MDU gets up in a cracker of a final against Thorpdale

IT WAS a cracker of a contest between two evenly matched teams in the Elimination Final at Hill End on Sunday when Meeniyan-Dumbalk United faced off against Thorpdale.

Thorpdale got out to an early lead in the match, and still held a two-goal lead at the last change but they’d lost a couple of key players along the way, defender Jordy Patullo with a broken ankle in the first quarter and big forward Matty Powell out of action in the second.

And having two fewer rotations started to tell on Thorpdale the further the match went.

MDU went straight into attack out of the centre after the restart following three quarter time and ultimately it was Trent McRae who kicked his third for the day to reduce the difference to a goal.

They continued to pepper the scoring zone with points to Nick Nagel, Sam Forrester, Tom Kerr and one other MDU player as they closed the gap to a couple of points.

The Demons clearly had more players at the stoppages, as the lack of rotations was making a difference, and they were initiating most of the play as they continued to push forward through Schelling, McRae, Youle and Sellings and others.

Schelling had been having a great tussle with Gavin Low and likewise, Youle had been in everything for the Demons, in a great contest with Aaron Harris.

Ultimately, MDU went coast to coast halfway through the quarter with the ball ending up in McRae’s hands again and he made no mistake, putting them in front by two points for the first time with his fourth goal.

Nick Nagle was looking dangerous too, but he moved further up the ground, creating the space for McRae, while locked in a terrific contest against Cougar Millsom.

Another point to MDU extended their lead to three points, but when Sellings found Trent McRae on the lead, the Demons brought up another fourth-quarter goal to stretch the lead to nine points.

Straight out of the next centre again, Shaye Walsh raced clear to kick what looked to be the sealer with four and a half minutes to go.

Thorpdale pressed forward to cut the lead but only a point resulted and MDU was doing more than enough to protect their lead, setting up a feature clash against Fish Creek in the First Semi-final at Newborough next week.

Shaye Walsh was again in the play in the final minutes, receiving a push in the back and a 50-metre penalty before kicking straight from the goal line, with two minutes to go. It was all over.

As an indication of the Demons' dominance in the last quarter, they had 21 inside 50s to Thorpdale’ seven.

Thorpdale got a couple of consolation goals late, including one to Heath Ferguson, which reduced the lead to seven points, but it was too little too late, and the Demons ran out seven-point winners, taking them through to a clash that’s full of interest for South Gippsland fans, against Fish Creek next Sunday.

Final scores MDU 11.14.80 def Thorpdale 10.13.73.