Local rivalries headlined Round 11 of the Gippsland League.
Latrobe Valley rivals Morwell and Traralgon played a standalone marquee game on Sunday, while Sale and Maffra clashed in the traditional Battle of the Birds fixture.
A one-point thriller between Wonthaggi and Moe also highlighted action, in what is hoped to be a teaser to this year’s finals series.
Meanwhile, Drouin celebrated their first win of the season. Unfortunately, their West Gippsland counterparts Warragul experienced opposite feelings, slogging it out in one of the club’s toughest days.
Sale went 2-0 in Battle of the Birds for 2023.
In what would have been doubly sweet for the Magpies, they also ended any faint hopes Maffra might have had of playing finals as well.
The Eagles certainly made the visiting Magpies work for the points, in a final scoreboard reading 9.9 (63) to 6.8 (44).
The stage was set for a grandstand finish, after Maffra led by three points at three quarter time.
Sale however finished strongly, kicking four goals to none in the final term.
Oddly enough, the Eagles did all their scoring in the third quarter.
Up until then, the Magpies had kept Maffra goalless, but somewhat astonishingly, the Eagles managed six unanswered majors before not scoring a goal again in the last.
An arm wrestle unfolded in the first half, as just two goals were kicked.
Sale had nine scoring shots to three at the main break, before Maffra hit their straps.
Bohdi Walker played his first senior game for the season, and kicked two goals for the victor’s.
Youngster Tom Wrigglesworth also hit the scoreboard on senior debut.
The 17-year-old became the third generation Sale player to play senior football for the Magpies, following in the footsteps of father Ian and grandfather Barry.
Barry’s contribution to Sale Football-Netball Club has been immense. A long-time supporter, he played 150 games for the Magpies and was president and treasurer for a decade.
It has been a big few months for Tom Wrigglesworth, who also made his First XI debut for Melbourne Cricket Club last summer.
In a somewhat fitting twist, debuting against Maffra held some significance as Wrigglesworth’s great grandfather played for Maffra and his great grand uncle coached the Eagles to a flag in the 1930s.
Jack McLaren was again in the best for Sale, and could just about have the club best-and-fairest sewn up. Others to play well were Will Leslie, Josh Butcher, Nathan Whitford, Jarrod Freeman and Adam Wallace.
Magpies senior assistant coach Daniel Sandeman said it was a classic Battle of Birds clash, and even brought out the junior footy term of ‘team effort’ when asked who the best players were.
“Game was always close, we just had to dig really deep, to Maffra’s credit it was a really hard-fought game, which Maffra-Sale games always are,” he said.
“Our last quarter was pretty special, the way we got up and got the victory, so very pleasing from all points of view.”
The result puts Sale a game clear in fifth, and in the driver’s seat to take the last available spot in finals.
Sale’s reserves also put the competition on notice after winning their second consecutive game against a likely finalists.
Make no mistake, the Magpies are coming in the twos.
Back to the later game, Dr Sam Davidson kicked two goals in a best afield performance for Maffra. Brayden Monk, Ben Brunt, Alex Carr, Kieran Jones and James Read also did a good job.
If the game at Ted Summerton Reserve was anything to go by – it’s going to be a cracking finals series.
Second played third when Moe welcomed Wonthaggi.
The game was befitting of one billed as match-of-the-round, so much so a draw would have been a fair result.
It wasn’t far off being a draw, just one point in fact, but four points went the way of Wonthaggi after they secured a thrilling 9.9 (63) to 9.8 (62) victory.
Heartrates were high in a pulsating last five minutes, as the Lion’s came agonisingly short of ending the Power’s seven game winning streak.
The visitor’s started the better of the two sides, and led by 14 points at the first change.
Despite losing key defender Shannon Bray early, Wonthaggi took further ascendency, and skipped to a game-high 34 point lead midway through the second.
At that stage, the Power looked every bit the team that had inflicted fellow top-four side Traralgon with a near 80-point drubbing just three rounds prior. One spectator quipping to this scribe “not much to write about this week.”
Moe however did enough to stay in the contest. Back-to-back goals from Billy Gowers, the first from a 50 metre penalty that took him to the goal square, and the second from a wrap around handball just inside 50, ensured the Lions had the margin under some control.
A clever play by Riley Baldi to take advantage inside 50 at the scoreboard end saw him slot a crucial major right on halftime, with said scoreboard reading 7.8 (50) to 4.3 (27) at the main break.
Wonthaggi had looked the superior team in the first half, and when Cooper McInnes scored the first goal of the third quarter to extend the lead, the Power threatened to take the game right away from Moe.
The Lions kept fighting though, and another advantage call went their way, and saw Gowers add a major at the nine-minute mark.
A follow-up long range set shot from Ben Daniher sailed through at the 14-minute mark.
Moe added a third goal for the quarter when Nick Prowse took a strong mark within close range, and brought the margin back to nine points at the 24-minute mark.
By now, momentum had well and truly swung Moe’s way, and they weren’t done with yet.
The Lion’s managed another goal just before three quarter time, and went into the last change only three points down.
Defence was the order of the last quarter, as both sides fought manically to repel any forward entries.
A Jack Hutchinson goal gave Wonthaggi some breathing space, and it wasn’t until the clock had ticked over 20 minutes that Moe was able to respond.
Strong contested marking was a feature throughout the day, and there was some potentially goal-saving grabs by Power players Tim Knowles and Josh Schulz.
Two points down and needing to go for everything, Moe pushed all their numbers past halfway.
The final twist in the tale turned out to be rather ironic as far as Moe was concerned.
If you were to ask any Moe player who they would want taking a set shot, chances are they would choose Scott van Dyk.
With arguably the best and most raking foot in the team, van Dyk had a shot 40 metres out directly in front. Unfortunately for Moe, and understandably under tired legs for van Dyk, the kick could only register a minor score.
Wonthaggi did not try to win the game from there, and were intent on chewing off valuable seconds, even if it meant kicking the ball 20 metres backwards.
A last-gasp effort from Moe was thwarted when Knowles again crashed a pack to take a solid mark.
The siren sounded as he was getting up, giving Wonthaggi victory by the barest margin.
McInnes kicked four goals and Hutchinson three, while Aiden Lindsay, Knowles, Jarryd Blair, Kyle Reid, Jordan Staley and Jack Blair were voted best for the Power.
Best for Moe was Grady Cocksedge, Declan Keilty, Jacob Wood, Tom Long, Baldi and Charlie Rieniets.
The future of Gippsland League football is in safe hands if the game between Traralgon and Morwell was anything to go by.
Two relatively youthful teams clashed in a marquee Sunday game. The weather was cold but the footy hot as the traditional rivals squared off at Morwell Recreation Reserve, now complete with nets at either end of the ground.
Halleluiah.
While spectators on both sides were singing the praises of that particular instalment, only one was singing their club song at the end of the game.
Traralgon was the team to sing their song, after breaking away in the last term to win 12.9 (81) to 7.9 (51).
Just 13 points separated the sides at the last change, but a four goal to one final term sealed the deal for the Maroons.
A famous win was on the cards when Morwell’s Brandon Mcauliffe benefitted from some sloppy defence from Traralgon, which allowed him to take an uncontested mark inside 50.
The goal cut the margin back to seven points, but Traralgon responded a short time later with a goal to Billy Schilling.
A goal to Brett Eddy at the 20-minute mark made the equation just that little bit harder for Morwell, and when Tate Marsh found the ball in space and ran into goal from 30 metres out, it was all over.
Eddy was voted best-on-ground for the winners, followed by Connor Little, Tom Schneider, Dylan Loprese (three goals), Tom Hamilton and Mark Collison.
Best for Morwell was Tristen Waack, Burkeley Macfarlane, Blake Couling, Darnell Grech, Mcauliffe and Max Linton.
Drouin broke through for its first win of the season, after defeating the travelling Bairnsdale by 27 points.
Wild scenes erupted in the Hawks’ rooms, following their 10.20 (80) to 8.5 (53) victory.
The win was followed by even better news, when it was confirmed Gary Ablett Jr, whose family grew up in Drouin, would be playing a game for the Hawks next month.
Good news did not come the way of Drouin’s western neighbours Warragul, who were crushed by league-leaders Leongatha.
A severely depleted Warragul did well to field a team, and duly lost 26.24 (180) to 5.3 (33) at Parrot Park.
The shortage of players meant the Gulls had to forfeit the reserves.
