Finals hopes fade for Tarwin

By Rob Popplestone

A FINAL a month before the finals, the Sharks v Demons clash had so much more riding on it than the four premiership points.

A win would keep Tarwin’s faint finals hopes alive, a victory by MDU would maintain their grip inside the top six, the Demons taking it one week at a time and doing the job that needed to be done, winning by ten points.

Nathan Allen, MDU coach said: “Great win again on the weekend from the guys. Trying conditions and a hard, tough Tarwin team spurred on by their crowd (they had a premiership reunion) made things tough. My guys have had a really good month and now we get a week off to recover before hopefully a big run to the end of the year.”

The Demons are well placed to keep their top six spot, their destiny very much in their own hands, while for the Sharks, the chances of taking part in the business end of the season slipped away on the weekend, but there remains plenty to like about their year.

Jason Kennedy, Tarwin coach said: “Our day started off with the under-18s playing a great game of footy and winning against an undefeated MDU. It was always going to be a tough day for us against an in-form team, especially in such testing conditions. We came in at halftime with a two-point lead. Then in the third quarter, they kicked a couple that we weren’t able to get back. It was a solid effort from all but in the end, we didn’t maximise our chances and time in the forward half as well as Meeniyan did, which hurts you in such a close competition”

In some ways that is the story for Tawin, one or two games, probably even more, that could have gone either way falling the wrong way, and in the makeup of the season that is the difference between achieving pre-season goals and falling just short.