”
Drouin’s loss to Moe earlier in the fixture acted as a catalyst for the Hawks’ improvement.
Since that defeat, which left them languishing with one win from five rounds, they have put four wins and a draw on the board and surged into finals calculations.
McCallum said that result in particular had been a turning point for the side.
“We played them in the first half of the year and it was one of our poorer games but it was really a turning point for us; we identified a few basic things we thought we weren’t doing well and since that Moe game we’ve sort of turned ourselves around,” he said.
“I think it will be a different game to last time and obviously a home ground advantage is going to suit us to hopefully come home with a win.”
Broderick Fraser returns from a two week suspension for the clash as Drouin nears full strength for the encounter.
Moe, on the other hand, will be smarting after letting a three-quarter-time lead slide against the Power on home turf.
The Lions will be hungry for a win to get back on track with its window of opportunity fast closing.
In other round 14 matches Traralgon travels to Bairnsdale, Warragul hosts Wonthaggi in the battle of fifth versus fourth, Maffra plays Morwell and Sale faces up to Leongatha.
with Paul Carter
Traralgon v Bairnsdale
(1914-34 (GFL), 1960-98, 2011 – 16)
All matches: Played 158 Traralgon 115, Bairnsdale 41, drawn 2
At Traralgon: Played 72 Traralgon 63, Bairnsdale 8, drawn 1
Last 10 matches: Traralgon 8, Bairnsdale 1, drawn 1
Last win at Traralgon: Traralgon 2015, Bairnsdale 1983
Last 5 years at Traralgon: Traralgon 5, Bairnsdale 0
Last three matches
2015 (T) Traralgon 18.15 (123) d Bairnsdale 11.9 (75)
2015 (B) Traralgon 18.17 (125) d Bairnsdale 3.3 (21)
2016 (B) Traralgon 18.17 (125) d Bairnsdale 9.12 (66)
Present winning sequence: Traralgon 8
Highest scores: Traralgon 34.17 (221) (1998), Bairnsdale 20.19 (139) (1981)
Lowest scores: Traralgon 1.12 (18) (1919), Bairnsdale 0.2 (2) (1998)
Greatest winning margin: Traralgon 219 (1998), Bairnsdale 85 (1928)
Most goals (match): Traralgon 10 K.Templeton (1973), P.McCulloch (1993): Bairnsdale 8 S.McLaren (1988), J.Gibbs (2011)
Warragul v Wonthaggi
(1995 – 1999, 2010 – 2016)
All matches: Played 23 Warragul 11, Wonthaggi 12
At Warragul: Played 11 Warragul 6, Wonthaggi 5
Last 10 matches: Warragul 3, Wonthaggi 7
Last win at Warragul: Warragul 2012, Wonthaggi 2015
Last 5 years at Warragul: Warragul 1, Wonthaggi 4
Last three matches
2015 (Wo) Wonthaggi 9.13 (67) d Warragul 2.5 (17)
2015 (Wa) Wonthaggi 18.17 (125) d Warragul 6.9 (45)
2016 (Wo) Warragul 9.15 (69) d Wonthaggi 8.7 (55)
Present winning sequence: Warragul 1
Highest scores: Warragul 25.14 (164) (1997), Wonthaggi 27.18 (180) (2014)
Lowest scores: Warragul 2.1 (13) (2014), Wonthaggi 5.8 (38) (1995)
Greatest winning margin: Warragul 91 (1997), Wonthaggi 167 (2014)
Most goals (match): Warragul 7 M.Cumming (1997): Wonthaggi 7 R.Tack (1999)
Maffra v Morwell
(1960 – 2016)
All matches: Played 122 Maffra 52, Morwell 70
At Maffra: Played 59 Maffra 28, Morwell 31
Last 10 matches: Maffra 3, Morwell 7
Last win at Maffra: Maffra 2012, Morwell 2015
Last 5 years at Maffra: Maffra 2, Morwell 3
Last three matches
2015 (Ma) Morwell 13.7 (85) d Maffra 12.12 (84)
2015 (Mw) Maffra 16.9 (105) d Morwell 6.7 (43)
2016 (Mw) Maffra 19.10 (124) d Morwell 11.8 (74)
Present winning sequence: Maffra 2
Highest scores: Maffra 33.27 (225) (2003), Morwell 32.24 (216) (1983)
Lowest scores: Maffra 1.2 (8) (1960), Morwell 3.2 (20) (2004)
Greatest winning margin: Maffra 198 (2003), Morwell 163 (1982)
Most goals (match): Maffra 9 A.Gieschen (2001), A.Burgiel (2003): Morwell 10 J.Featherston (1984)
Sale v Leongatha
(1969 – 2016)
All matches: Played 109 Sale 55, Leongatha 52, drawn 2
At Sale: Played 49 Sale 25, Leongatha 22, drawn 2
Last 10 matches: Sale 7, Leongatha 3
Last win at Sale: Sale 2015, Leongatha 2011
Last 5 years at Sale: Sale 4, Leongatha 1
Last three matches
2015 (S) Sale 14.9 (93) d Leongatha 13.12 (90)
2015 (L) Leongatha 20.9 (129) d Sale 8.5 (53)
2016 (L) Leongatha 24.17 (161) d Sale 6.4 (40)
Present winning sequence: Leongatha 2
Greatest winning margin: Sale 185 (2006), Leongatha 121 (2016)
Most goals (match): Sale 11 C.Aurisch (2006): Leongatha 9 G.Thorson (1988)
Drouin v Moe
(CGFL 1909-11, 19-30, 33-40, LVFL 1960-64, 2005-16)
All matches: Played 71 Drouin 25, Moe 44, drawn 2
At Drouin: Played 34 Drouin 16, Moe 17, drawn 1
Last 10 matches: Drouin 5, Moe 4, drawn 1
Last win at Drouin: Drouin 2015, Moe 2014
Last 5 years at Drouin: Drouin 4, Moe 1
Last three matches
2015 (D) Drouin 14.19 (103) d Drouin 10.8 (68)
2015 (M) Drouin 14.15 (99) d Moe 8.8 (56)
2016 (M) Moe 17.23 (125) d Drouin 9.8 (62)
Present winning sequence: Moe 1
Highest scores: Drouin 27.13 (175) (2010), Moe 22.19 (151) (1929)
Lowest scores: Drouin 0.5 (5) (1920), Moe 1.3 (9) (1922)
Greatest winning margin: Drouin 135 (2010), Moe 114 (2005)
Most goals (match): Drouin 11 C.Dunne (2011): Moe 11 F.Robinson (1929)
