Ellinbank and District Football League elimination finals

By Ken Moore
WARRAGUL Industrials fairytale season continued on Sunday – ending Nar Nar Goon’s 2009 premiership bid with a 24-point victory in the second elimination final at Kooweerup.
The Dusties – 2008 wooden spooners – are now only two victories away from a grand-final berth and for the second consecutive season Nar Nar Goon has failed to win a final.
Kicking with a four-to-five-goal wind towards the southern end of the ground, Nar Nar Goon fired the opening salvo when youngster Josh Hodson won a free kick and converted inside the first 60 seconds.
Over the next ten minutes there were no beg pardons and kicks were hard earned before Warragul youngster Mitchell Dickason popped through the Dusties’ first major to tie the game up.
Moments later key Goon forward Chris Jones marked and kicked truly, but his goal proved to be the last of the quarter.
Nar Nar Goon had far more possessions over the next 15 minutes, but due to some sloppy kicking into its 50-metre arc and poor decision making failed to make the most of the stiff wind behind its back.
Coach Clint Williams led by example in the first quarter and had strong midfield support from Matt Stocco, Matt Wade, Dean Kelly and Adam Marchant.
The Industrials’ best player in the first quarter was Danny Brewster, who dropped back to shield the defence, while Damian Dawson and captain Mat Willis provided some resolute defence.
Half-back Nick Visser offered plenty of run and carry which was vitally important in conditions that made accurate kicking almost impossible.
Nar Nar Goon tried hard in the second quarter, but could only muster one behind, while the scales tipped heavily in favour of the Dusties after they notched four goals at steady intervals to break clear by 17 points at the main break.
Fleet-footed midfielder Jason Kennedy scored the first of the four goals with a clever snap.
Then Santo nailed the next after he was awarded a free kick, 16-year-old Sean Lewis showed great poise to drill home a team-lifting long goal after a searching run and Santo again capped off a fine term with his second after a strong mark over opponent Tom Hallinan.
Nick Visser, Dom LaRosa and Manny Peresso were all principal drivers for the Dusties during the term.
Matt Wade, Matt Stocco and Ben Keane were all prime movers and kept the Goon in the contest with many crucial disposals in second stanza.
The game exploded to life in the third quarter after Nar Nar Goon came out a rejuvenated outfit, got in first for the ball and pushed forward at every opportunity.
Its efforts were rewarded at the five-minute mark when Nick Mulcahy conjured an inspirational goal. The tall change ruckman smothered a kick by Danny Brewster in the last line of defence and with a great second effort, snatched the ball and coolly slotted it through to whittle the margin back to 12 points.
At the ten-minute mark, Goon youngster Brodie Howe guided home a six-pointer with a well-judged kick from an acute angle and less than a minute later Goon fans found voice when he pounced on a loose ball and streamed into goal to recapture the lead.
The Dusties then bottled play up for ten minutes before Howe figured again when he rifled out a handball to Ben Scanlon, who steered home a goal from outside 50 metres to give the Goon an eight-point lead.
A late goal by Jason Kennedy kept the Gulls within striking distance at three-quarter time.
Brent Hughes and Ben Keane turned defence into attack a number of times in the third quarter and Matt Wade continued to win disposals and all three played a big role in the Goon revival.
Dom La Rosa and Brett Wadleton weighed in with many handy disposals for the Dusties in the third quarter.
If the Goon was to win, it needed the first goal of the last quarter.
However, it was not to be for at the two-minute mark plucky Warragul rover Chris La Rosa won the ball and slotted home his first goal for the afternoon to reduce the margin to a solitary point.
Less than three minutes transpired before football journeyman Dave Barrie snuck forward and popped through a goal to snatch back the lead for the Industrials.
Dusties swingman Danny Brewster goaled at the 11-minute mark to open up an 11-point cushion, but the Goon hit back and gave themselves a glimmer of hope when Nick Mulcahy took a strong mark and kicked straight to trim the deficit back to three points mid-term.
From then on the Goon could not sustain the pressure and when Brewster bagged his second goal, a few minutes later the Dusties scented victory.
The Industrials polished things off with goals by Matt Willis and Visser to stretch the difference out to 24 points at the final siren.
Warragul Industrials won the game and for that matter have won all season because it plays the percentages well, shows a good sense of togetherness and is the best team in the competition at corralling, chasing and tackling when it hasn’t got the ball.
The Dusties kicked 12 goals and only seven behinds was a feat in itself in the swirly, windy conditions.
Narre Warren recruit Danny Brewster was the difference between the two sides. He read play superbly as a loose man in defence when the Dusties were kicking against the wind and doubled as a good forward target at centre half-forward when the Industrials had the breeze.
Brett Wadleton and Dom La Rosa were in the thick of the midfield action all day and Sean Lewis instigated more than a dozen centre clearances and is a star of the future.
Half-back Nick Visser was superb and his ability to rebound the ball played a huge part in the Dusties’ victory.
Ruckman Ben Hobgen put in a strong second half and Manny Perresso, Damian Dawson and Adan Neal chopped off many Goon attacks.
Warragul Industrials coach Wade McGill was a relieved man after the game.
“We set a goal to be tight in the opening quarter and I thought we did that well,” he said.
“We emphasised the importance of discipline and apart from one early blemish, this area of our game was fantastic.
“We set the standard early and chased hard and the forward pressure we applied was good and if we do this we will always be hard to beat.”
The Goon had an over reliance on too few.
Chief playmaker Matt Wade scoured the packs all day and never stopped running, Matt Stocco, initially on the wing and in defence in the second half, took some terrific marks and pumped the ball forward all game.
Chris Adams did a sterling job to keep Warragul star Shane Brewster to only 17 disposals, Ben Keane glued the backline together all game and coach Clint Williams tried hard to lift his charges.
Brodie Howe and tall forward Nick Mulcahy sparked the Goon in the third quarter and change ruck Brad Jones, wingman Dean Kelly and defender Brent Hughes all did well in patches.
A despondent Clint Williams told his team after the game that he was proud of their effort, but added they needed bigger, stronger and more physical bodies to compete in conditions like that – referring to the exceptionally blustery wind.
“It was a disappointing finish to the season,” he said.
“Too many of our players drifted in and out. It appears the competition lifted a notch this season and we didn’t.”
Demons snatch victory
IN shocking, windy conditions Kooweerup scored only two goals, but it was enough to snatch a four-point victory over Nilma-Darnum in the reserves elimination final on Sunday.
The game featured plenty of committed tackling and second efforts from both sides.
Nilma opened brightly with two goals inside the first three minutes of the first term and held the lead until the last two minutes of the game when Matt Damon goaled to put the Demons in front.
Kooweerup dominated play and deserved to win, but made things difficult for itself by scoring eight first-half behinds, despite peppering the big sticks.
Demon midfielders Ryan Wilby, Ross Morgan and Neil Watson set up many forward moves, ruckman Paul Martin toiled hard and Luke Morrison affected many defensive clearances. For Nilma, Julian Price found plenty of the ball all over the park, league best-and-fairest Andrew Martin and Corey Wright had a busy midfield presence and in defence Corey Harrison did his level best.
Lyrebirds sing in semi
IN the thirds, Buln Buln secured a first semi-final berth after a 19-point victory over Ellinbank.
The Lyrebirds held an eight-point lead at half-time and set up victory with three third-quarter goals to hold a 22-point advantage and held on comfortably in the last term.
Dylan Hall, Trent Baker and Dean Johnson excelled for the winners and Jeremy Gray, Adam McGrath and Nathan Cole played noteworthy games for the Cats.