Top three spot in the bag

LEONGATHA has guaranteed a top three spot and the double chance after a comfortable win over Moe on Saturday.
The Parrots sit second and just percentage behind Maffra but will have to rely on the Eagles stumbling in one of the last four rounds and probably win all four in order to get top spot and the first week off from finals.
Leongatha finished on top last year, had the week off and ended up winning the flag.
But as Maffra showed with just a one point loss it is more than possible to finish second or third and still have a big chance at flag success.
The top three are confirmed as Maffra, Leongatha and Sale while the fight is on between Moe, Warragul and Traralgon for the last two spots.
The Parrots didn’t have the match all its own way on Saturday with Moe showing plenty of fight in the opening half.
Into the side came Marriott and Hume, with Davidson and Van Rooy out.
Conditions were good for footy with no rain and despite being cold, the Leongatha ground was in good shape.
Leongatha had trouble settling but it was a very tight opening term with three goals apiece; Dunne, Maskell and Stone the three Parrot goal scorers.
At quarter time it was Leongatha 3.4.22 to Moe 3.1.19.
The game became pretty scrappy in the second quarter with Moe probably showing a bit more skill than the Parrots which could only manage five behinds for the term. Usually the end where the goal kicking practice takes place the chook sheds end appeared to be Leongatha’s “hoo-doo” with 14 behinds the yield from the first and last quarters.
Schelling at centre half back was marking well for the Parrots and with Westaway and Sanbrook also defending well, they kept Moe’s goal tally down.
Jacob Wood and James Blazer were doing well in the midfield for the Lions. Marriott was doing likewise for the Parrots.
Moe managed one goal and only trailed at half time by one point; Leongatha 3.9.27 to Moe 4.2.26.
The third quarter they call it the premiership quarter, this is where Leongatha made it their own banging on six unanswered goals to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Jack Ginnane was on fire with three goals, Dunne, McGannon and Stone added one apiece.
Leongatha led at the last change 9.12.66 to Moe 4.4.28. The Lions weren’t about to get back from here.
In the third quarter Leongatha hit the target with 6.3 from nine scoring shots but in the last term it all went awry.
The Parrots had no goals and just nine behinds to show for its efforts in the last term.
Dunne was the main waster for the day with 2.6 followed closely by Maskell with 1.3 and one out on the full.
Moe on the other hand kicked 4.4 and it managed to peg back its loss to 32 points.
Josh Schelling is certainly showing he owns the centre half back spot and he was in stellar form again keeping his opposite number in Sam Cougle to just one goal.
Alongside him was Col Sanbrook who also did a great defensive job against his former side.
Jack Ginnane was busy up forward and had his confidence riding high with good marks and three goals.
Tom Marriott was back in the side and his hard work rate earnt him another solid contest.
Sean Westaway at full back was again steady while Ryan Olden was busy around the ball and up forward.
Leongatha had no injuries to report and are very much settling on a team which will play finals with almost all players fit and available.
The Parrots take a trip across to Warragul this Saturday after the Gulls knocked off Traralgon on Saturday. Leongatha then host Drouin before enjoying a week off. The final two rounds see it tackle Bairnsdale and Sale before finals kick in.
The auction night was well attended on Saturday night with plenty of bids flying.
One group of punters including the senior forward coach and 19 players purchased a 5 percent share in a Darren Weir trained horse, paying $10,500.
The horse may race late this year or early next so there could be a few off to the races in the near future.

In control: Josh Hopkins weaves a path clear of his Moe opponent to advance the ball forward.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Jul 24 2018. 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