MATCH REVIEW – BAIRNSDALE V SALE 

Sale held off a persistent Bairnsdale to win by 12 points at Bairnsdale City Oval.

The third-placed Magpies won 12.13 (85) to 10.13 (73).

The Magpies are now level on points with Maffra and Leongatha on the Gippsland League football ladder, with the Eagles to play during the second weekend of the split round.

Sale welcomed back dominant ruckman Jack Lipman, while utility Jack Mapleson recovered from a slight leg issue last week to take his place for the Magpies.

The windy conditions favoured the team kicking towards the southern end of the ground, but Sale, kicking to the northern end in the first term, gained the advantage early with Jackson Glenane and Jack McLindin kicking goals.

Bairnsdale responded swiftly with four in a row.

Sale had injury concerns, with key forward Brad Dessent limping off the ground following an innocuous incident.

Bairnsdale’s 16-point lead at quarter-time flattered the visitors, who were missing some of their pressure and structure. The margin could have been greater, but the siren stopped a certain Bairnsdale goal.

Captain Kane Martin got the Magpies going with a clever roving goal.

The Redlegs were holding on well, with their pressure and windy conditions forcing the Magpies to turnover the football forward early.

A strong Mitch Dowse clearance and subsequent long entry turned into a left foot dribble goal from John Gooch. Suddenly Sale seemed to have some momentum, but Bairnsdale then went wide from defence, breaking the forward press open, before Ricky Tatnell kicked a goal for the home side.

Jordan Dessent and coach Shane Fyfe steadied the ship for the Magpies.

A Jamie Sweeney intercept mark and short pass found Dessent, who kicked truly, while a sloppy Adam Wallace entry saw Dessent gather, spin out of trouble and kick another goal.

The Magpies kicked two more goals before half-time, giving them an 18-point lead.

Sale controlled play early in the third quarter, but conditions were tough for scoring from general play. It took nearly 14 minutes for the first goal of the term, when a long pass by Jayden Allison went to to Gooch, whose strong contested mark and sound kick saw Sale extend its lead.

Bairnsdale’s willingness to keep playing wide and push the ball forward by foot was worrying Sale.

The Redlegs kicked three goals in a row to bring the margin to six points.

The Magpies weren’t able to exit the Bairnsdale back-half, and were hurting themselves with turnovers and a lack of intensity.

The speed of Brad McKay opened up the game through the midfield, his kick found Gooch, who kicked goal on the three-quarter-time siren, giving Sale a 12-points lead.

As the wind dropped off late in the third quarter, the intensity stepped up. Bairnsdale could sense an upset, generating shots for goal early in the fourth term which went wide — this would hurt the Redlegs in the end.

The ball pinged between both sides’ forward arcs before Jordan Dessent kicked the steadying goal the Magpies needed.

Injuries to Martin, Adam Wallace and Zac Hurley left the Magpies without any fit players in the bench for the final 10 minutes.

Simon Deery kicked a goal a few seconds before the siren for the Redlegs, reducing the deficit to 12 points.

Jordan Dessent was clearly Magpies’ best player, his efforts and three goals had a massive influence on the result. Martin’s workrate through the midfield and ability to get to good areas in kicking two goals had him once again in the best players.

Mitch Dowse proved strong in the contest and at times him and McKay broke the game open with there pace, while Allison’s foot skills were outstanding at times.

Chris Laverty and Fyfe were steadying influences at both ends of the ground.

The split round comes at a good time for the Magpies, who are nursing some sore bodies as they prepare for the finals.

Sam Anstee - Gippsland Times

MATCH REVIEW – LEONGATHA V DROUIN

Drouin pulled off by far the biggest upset of the Gippsland League season downing premiership contender Leongatha on Saturday.
The Hawks thoroughly deserved their nail-biting 9-13 to 10-9 victory at Leongatha, a point readily conceded by the Parrots’ players and supporters.
A turn up looked possible when Drouin took a handy 7-4 to 4-6 lead into the dressing rooms at half time. The Hawks had wrested control with a six goals to two second quarter. But just as important was the first quarter when they stayed within eight points of Leongatha that had first use of a strong breeze, probably worth about four goals, blowing almost directly to the southern end goals. Leongatha didn’t share league ladder leadership for no reason it is a good side that had won 11 games in succession and Drouin knew there’d be a fightback, especially with the wind at the Parrots’ back in the third term. And they did, kicking 4-5 while holding the Hawks‘ scoreless for the quarter to forge 13 points ahead at the last change.
It certainly wasn‘t an insurmountable lead given the wind advantage Drouin would have. The question was whether the Hawks could finish off the job given they had fallen away when in positions to challenge some other top sides over the past month. They answered in the best possible manner although there were no easy concessions from the Parrots. A miss from Michael Laszczyk from 25 metres, then goals from Jordan Kingi and Laszczyk, making amends, had Drouin within one point nine minutes into the quarter. At the 15-minute mark the Hawks had evened the scoreboard before Leongatha got a goal up from a good snap by Josh Hopkins for what was his side’s sole goal for the quarter.
There were a couple of more behinds for Drouin in the desperate battle before Jeb McLeod’s skill won a one-on-one contest in Drouin’s forward pocket, dodged his opponent and snapped a great goal.
Drouin by two points! Three minutes to go!
Then Liam Anderson had his Leo Barry moment taking a great pack mark 25-metres from Leongatha’s goal to thwart the Parrots’ last desperate attempt to snatch victory in the final seconds. The Hawks won because they took on a huge challenge head-on. The players’ commitment to harrass, run, the “one per centers” and their support for each other was terrific all game. Even the third quarter when Leongatha grabbed back the lead Drouin never took a backward step. The midfield group was on top throughout, the back lines in which coach Jordan Kingi has shown great faith stood tall and the forwards rarely allowed Leongatha to mount running passages from defence to set up attacks.
Young defenders Brendan Dower, Anderson, Joe Collins, James McKellar and Clayton Kingi were terrific alongside older heads Wayne Morris and David Miller. Ruckman Bob McCallum and rover Eddie Morris were in everything and the depth of midfield and on-ball players being developed came through with Liam Axford who was a strong contender for best on ground, McLeod, Tom Barr, Laszczyk, Rhys Salter and Jordan Kingi, now hitting good form after an interrupted season, carrying too much weight for the opposition.
Drouin also fought through with more than its share of wounded warriors in the last quarter. McKellar, crunched as he stood his ground under a marking contest in the third quarter, McLeod, not 100 per cent to start, Laszczyk and Nathan Guy (shoulder) all shrugged off their pain to make some really important contributions when it counted.
Josh Seri also did his bit when asked to give McCallum some ruck relief and in his forward role. David Olsen, used forward in the past three weeks rather than his trademark role in defence, was also important especially in helping build the defensive mindset among his co-forwards.
Drouin’s goals were shared around. Salter, Laszczyk and Jordan Kingi each kicked two, Axford, Eddie Morris, McLeod and McCallum one apiece. There was some irony noted by Drouin supporters, when Chris Dunne kicked Leongatha’s fifth goal early in the third quarter, that all of the Parrots goals to that stage had come from former Hawks. Dunne had four of them and Pat McGrath the other.
Leongatha went into the game without a couple of good players, midfielder Tom Marriott and backman Col Sanbrook, but need to be able to cope with things like that if it is to successfully defend the premiership won last year.
Warragul & Drouin Gazette

MATCH REVIEW – MORWELL V WONTHAGGI

Morwell made up for a lacklustre start on home soil against Wonthaggi by kicking four final-term goals to run out a 29-point winner.

The Tigers had just two majors from nine scoring shots at half-time and were three points in the red. A further seven shots for goal in the third returned three majors and the home side had wrestled back the lead to be seven points up at the last break.

Wonthaggi squandered opportunities in the final term, and was goal-less from four attempts, while Morwell’s four goals was enough to see it hang on for win number four of the season, 9.13 (67) to 5.8 (38).

Anthony Rosato led the way for the Tigers across half-forward, while Ryan Hearn kicked three goals.

Wonthaggi is now on the bottom of the ladder follow its loss and Drouin’s win.

by Kate Withers - published by Gippsland Times

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Bairnsdale v Sale and Morwell v Wonthaggi match reviews taken from article published by Gippsland Times. To view original article in full online visit http://www.gippslandtimes.com.au/story/5568578/magpies-hold-off-charging-redlegs/?cs=1576

Leongatha v Drouin match review taken from article published by Warragul & Drouin Gazette. To view original article in full online subscribe to Warragul & Drouin Gazette here http://thegazette.com.au/subscribe/

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