Preliminary Finals end in thriller at Dalyston again

DALYSTON Recreation Reserve was the scene for the penultimate day of the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition (WGFNC) calendar last Saturday, when it hosted a thrilling group of Preliminary Finals. 

With a spot in the Grand Final on the line, the losers from the previous week’s Second Semi Finals came up against the winners from the Elimination Final stages in the win or go home scenario. 

Braving the early chill in the air and tearing it up was the hometown Magpies in the under 16s, doing battle with a formidable Warragul outfit.  

The boys in black and white gave their mightiest efforts, but in the end, they were never really a match for the Dusties, who finished second after the home and away season. 

After rain from the night before made conditions slippery, the young Pies were able to use the home deck to their advantage, going into the first change just five points adrift.

But a scoreless second term blew the door wide open for the fancied Warragul side, and they never looked back, putting the Daly boys to the sword kicking nine goals to one after quarter time to run out 59-point winners. 

Riley Brinkman and Bailey Anderson were standouts, alongwith Jesse Dugard who booted the Maggies’ only two majors, but their fairytale run from fifth on the ladder came to an end. 

While the Dusties booked themselves a spot in the big dance thanks to inspired performances from Cody Templeton, Joshua Bradley and four goals to Thomas Cornwall, all of whom will be hoping to repeat the dose against Phillip Island this weekend. 

Next up was the under 18s and it was last year’s runners up Garfield taking on the surging Phillip Island.

In a tough and end to end game of footy, the Bulldogs prevailed but, as they had the previous week, had to survive a brief late scare in the process. 

The Doggies came out firing, looking driven and determined from the outset their ball movement and skill level was clearly far superior, along with their organisation in defence which allowed them to take eight scoring shots to none in the first half. 

In blustery conditions, the Islanders only managed to 
convert half of these shots, giving them a 28-point lead at the main break, when it looked as though they’d just about run away with it. 

But to the Stars credit and to the fear of many Bulldogs faithful around the ground, they came out after half time breathing fire, slamming through three goals in a flurry late in the premiership quarter to revive their Grand Final hopes. 

Luckily for Phillip Island though, the push to reinvigorate the contest took an almighty effort from the boys in green and gold, and they just ran out off puff in the end, failing to score in the final term, seeing their opponents close out the victory.

Cam Jenkins and Jake VanDenBerge made sure they at least provided some highlights though, including a spectacular mark from the latter, while they both got on the scoreboard. 

Beau Davies was judged best afield for the Island, alongside Kohen Beaumont, while Jack Johnston kicked two goals, helping his side book a date with Inverloch Kongwak this Saturday. 

Following Phillip Island’s 17-point win, Nar Nar Goon took to the field in the Reserves, coming off a their heart wrenching result in the previous weekend’s Second Semi Final.

The Goon boys took it right up to the Seagulls but missed out on a spot in the decider due to a 50-metre penalty on the siren, gifting the Gulls a shot to win it. 

Things would unfortunately only get worse for the men in the blue hoops on Saturday, going down to an impressively well drilled and polished Inverloch-Kongwak outfit in another thriller. 

The two sides had split their match ups in the regular season, including a nail biting one-point win to the Goon back in round 14, making the intensity of this match at a season high. 

It was a genuine arm wrestle, as the lead seesawed from side to side and momentum seemed to locate itself with both sides for short periods at a time intermittently throughout the 80-minute contest. 

When they had the ball on their terms, both sides looked absolutely deadly going forward and stout in defence, but it was IK who led at every break.

Regardless of this though, the Goon kept finding a way to cut down and take the lead in what really was a pleasure for all the spectators around Dalyston. 

As many had predicted, it all came down to the final moments, IK had taken a one-point lead into quarter time, a ten-point margin into half time and then felt quietly confident at three quarter time, holding onto their narrow 6-point buffer. 

The final term was an absolute classic, as Nar Nar Goon found the middle of the big sticks, seeing both sides of the crowd find full voice, the atmosphere was amazing. 

Unlike their loss in round 14, when they failed to take care of their lead, the Sea Eagles were able to not only bite back but work the ball up the ground with tremendous composure, which looked ot be quite a challenge against a thundering Nar Nar Goon. 

The Goon boys through absolutely everything they could at them, mounting drive after drive forward, but the Inverloch Kongwak defence kept their heads, inspiring their midfielders and forwards to follow suit, seeing them into their second WGFNC Reserves Grand Final.

Cooper Pursell booted four majors and alongside Luke Dortmans gave everything he could in the 11-point loss.

While for IK, Lachlan Crook and Jasper Kempster really built off each other well and two goals to Lachlan Johnson really helped his side catapult to new levels. 

The Sea Eagles will now face off with back to back Reserves premiers Tooradin-Dalmore and hope they can stop them from completing the three-peat. 

The WGFNC Grand Finals will be held this Saturday at Koo Wee Rup Recreation Reserve, kicking off with under 11s netball and under 16s football, before the match of the day between Inverloch-Kongwak and Phillip Island in the Seniors.