Thriller and Sea Eagles remain perched

INVERLOCH Kongwak is through to the preliminary final after narrowly defeating Foster in a replay of the Round 18 match when Foster managed to get over the Sea Eagles by one point.
Foster bows out of season 2016 with its head held high after finishing third on the ladder and making it through to the elimination final.
Inverloch-Kongwak will play Dalyston in the preliminary final at the Bass Recreation Reserve with the winner of that match waited for by Fish Creek which will be refreshed and eager to take charge after the coveted week off.
This was a match of the highest quality with great tactical moves employed by both coaches.
It had been a damp morning and while the ground was wet the surface was still in a good condition.
It was the wind factor which influenced the momentum of the match most significantly.
Play fluctuated in favour of one team and then the next and it was Foster which tore out of the blocks first with a good wind assisted start.
It wasn’t just the wind powering the Tigers, but they are a visibly larger team then the Sea Eagles.
Playing coach Nick Connellan was a penetrating player for Foster.
IK put together a couple of running passages of play just prior to the end of the quarter which saw it bounce back with a couple of goals – Adam Cross’s was in flight as the siren sounded – to finish the quarter only seven points in arrears.
That was an outstanding result given the influences working against it.
Good coaching in the second quarter saw IK making the most of its turn with the wind to drive the ball relentlessly forward.
Players linked up well and set the play up to advantage with the defence stretched up through the midfield and its quick midfielders outrunning the bigger bodied but slower Foster players.
IK kicked 5.1 to Foster’s one goal to set up an 18 point half time advantage.
The third quarter saw Foster isolate Bradley Tagg in the goal square with not another player within the 50 metre arc.
Tagg dominated the first ten minutes of the third quarter and was fed the ball time after time and had four goals on the board.
IK coach Ben Soumilas worked desperately to neutralise him and it was the third opponent he tried, Josh Clottu, who was eventually able to match and negate Tagg’s influence over the game.
IK went into the final quarter five points behind and played Foster at its own game to itself firmly back into the game out to a 14 point lead half way home.
Once again, Soumilas showed his brilliance and employed William Hetherington in the goal square, lone player in the forward arc and fed him the ball to achieve that advantage.
And then, the twist: Foster kicked a flurry of goals and all of a sudden at the 20 minute mark it had come back to within three behinds.
It was the dying moments of the game when IK brought relief to its supporters’finger nails.
Reserves
MDU versus Phillip Island
This was one of those famous victories.
MDU was staring defeat and season’s end in the face while Phillip Island was preparing to leap with joy.
The siren had to be very very close didn’t it?
It was close yes, but before it could sound the almost impossible happened.
When Tim Wightman gained possession of the ball he turned and tore off in the direction of the goal posts and launched the ball from half forward on a slight angle.
Not a difficult distance or angle to kick a goal from but on this occasion the pressure was immense.
There was barely enough time for the ball to be bounced again before the siren sounded and there it was: victory to MDU.
Every victory such as this where a core Alberton player takes on a team departing for the West Gippsland league seems to have added significance.
Headlines like ‘Alberton sees off Island pretender.’
It is a great result for Alberton and a great result for MDU.
MDU will play Inverloch-Kongwak preliminary final at the Bass Recreation Reserve.
The winner will play Dalyston in the grand final.
Thirds
Fish Creek versus Kilcunda Bass
On a cold wet Sunday, Fish Creek’s Thirds took a victory over Kilcunda Bass in the semi final.
Fish Creek started out strongly, moving the ball quickly into its forward line.
It had a couple of opportunities to goal, but was unable to convert.
Kilcunda Bass got the ball into its forward 50 and looked dangerous, but the Fishy back line worked hard and forced the ball out.
From there Fishy took control of the quarter, with Jai Stefani kicking one goal and Brady Mitchell marking strongly and kicking two goals.
Kilcunda Bass rallied and got the ball back into the forward line, but Fishy’s back line was ruthless.
Jasper Macri cleared the ball, which set up a beautiful passage of play resulting in a goal to Billy Rogers, giving Fishy a 26 point lead at quarter time.
The second quarter was all Fish Creek.
Brady Mitchell was again demonstrating his strong marking skills.
He was well supported by Sam Flanders and Jasper Macri who were in everything.
Fish Creek went into the half time break with a 42 point lead.
The third quarter was wet and slippery. Brad Pulham and Toby Redpath worked hard in the packs, but Kilcunda Bass was not giving up and continued to work the ball into the forward line.
Josh Standfield was intercepting well in the back line.
Kilcunda Bass battled on and managed to goal from a 50 metre penalty.
Fishy responded quickly with a snapped goal from Sam Flanders giving Fishy a 44 point lead at three quarter time.
The final quarter was all Fish Creek, with goals to Jai Stefani, Billy Rogers and Jasper Macri.
Fish Creek will play Phillip Island at the Bass Recreation Reserve.

Desperate victory: Tim Wightman lines up in the dying moments of the game and snaps truly to bring about the MDU Reserves’ elimination final victory. Behind him team mate Alex Kuhne lends a shepherding hand.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Aug 24 2016. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry