By RUSSELL BENNETT
ELLINBANK AND DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
REVIEW – ROUND 10
“I TOLD the boys at the start of the day – it doesn’t matter how much we win by, we just need the four points.”
Well, by that measurement alone, it was mission accomplished for Kooweerup player-coach Matt Shorey and his boys on Saturday against Nilma Darnum.
It was hardly a convincing performance for the most part, and they know it, but their much-publicised issues over recent weeks are widely known.
For most sides, particularly reigning grand finalists, the ‘win is a win’ cliché holds practically no weight. But that’s different for the Demons. They need wins however they can get them, just to make sure they reach the finals – let alone the top four.
“We know it’s going to be like that for the rest of the year now,” Shorey said.
“I don’t give a s**t if we win by a point, or by 10 goals – just as long as we get the four points.”
In the end, the Demons were victorious by 21 points – 14.9 (93) to 10.12 (72).
But they were 16-points adrift at three-quarter time before piling on seven goals in the space of 14 minutes at one stage in the last.
Zeke Lamb (2 goals) loomed as a potential match-winner for the Bombers before suffering what appeared to be a corky in the final term.
Shorey rated the work of Danny Wells on wing in an entertaining head-to-head matchup with Paul Gramc, but Demons’ backline stalwarts Ben Miller and Craig Dyker were the difference-makers.
Tim Miller also shone, while big Shaun Marusic finished with a bag of five. Shorey also played, before spending much of the final term coaching from the bench.
“Something happened there in the fourth and I think the boys realised we weren’t supposed to be in that spot at three-quarter time,” Shorey said.
“I was proud with the win – I don’t care what anyone thinks.
“If we can scrape into seventh or eighth with our backs against the wall we’ll have nothing to lose.
“The group I’ve got now are probably the blokes who wanted to stay at the club.”
Garfield player-coach Ryan Hendy, meanwhile, is still ruing the effect of losing Rory Hower to a send-off for 20 minutes in the third term, in the Stars tight loss away to a vastly under-rated Neerim Neerim South, 10.14 (74) to 10.5 (65).
But more than that, he’s bitterly disappointed in the result of the clash.
Garfield went into the game without Hendy (groin) and Lincoln Withers, but welcomed former premiership star Harley Lacunes back to the fold.
“The boys were just really flat right from the start,” Hendy said of Saturday’s performance.
“Our slow starts continue to be a problem because we keep having to play catch-up footy.
“But credit to Neerim South, they just attacked the ball harder.”
Mick and Chris Urie (2 goals) were two clear standouts for the Cats, while Calum Shiels and Nathan Bayne also had a real impact in a game where their side led after every change.
The versatile Lacunes was right in the thick of it all over the ground for his first game back in Garfield colours after his stint at Nilma Darnum, while skipper Ben Marsh and young tall Jack Barnes also impressed in a dirty day for their side.
Catani coach Paul Alger praised the struggling Ellinbank after the Blues’ 37-point win on Saturday, 13.21 (99) to 9.8 (62).
With a whopping 34 scoring shots to just 17 from the Bankers, Catani’s winning margin should have been a lot bigger but Alger’s men trailed by 11 points at half-time.
“To their credit, they played pretty well,” he said.
“We wasted our opportunities in the first – I think we kicked 3.7 – and our disposal wasn’t great but if they had the likes of Sean Masterson and Tom Johnson out there we might’ve been in trouble.
“If we served that up against Cora Lynn or Bunyip we would have been blown away.”
Shaun Phelan (3 goals) had a barnstorming third-quarter but the likes of Nick Visser, Owen Fitzpatrick (6 goals), Josh Tymensen (across the backline in the second half), and Luke Tyrrell proved to be the difference in the contest.
Elsewhere across the league in Round 10, Scott Clark had a rough initiation from Nyora player to player-coach as his side was thumped by 145 points against Bunyip, 23.23 (161) to 2.4 (16). The scoring shots tell the tale, with Clark booting the Saints’ only two majors for the afternoon in his first game at the coaching helm since the departure of former coach Pete Smith. By contrast, Bulldogs youngster Matt Miller (3 goals) had a day to remember in his first senior game for the side.
Buln Buln was far too good for Poowong, 15.19 (109) to 5.1 (31), while the Dusties held off a fast-finishing Lang Lang 16.7 (103) to 13.9 (87).
