Drouin’s Pat McGrath was best on ground for the Hawks in the loss to Leongatha on Sunday. 31574 By Ken Moore
Drouin has bowed out of the premiership race after a 29-point loss to Leongatha in the elimination final played on Sunday.
The Hawks trailed at every change and whittled back a 27-point deficit in the second quarter to only 12 points in the last before the home side finished far stronger. Drouin let itself down with some wayward kicking on goal and while it had 13 more entries inside its attacking 50-metre zone it did not have enough viable goal kicking options.
The first quarter proved to be a real tug of war and against a slight wind the Parrots were pleased to hold a five-point lead at the first change. Leongatha used the wind better to draw 19 points clear at half-time and making the most of their opportunities in the third quarter established a solid 21-point buffer at the last change which was a significant margin in a low scoring game.
Leongatha rover Marc Truscio played an inspired game, gathered possessions all over field and orchestrated many attacks. Centre half back Clint Johnston shored up the Parrot defence with support from Paul LePage and youngsters Sean Westaway and Tom Marriot.
The honours were split evenly in the ruck dual between Justin Sutherland and Bobby McCallum and both offered good drive for their respective sides. Rhett Kelly played a disciplined game in a run with role to shut down Hawk playmaker Malcolm Dowe, half forward Adam Govers initiated quite a few forward forays and veteran Justin Cowell showed he still had a bit to offer popping through three goals.
Drouin’s best player was the hard-running Pat McGrath, who was a catalyst behind many Hawk forward advances and he had able midfield support from the courageous Sam Proctor and Andy Soumilas. In the last line of defence Jay Barr, stood at full back in the absence of the suspended Brent McFarlane and produced a number effective spoils and restricted Parrot forward Dwayne Holt to three goals and emerging youngster Tom Crameri generated plenty of run and carry from behind the centre.
Brad Carmody was the best of the Hawk forwards and he also made some handy contributions in the ruck and across half forward Mick Ablett made his presence felt. Star utility Damian Carmody entered the game with a calf injury and played a very subdued game. Aside from a commanding 72-point win in the reserves over Morwell, it was largely a disappointing day for the Hawks. It thirds were eliminated by Moe, going down by 19 points in extra time after the scores were tied at the end of normal time while in the fourths, the Hawks got thumped by 66 points against Leongatha.
Moe booked a passage into the second semi final after it inflicted a 37-point defeat on Maffra in the qualifying final at Traralgon on Saturday. The Lions have played plenty of indifferent football over the last two months, but after half time produced the type of play that saw it climb to the top of the table by round seven. Moe’s victory was founded on the back of a superb seven goal effort by star forward Matt Fory’s.
He marked strongly, tackled well and proved to be a thorn in the Eagle defence all game. After an even first quarter, Moe nudged 10 points clear at the main break before it set up victory with a four goal to one third term to race to a 36-point lead at the final change. Maffra never looked likely to peg back the deficit in the last quarter and Moe went on record a surprisingly easy victory.
Never say die defender Peter Ainsworth stifled many attacks and offered tremendous rebound of his half-back flank and received loyal support from Adam Kennedy, who played as a loose man in defence and was at his strong and willing best. Ruckman Chris Hancock gave his smalls an armchair ride with some terrific tap work and pacy small defender Matt Dickason provided plenty of rebound out of defence.
Both Tommy Long and Jesse Bird teamed up well to negate the influence of star Eagle forward Daniel Stubbe and feisty ruck rover Phil Town won a stack of the ball. Wingman Rob Michaelidis, budding star Andrew Thorpe and the dependable Gary Blandford all did a heap of important things in and around the midfield.
For Maffra Sam Tudor put in alot of hard yakka around the packs and got many disposals and likewise Ben Robbins and Ben Durrant. Josh Stubbe put in a spirited effort and was the mainstay of the Eagle defence and wingman Michael Coleman contested strongly all game.
Interestingly, both teams were missing their spiritual leaders, Troy Makepeace, who stood aside due to general soreness and Hayden Burgiel, who is unlikely to play again this season after he suffered a fractured eye socket against Drouin in the last home and away game of the season, but it was the Lions who filled the leadership void better. The victory capped off a wonderful afternoon for Moe, who also prevailed over Maffra in the reserves, accounting for the Eagles by 25 points. After their seniors had a disastrous season, Warragul have something to smile about after its U/18s produced a heart stopping one point victory over Traralgon to earn a second semi-final berth against Maffra this week.
This week’s selections
2nd Semi Final:- TRARALGON v Moe at Sale (Saturday 5th September)
Ist Semi Final:- MAFFRA v Leongatha at Moe (Sunday 6th September)
