FOOTBALL

NORTH GIPPSLAND

By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

 

HUNTING their opportunities, the Doggies are still alive.

After a slow start to the year, Sale City are right back in the mix for back-to-back finals appearances after victory over Yallourn Yallourn North, 15.14 (104) to 14.5 (89) at Stephenson Park.

Bulldogs playing-coach Jacob Schuback connected with Kaden Mcculloch for the first strike of the day, but the Jets worked against a pressing Sale City to respond quickly off the hands of YYN playing-coach Dean MacDonald in his 150th game for the club.

Play continued to be hot between the two sides throughout the opening quarter, with the Jets leading by a point (20-19), only for the Bulldogs to pounce.

Sale City ended the first term with the final three goals, including two from Flynn Read, to see the home side ahead by 19 points at quarter time.

As play returned, it picked up exactly where it left off, with Kane Martin finding Mcculloch for his third goal early in the piece, extending the Bulldogs lead to 25 points.

Just before Sale City added yet another, YYN was forced to flip the magnets around after losing key defender Darcy Shellcot with a lower leg injury.

The Bulldogs made the most of it, catching the Jets on their toes, with three of the four goals to halftime, including a ridiculous fling from Joel Gray that was marked perfectly through the big sticks. Sale City moved into the main break holding a 58-27 lead.

With results to play out on the day, Sale City knew they were in prime position to sit in the best spot on the ladder all season, and returned to the ground in full force.

The Jets had barely anytime to touch the ball in the first five minutes of the second half, with the Bulldogs quickly shooting out three goals to extend the margin beyond 50 points in a flash.

The desire from Sale City was perhaps most evident when Jaxsyn Whitehill was found in a centre ground contest, striding into their forward line with one bounce in between, connecting with Cameron Johnson before receiving the ball back and sending it through for a clear goal of the day.

YYN finally answered with back-to-back majors from MacDonald and Dylan Bath to bring the margin back to a six goals.

While the latter stages of the third quarter evened and mellowed out, Sale City still ceased when the tide looked to be turning back, with two of the final three goals of the term to see the Jets facing a 47-point deficit into the last turn.

What supported Sale City’s success throughout the first three quarters was limiting YYN’s chances going forward, setting up smartly behind the ball with free men taking up space.

The Jets took their time and precariously worked the ball closer to home on their first drive, and Dylan Keyhoe shot YYN some hope with a crazy goal that graced his boot despite his only intention being to mark the ball on the goal line.

Nevertheless, that was all that was needed to light the spark, as the Jets began to show signs of life for the first time all day with the following four goals, including a bomb from Lachlan Rees to cut the margin back to 19 points.

Despite the added pressure that Sale City hadn’t really seen at all during the day, the Bulldogs connected nicely for a few short chips, before Schuback sent through the sealer.

While the Jets added the final two goals, time wasn’t on their side, as YYN worsened their opportunities at a double chance in the finals by catching up with Heyfield.

Sale City climbed to sixth on the ladder, only out of the top five on percentage, with all the belief in their corner.

Ruckman Daine McGuiness was awarded best-on-ground for the Bulldogs, followed by Schuback, Mcculloch, Whitehill, Martin and Declan Carstairs.

Jai Massese, Lachlan Little, Rees, Campbell MacInnes, Tyler Brown and Rohan Reid made out YYN’s best.