FOOTBALL
MID GIPPSLAND
By ROB POPPLESTONE
IT really has come to the ‘pointy’ end of the home-and-away season in Mid Gippsland football.
Very quickly, 13 teams will become six, and how that half-a-dozen might look is still to be determined.
Thorpdale v Toora – Abandoned
THERE had been little margin for error at Thorpdale as finals approached.
The Blues, a game and percentage behind sixth-placed MDU, had to keep winning, hope for the Demons to drop a game and still cross their fingers to steal a spot in the post-regular season.
Finals, and possibly playing, are now the furthest thing from their mind, after Thorpdale’s match against Toora was abandoned before halftime at the weekend due to a significant injury to Thorpdale playing-coach Jason Winderlich.
At the time of the injury, the score was Toora 3.4 (22) to Thorpdale 2.3 (15) at Thorpdale.
The thoughts of all within the league are with Winderlich.
Toora coach Jack Weston noted that “life is bigger than football” in moments like this.
“My thoughts are with Jason, his family, and the wider Thorpdale Football Netball Club. As a club we all hope for a positive outcome and are sending all our love his way,” he said.
The abandonment of the match prior to half time meant the premiership points were shared, the result of which also meant the Blues would fall short of finals for season 2024.
Morwell East 10.9 (69) def by Yinnar 10.13 (73)
IN what loomed as possibly a season defining clash, these two top of the table sides met with a guaranteed top three finish on offer for the victor.
The ladder-leading Hawks had the opportunity to apply pressure to the visiting Magpies, and in doing so gain a psychological advantage ahead of a potential finals meeting.
Sometimes things don’t go to plan, as Yinnar won a 10.13 (73) to 10.9 (69) thriller at Ronald Reserve.
Magpies coach Sam McCulloch illustrated the back-and-forth affair.
“We started well in the first quarter but didn’t fully capitalise on our shots on goal (and) Morwell East worked back into it in the second and we went (into halftime) with a small lead,” he said.
“The boys really lifted in the third quarter and put a handy buffer on the scoreboard.”
Morwell East coach Paul Henry called it a finals-like atmosphere.
“We wanted to have the finals feel this week in the big home game against Yinnar,” he said.
“We had Kevin Sheedy speak to the players in the change rooms pregame (and it was a) great experience for all.
“It was a finals feeling, Yinnar got the chocolates this time.”
They say you only lose if you don’t learn, and the Hawks will only need to learn a little if they get another chance to flip the script against the Magpies, who seem to find a way to win tight games more often than not.
Yinnar sit second on the ladder in a perfect position to launch another assault on the competition as they did two seasons ago.
Fish Creek 15.11 (101) def Boolarra 5.6 (36)
FISH Creek, as premiership favourites, continue to quietly go about their business, doing what needs to be done to be in the ideal position from which to launch a defence of last season’s Grand Final success.
The Kangaroos have been good, but their best is no doubt yet to be shown as they accounted for Boolarra in workmanlike fashion at the weekend, 15.11 (101) to 5.6 (36).
Fish Creek coach Jarrad Walker noted that it took his men a few quarters to get going at Terrill Park.
“Our defence really improved in the second half which was good,” he said.
“Pleased with the response after halftime and good to get some momentum going for the end of the year.”
For Fish Creek, it was just more of the same, doing what they needed to do, responding according to the opposition.
The Kangaroo’s effort was matched by Boolarra for the most part, according to Demons coach Brendan Mason.
“Tough day yesterday, played some good footy and challenged them for three quarters,” he said.
“But in the end they showed why they are the best team in the competition and ran over the top.”
Mirboo North 8.6 (54) def Hill End 3.8 (26)
WHILE more than half the competition are surging towards finals, there are clubs that saw Round 16 as their most important of the year.
Mirboo North and Hill End have had little to celebrate during the course of 2024, but the weekend provided a rare opportunity for one club to celebrate a season of hard work.
The Tigers celebrated an 8.6 (54) to 3.8 (26) victory over the Rovers at home.
Mirboo North coach Damien Turner was pleased by his team performance, securing their third win for the year.
“As expected, Hill End were looking to bounce back and they cracked in all day,” he said.
“Dry, fast conditions in the first half, then it poured rain at halftime and became a bit of a different game.
“Really happy with the way we adjusted to the conditions, played four quarters of footy and moved the ball.”
Responding to the Rovers’ intensity and slowly controlling the game gives Mirboo North further confidence of their long-term goal to claw their way back up the ladder in the years ahead.
Hill End coach Ambu Uliando said his team couldn’t sustain their early success.
“We started off the first quarter firing on all cylinders,” he said.
“(We) couldn’t maintain that intensity for the rest of the game.
“Credit to Mirboo North, they came up big when it mattered.”
Hill End face MDU and Tarwin in the last two rounds of the home-and-away season, and would be more than satisfied to grab just one more victory to close off what has been a tough year.
Tarwin 8.11 (59) def Stony Creek 7.14 (56)
THESE two teams had shown patches of form that would warrant them being a part of the upcoming finals series, however for various reasons that opportunity had slipped through their fingers.
Tarwin however found some solace after securing a nail-biting 8.11 (59) to 7.14 (56) win against Stony Creek at home.
It was the Sharks who deservingly finished on the right side of what has been just one of many very close finishes during the course of the season.
Their opponents, well, it was yet another that fell the wrong way, one of too many that could have changed their fortunes in the right circumstances.
NEWBOROUGH, Foster and MDU had the bye.
