Mid Gippsland FL Round 12 review

MATCH REVIEW

Boolarra jumped Morwell East in the first 10 minutes of their clash, the Demons playing with fire in their bellies banged through three goals before the East realized they were in a game. Christian Trikolas had two on the board and numerous kicks before Morwell East even got it within their fifty. It looked like the Boolarra of old, marking, kicking and playing hardball. But it only lasted for 10 minutes, Morwell East woke up, Paul Henry was a driving force and big Andrew Brown was too tall for his opposing ruckman as the East went forward, they peppered away over the next 40 minutes to put on eight unanswered goals as Boolarra came to a complete standstill. By half time the game was turned on its head as the East now led out by 32 points. Brayden Darby-Lock a strong rugged player was too quick for his minder and finished with five goals. Midway through the third term as the rain hit neither team were much interested in scoring as a number of turnovers saw the ball go end to end like a training drill. Morwell East had control but wasted chances with fiddly little kicks that often were astray giving Boolarra a chance to fight back. The Dees although down managed a mini-fightback deep in the third with three quick goals, but they were still behind the 8-ball. Morwell East settled down in the last term and with the weather getting worse under darkened skies they managed another seven goals in a last thrust effort to build up percentage. Braden Darby-Lock kicked five and Jay Francis booted four while Chris Trikolas kicked four for Boolarra. East were well served by Tanner Higgins, Paul Henry, Lachlan Day and captain Shaun Barnes. Boolarra had good players in Christian Trikolas, Jaspa Watson, Ken Towt and Marcus Twomey.

MATCH REVIEW

Hill End added another scalp to their impressive list this season with a good win over an undermanned Mirboo North, bringing their run to eight successive wins, the Hillmen keeping the Boo down to only nine points which was close to the all-time record low of 1-1 (7) set way back in 1980. It was Hill End’s first win over Mirboo North since their meeting in 2012 when the Enders won by 2 points. Since then Mirboo North have won the last 15. It was an impressive display by Hill End who kept the usually free scoring Tigers to no goals for three quarters, a mighty feat. At the other end Chase Saunders scored four important goals for Hill End but it was the defence of Hill End which was superb in the conditions. Three young stars in Jack Hudson, Ambu Uliando and Aaron Fawcett were giving plenty of drive for Hill End. Conditions didn’t make it pretty for football but Hill End adapted better to win 10-15 to 1-3. For Mirboo North it was a disappointing day with Damien Turner, Clancy Bennett and Jacob Nash amongst the best.

MATCH REVIEW

YYN proved once again how had they’ll be in the finals after disposing of Yinnar in darkened conditions. After leading by two goals at the first break after goals to Keenan Hughes, Mitchell Luck and Dean McDonald the Bombers were always going to be ahead of Yinnar but the Magpies were determined to make YYN earn every kick. Tackling was fierce from both sides and two players were sent to the sin-bin for 15 minutes for rough-house tactics. By half time the Bombers just had their nose in front by four points. The third term proved decisive as YYN took a proper grip on the game, with Lachlan Little,  Keenan Hughes and Luke Webber all firing, the Bombers were gradually able to build up a 33 point buffer after adding 4-7 to nil. Yinnar didn’t give up the fight in the last term and they whipped up 3-3 and held the Bombers to only 1-3 but the damage had been done as YYN ran out winners 12-11 to 9-6. Keenan Hughes kicked another four to add to his impressive tally and Dean McDonald wasn’t far behind with three. Michael Burge was Yinnar’s top with three with the best being Jacob Carnes, Jarrod Henderson, Michael Burge and Damien Yates.

MATCH REVIEW

The Blues and the Bloods were playing out a tight match early until the game was called off 2 minutes before half time due to a serious injury sustained by Thorpdale player Jake Atkinson. Trainers were reluctant to move him until the ambulance arrived, which took 50 minutes to arrive. Scores at that stage were Trafalgar 5-5 to Thorpdale 3-3. As the game was called off before half time, both teams take away two points each.