Monders book spot in Premier C, Rovers eye off Krushers

Sig Arness

The weather gods could not have been kinder, providing a beautiful, finals-announcing Saturday for Ormond and Hampton Rovers to strut their stuff on the verdant expanses of Elsternwick Park. The Monders, relishing the benign spring conditions, carried on from where they left off last week and had the Rovers on the ropes with still a quarter to play.

Sunday dawned with cloud cover and a cooler temperature for the elimination clash at Northcote’s Bill Lawry Oval, where the Krushers and the Lions squared off to stay alive in the flag and promotion race. Therry Penola deserve admiration as they engineered a massive turnaround from their 106 point flogging a week previous, ultimately failing by the most exiguous of margins. For Oakleigh, the amazing run – and the dream – stays alive.

The second semi had, as usual, the double carrot dangled in the countenance of the eventually successful club. Win, and promotion is guaranteed. Win, and a grand final appearance beckons. Ormond had set the standard with their meritorious (albeit narrow) victory the week before, and played throughout as if they believed they had the Rovers’ measure. It was tough, tight and uncompromising early, Christian Carnovale and Anthony Folino busy for Hampton, Jeremy Simon and Jake Lever pressing for the Monders, who edged to a 14-point half-time lead after the teams had been deadlocked at the first break. Then the decisive move came, as Ormond put the foot down with a six goal to one third stanza, leaving the Rovers with an unsurmountable recovery mission to perform in the last 25 minutes. Jack McCartney, Travis Hine and Sam Mason shared in the goalkicking spoils with a pair each, and it was the impetus provided around the ground by Max Kennedy and Chris Coghlan that manoeuvred the Monders to a virtually unassailable position. Hampton Rovers also had a trio of dual goal scorers – Matthew Rienets, Richard Atkins, Anthony Folino – and indefatigable triers in James Prosser, Liam McCartney and Kyle Pinto. Two wins and a draw from three meetings now gives Ormond an irrefutable, confidence-boosting edge over the Rovers, should they be fated to lock horns one more time in the premiership decider.

Sunday’s first semi was going to require a phenomenal improvement from Therry Penola were they even to mitigate, let alone orchestrate retribution for, the embarrassing hiding Oakleigh had handed them the week before. Limiting Aaron Cloke to a respectable number was a priority mission, and one at which they failed as he bagged another haul of eight, although that output was largely nullified by five to Jarryd and three to Jordan Bannister. The Lions’ early intent was palpable, as they peppered the goals in the opening quarter but unearthed another unwelcome enemy – inaccuracy – and, despite nine shots to four, had no lead to show for it. And that came back to haunt them in the ensuing quarter, as the Krushers banged on seven goals to one, with Luke Pappon and James Hunt joining their indomitable spearhead in setting up what at that stage had the harbingers of another rout. Mitch Trimble and Jedd Taylor were among a number of Lions who had other ideas, sparking a frantic third-quarter six goal to one revival that set up the match for a breathtaking finish. As they’ve done so often during their barnstorming run, Oakleigh once again found a way to hold on oh so narrowly, in no small part due to the resilience of Pat Ioannidis, Nick Seel and the remarkably reliable Liam Gillard. It was a gut-wrenching finale to the season for the likes of Jarrod and Brock Egglestone and Justin Crotty, who tried their absolute hearts out for Therry Penola.

PREVIEW:

The action shifts to Sandringham’s Trevor Barker Oval for the much anticipated preliminary final, focussing on two teams with very different paths leading to this showdown. It would mean unimaginable heartbreak for the Rovers to lose this, having set the pace all year and only once surrendering ladder leadership (albeit briefly, to Ormond after a hiccup in Round 12). The last meeting between these teams occurred in Round 15, and was also the last time Oakleigh tasted defeat. That day, the Rovers jumped the Krushers early, then held sway for a reasonably comfortable victory. But it might be worth remembering that Oakleigh, despite succumbing by 13 points, still had the better of the scoring shots, and also had their champion full-forward held to a rare low three goals – a containment the Rovers may need to replicate to keep the boys from Scammell in check. Conversely, the run from the Krushers started from humble beginnings, and what they have pieced together since Round 7 has been nothing short of astounding – the abovementioned their only loss in 12 outings. Based on ladder positions, they may still go in as underdogs. Will fate be cruel and stop their momentum in its tracks at the penultimate hurdle? Or will they deny Hampton a fourth crack at the Monders? Either result will leave a tinge of sadness for us “tragics”, a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in sight for the victors….