Hawks overcome Eagles, Burners outlast Lions

By Josh Ward.

The opening weekend of Premier Division finals action didn’t disappoint as Rowville booked a date with destiny whilst Blackburn kept its premiership aspirations alive.

Strong crowds packed into Jubilee Park on the Saturday and then to Berwick’s Edwin Flack Reserve on the Sunday to catch the Premier Division Qualifying and Elimination Finals.

At Jubilee in the Qualifying Final, Rowville were made to earn their victory over an exuberant Vermont outfit.

They had control of the contest in the opening quarter, but they failed to capitalise, kicking just two goals and leading by that much at the first break.

After kicking the first goal of the second, they then conceded eight of the next 10 goals, with Vermont’s contested brand starting to come to the fore.

That second quarter blitz led to the Eagles taking a 20-point lead at the main break, with Sam Weideman, Tairon Ah-Mu and Cooper Leon kicking two goals each in that term.

It didn’t last long though as the professionalism of Rowville started to come through in the third, even with star forward Lachlan Wynd on the bench after suffering a game-ending ankle injury in the early stages of the contest.

Holding Vermont scoreless, the Hawks kicked three goals and seven behinds to recapture the lead heading into the final break.

As Matt Adolph’s men looked to take control in the early stages of the last, the Hawks held firm and were able to put the game to bed early in the last.

Kicking five goals to one in the last, Ben Wise’s men punched their ticket to a second semi final with East Ringwood with a five-goal triumph over the Eagles.

VFL duo Tyson Sruk and Tyler Edwards were the stars in midfield. Combining for 67 disposals, whilst Edwards had 19 contested possessions, 15 score involvements and nine clearances, Sruk kicked three goals and had 10 score involvements.

Jordan Jaworski and Mitch Sruk also had excellent games, with both acquiring 29 and 28 disposals respectively while Sruk went at 71% disposal efficiency.

For the Eagles, they were well served by Lachie Johns who had 23 disposals, eight of those coming in that fantastic second term.

Noah Bourke was strong in defence, accumulating 23 disposals and six intercept marks whilst young gun Oscar Dunn fought hard in ruck against Nik Schoenmakers.

Vermont will now play Blackburn this Sunday at Edwin Flack Reserve in the first semi final after the Burners won a thrilling Premier Division Elimination Final against Doncaster East.

They had the early running in the contest, but failed to put any massive scoreboard pressure on the Lions, kicking 3.6 before a late Doncaster East goal put them 14 points behind at quarter time.

Ryan James’ men then built on that late goal with the opener of the second before conceding the next to Blackburn having evened the game out and gained a little bit of territory.

After that Blackburn goal though it was the Lions turn to gain territory ascendancy and put their foes under the pump.

They were eventually rewarded with two late goals to Josh Schache, including one after the siren, which saw them lead by the barest of margins at the main break.

That lead didn’t last long though as the Burners quickly hit the front in the first minute and a half of the term before adding another two goals to now lead by a game-high 17 points.

As they had in the previous quarter, the Lions started to get on top late, kicking two of the last three goals, including one in the final 30 seconds of the term, to enter the final change down by 10 points.

After conceding the early territory kicking towards what had been the scoring end (the Manuka Road end) of Edwin Flack, the Burners held firm and regained ascendancy.

Spending a crucial 10 minutes in their attacking half, Anthony Fagan’s side didn’t allow the Lions any escape as they peppered the goals.

They did however concede the first goal of the term which reduced Doncaster East’s deficit to one straight kick after the Burners failed to kick a goal and as time on loomed.

That goal didn’t faze Blackburn one bit though as they sealed the game with a late Toby Wooller goal, which resulted in the Burners keeping their season alive with a two-goal triumph.

Reigning Chandler Medallist Wooller was the difference on the day with four goals, increasing his tally to 53 from 18 games.

Ex-AFL duo Ryley Stoddart and Kynan Brown also stood tall in midfield, with Stoddart’s drive and class key in the win.

Ben Worme and Aaron Curran also stood tall defensively, with Curran having the big job on Josh Schache whilst Worme provided drive, particularly in the last term.

Ryan James’ men were once again well served by star midfield duo Matt O’Brien and Kai Owens who racked up the disposals.

Joshua Gasparini was also serviceable alongside young gun Ethan Higgins whilst ex-Fairpark tall Jay Rankin was solid in defence.

An improved season for the Lions comes to an end whilst Blackburn are set to return to Edwin Flack next weekend to face local rivals Vermont.