By KEN MOORE
Ellinbank and District Football League – preliminary final preview
THE age old adage “you learn more about a team when it is under pressure” applies to minor premiers Garfield when it meets a rampant Cora Lynn in the preliminary final at the ‘Cobradome’ on Saturday.
After winning 17 games on the trot, the Stars have dropped two in a row and are in a trough. Despite an impressive home-and-away win-loss record, the Stars were simply not the same force in the second half of the season.
However, it would be unwise to dismiss their chances as the Stars pride themselves in their resilience and work ethic and have a long history of climbing off the canvas. Brent Eastwell and Ben Marsh were the heartbeat of the side last week and will need far more support this week. The Stars badly missed Andy Soumilas (ankle), Will Collis (rib) and ruckman Glen Wouters (leg) last week, and it appears they will have to make do without them again. Cora Lynn is in a rich vein of form with a 31-point victory over Garfield in the final home-and-away season, followed by a 48-point win over Nar Nar Goon in the elimination final and a 29-point victory over Warragul Industrials.
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
Round 4: Garfield 12.11 (83) d Cora Lynn 8.7 (55).
Round 19: Cora Lynn 16.2 (98) d Garfield 9.13 (67).
GARFIELD
Strengths: The side can move a number of players around. Jamie Ferguson, Brett Reid and James Bow – in particular – can fill holes that may arise during the course of the game.
Weakness: Garfield does not have a lot of big bodies and a physical presence in and around the midfield. Over the last month, with a combination of heavier grounds, and wet and windy weather, there has been a lot more ground level contests and stoppages which have not suited their game style and team make-up.
X-factor: Ned Marsh is a vital cog in the side. He has strength that belies his size, is hard to beat one-on-one and can turn a game in a quarter when he moves forward.
Coach’s comment (Brent Eastwell): “We’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us this week and everybody needs to lift,” he said minutes before the loss to Bunyip on Saturday.
Cora Lynn:
Strengths: With Ryan Gillis, Matt Robinson (from all reports certain to return this week from a foot injury) and Jackson Dalton, the side has plenty of wizardry around goals.
X-factor: While the Cobras have plenty of big names, it is the lesser lights led by Nick Helsby, Liam Toole, Brady White and youngsters Jeremy Monckton and Kevin Vandenberghe who have often posed trouble for opposition teams.
Coach’s comment (Brendan Kimber): “It will be a six-day turnaround for us, but the game will be played on our own turf, where we have only dropped one game this season. We have been in good form recently and see no need to change anything.”
Who will win, and why: Cora Lynn. The Cobras are playing the more instinctive brand of football, have a better-structured forward set up, more midfield leg-speed and Garfield seems out-of-sorts.
