bendigoadvertiser.com.
au
Late goals
clinch win
for Leitchy
Bombers defeat North Bendigo
to book berth in grand final
SECOND SEMI-FINAL
BY LUKE WEST
UNLIKE the previous two
one-sided encounters this
year between the power-
house sides, Saturdays
Heathcote District league
second semi-final between
Leitchville-Gunbower and
North Bendigo delivered on
the high expectation.
At the 24-minute mark
of the final quarter less
than a kick separated the
fierce rivals as the Bulldogs
led by two points and had
the momentum.
However, the Bombers
wrested back the ascendan-
cy over the last five minutes,
kicking the final two goals of
the game to win 14.13 (97)
to 12.15 (87) in an absorbing
contest at Lockington.
The 10-point win pro-
pels the Bombers into their
third-consecutive grand final
all of which have come off
the back of second semi-fi-
nal victories.
Like they have the previ-
ous two years when they won
premierships at the expense
of Leitchville-Gunbower, the
Bulldogs will again have to
go through the preliminary
final if they are to earn a
crack at a third flag in a row.
The Bombers were in dan-
ger of blowing a game they
had led by 22 points at three
Huntly staves off surge from Hoppers
FIRST SEMI-FINAL
HUNTLY withstood a furious
last-quarter surge from Col-
binabbin on Sunday to book
its spot in the Heathcote Dis-
trict league preliminary final.
The Hawks won 14.16
(100) to 12.12 (84) in tricky
and cold conditions and for
the third time in the past five
seasons will now meet rivals
North Bendigo in the pre-
liminary final for the right to
take on Leitchville-Gunbow-
er for the flag.
The Hawks looked like
they would coast to victory in
the first semi-final at North
Bendigo when they led Col-
HEATHCOTE DISTRICT FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE SPORT
quarter-time when the Bull-
dogs unleashed their best
burst of play for the day in the
final term and pressed hard.
The Bulldogs had the first
nine scoring shots of the
final quarter as they heaped
pressure on the under-siege
Bombers defence with re-
peat inside 50 entries.
The Bulldogs return of
3.6 which included goals to
Jaran McKay, captain Jordan
Ford and Brady Herdman
handed them a two-point
advantage, 12.14 to 12.12.
However, the Bombers
wouldnt be denied and
against the flow of play they
found the goal to take back
the lead when Matt Ladson
played on after a free kick was
awarded to Matt Perri and
handballed to Daniel Coates,
who kicked his fourth.
Both sides then traded
behinds before the Bombers
Ryan Prendergast kicked the
sealer when he marked deep
in the pocket and converted
the set-shot to send Leitch-
ville-Gunbower into the
grand final and create anoth-
er opportunity to win its first
flag since 1995.
We worked really hard
in the third quarter to open
up what should have been
a match-winning lead, but
we handed the momentum
back to North with a couple
of errors, Bombers coach
FIRST SEMI
Result
Huntly 14.16 (100) d
Colbinabbin 12.12 (84)
binabbin who had kicked
just seven goals by 33
points at three quarter-time.
But with their backs to the
wall, Colbinabbin lifted and
unleashed a five-goal burst
in the first 12 minutes of the
final term as a game that had
been meandering along with
Huntly in control for most of
it sprung to life.
The Hawks could barely
Matt Hawken said.
We had to really fight
hard today and were obvi-
ously really pleased to get
over the line with those cou-
ple of late goals.
The Bombers had to dig
deep given they lost gun
ruckman Michael Pilcher to
a corkie during the first half,
which came on top of their
other ruckman, Lee Pollock,
withdrawing from the team
with a back spasm.
That left inclusion Ashton
Dye in the role of No.1 ruck-
man, but when he too suf-
fered a corkie, the Bombers
were forced to call on both
Prendergast and Joel Done-
hue to step into the ruck.
The Bombers who have
now won 12 games in a row
were also dealt a blow in the
dying minutes when forward
Jack Dye suffered a collar-
bone injury that Hawken
concedes will rule him out of
the September 9 grand final.
In a heated game with
plenty of scuffles, it featured
five lead changes during
the second quarter as both
teams wrestled for control.
The Bulldogs led by 15
points early in the second
term after Jordan Ford
soared to take a pack mark
and convert the goal North
Bendigos fifth in a row but
by half-time the Bombers
had weathered the storm and
get their hands on the ball
as Colbinabbin coach Nick
Knight (two), Damien Car-
mody, David Price and Tim
ODwyer all kicked goals
in an re-energised 12-min-
ute blitz.
ODwyers goal when he
marked a pass from Knight
closed the Hawks lead to just
two points. What had been a
game they had on their terms
for much of the day was all of
a sudden in danger of slip-
ping from the Hawks grasp.
However, Huntly halted
Colbinabbins momentum
with a steadying goal to Chris
Gleeson, who slotted his
Monday August 28, 2017
HEATED: There was plenty of feeling in Saturday's second semi-final clash between
North Bendigo and Leitchville-Gunbower. Picture: LUKE HEMER, RIVERINE HERALD
built a nine-point advantage
after they cleaned up their
disposal going inside 50.
With their midfield on top
and their run damaging on
the big ground, the Bombers
made their move in the third
quarter, kicking 4.4 to 2.3,
with the ball spending the
bulk of the term in Leitch-
ville-Gunbowers front half.
The Bombers held sway
12.12 to 9.8 at three quar-
ter-time ahead of what be-
came a gripping final quarter.
Unlike last week, key for-
ward Perri had his kicking
boots on for the Bombers,
finishing with 6.1, which
included three goals in the
second term.
Five of Perris goals came
from marks, while the lively
fourth with a snap, and when
Daniel Paterson surged from
a stoppage to add another,
the Hawks were preliminary
final-bound.
Colbo came at us hard
in the last quarter, but it was
pleasing the way we were
able to turn the momentum
and find a way to win, Huntly
co-coach Jamie Hogan said.
Stacy Fiske (hamstring
niggle) and Michel Ryan
(groin) both ended the
game on the sidelines for
the Hawks, who were never
headed from the six-minute
mark of the second quarter.
The Hawks led by 22 points
BENDIGO ADVERTISER
SECOND SEMI
RESULT
Leitchville-Gunbower
14.13 (97) d North
Bendigo 12.15 (87)
Coates with four goals and
impressive Jackson McEwen
off half-back were among the
Bombers top players.
Usual forward Ayden Wal-
ton had a new role in defence
on Sam Barnes, who kicked
three goals, while Steve Pret-
ty held the other Bulldogs
X-factor forward, Herdman,
to just one goal.
For the Bulldogs, Jordan
Ford played an outstanding
captains game, firstly up
forward where he kicked
at half-time 6.11 to 3.7 but
squandered the chance to be
further in front after blowing
plenty of chances inside 50 in
the second quarter.
The Hawks whose first six
set-shots of the game were all
behinds dominated play in
the second term, yet were
wayward in front of goal with
a return of 5.8.
The Grasshoppers added
four goals in the third term,
but couldnt string together
the multiple goals in a row
they needed as the Hawks
answered each one and
added another two to ex-
tend their advantage to 33
25
three goals, and then when
shifted to defence in the fi-
nal quarter.
Ryan Gow was super in
the ruck and his work in the
middle was pivotal in spark-
ing the Bulldogs in the final
quarter, while wingman Nick
Waterson picked up plenty of
possessions.
We know weve got to
play four quarters of good
footy against Leitchville to
beat them and we let our-
selves down in the second
and third, North Bendigo
coach Rob Bennett said.
We just didnt put enough
pressure on through the mid-
field, but well regroup early
in the week and get ourselves
ready for whoever we play
next Saturday (Huntly).
points at the final change.
The loss was the second
year in a row the Grass-
hoppers have bowed out in
the first semi-final to fin-
ish fourth.
We gave ourselves a
sniff in the last quarter, but
to Huntlys credit, we just
couldnt get our noses in
front and they were able to
answer what we threw at
them, said reappointed Col-
binabbin coach Knight, who
kicked 3.5 for the game.
The boys showed a lot of
character in the last quarter
and really gritted their teeth.
LUKE WEST