Turner milestone not enough as Hillmen win

HILL End won its fourth match of the season from seven starts when it outclassed Mirboo North by 37 points at Willow Grove on Saturday.

The visitors were led into action by four-time senior premiership winger and current playing coach Damien Turner who was making his 350th club appearance for the mighty Tigers.

Mirboo North was coming off a bye and the Hillmen had returned home the previous week with their tails between their legs after a demoralising 143-point loss to Foster.

Looking fresh and full of run in the 16-degree late autumn sunshine Mirboo North scored the opening goal of the game after six minutes of play.

Strong defensive marking by Joe Brooks, Beau Peters and Patrick Lewis helped repel several Hill End forward flurries before the home side booted two goals to take a six-point advantage into the quarter-time huddle.

Turner’s desperate last-second punch on the goal line in his milestone match was inspiring and saved a certain Hill End major going through the big white sticks.

The Hillmen’s third goal came early in the second term but a quick reply by Hayden Potts reduced Mirboo North’s deficit to five points.

That would be Mirboo North’s last major until late in the third quarter as Hill End’s dominance grew and the Tigers’ confidence to gather the ball cleanly fell away under the opposition’s ferocious tackling.

Dustin Blackshaw, Aaron Fawcett, Seth Calway and evergreen veteran Amburupa Uliando were all in fine form for the locals who had surged to a match-winning 43-point lead by the last change.

In a show of defiance and resilience Mirboo North outscored Hill End in the final term with goals coming from Aaron Scicluna, Jacob Blair and Potts to limit the Tigers’ losing margin to 37 points.

Best performers for Mirboo North included Brooks, Nathan Skewes, Ethan Woodall, Luke Marriott, skipper Hudson Kerr and Jacob Blair.

After their dismal performance at the Foster Showgrounds seven days earlier the Hillmen’s 180-point turnaround shows a week’s soul searching is a long time in Mid Gippsland football.

Hill End’s victory leaves it outside the top six on percentage with another four points coming its way from this week’s bye.

At game’s end Turner was fittingly carried to the change rooms by teammates Kerr and Blair through his second guard of honour for the afternoon.

When Hill End took a 25-point lead into the first break it appeared Mirboo North had been shackled by the home side’s heavy tackling and was fast running out of steam.

And so it proved to be with the Tigers trailing by 61 points at half-time and a further 20 points in arrears by the last change.

Playing in front was clearly a key part of Hill End’s mantra with Mirboo North sometimes fourth in line for the ball.

Led by impressive performances from Bailey Morton, Josh Hammond and Zachary Mills Hill End continued on its merry way in the final quarter to win the match by 115 points.

Five goals from Morton plus four apiece to Jake Schiavillo and Ethan Hubbard were strong indicators of the Hillmen’s dominance inside their forward 50.

Tom Heislers, Jesse Rawlings and Todd Alexander battled hard all day for the Tigers whilst Tim McAllister and rugged spearhead Tom Kelly each booted a goal in a tough afternoon of football for the visitors.