The Courier |
DEFEAT had a sobering aftermath for Creswick players as they supported an injured teammate in the change rooms on Saturday.
Pacian Netherway broke his leg in the third quarter against Hepburn, which ran out comfortable winner by 42 points.
It was a tight-knit group who gave words of support and encouragement to Netherway as an ambulance crew prepared him for the trip to hospital.
It was a heart breaking result all round as the Wickers had all but blown their chances of finals as well.
Hepburn trailed by three points going into the second term then turned up the heat to lead by two goals at half time.
The Burras took a stranglehold on the game after that and frustrated Creswick attempts to counter attack.
While more experienced players from both sides battled on, two youngsters with only a few senior games under their belts shone.
Hepburn’s Finn Annscombe impressed and Creswick’s Brad Dunbar even kicked a goal – the Wickers’ only score in the last half.
The Burras had stars like Daniel Rees, Ken Cummings, Andy McKay and Lee Cox firing.
But the limelight reached out to others like Dan O’Halloran, Alan Ware, Brendan Sutcliffe, Sigifilli Asa Leausa and the stumbling block on the backline Daniel Smith.
O’Halloran booted three goals, Cox, three, McKay, two, and Jim Rodgers, Mitch McKay, Cummings and Sutcliffe one each.
Finding the best players in a losing side can be hard but Creswick’s Sam Gibson, Mick Lockyer, Tom Cooper, Michael Griffin and Steve Patterson can take a bow. Some players just had to do the hard yards for little recognition.
Players like Lachlan Griffiths, Alex Code and Joel Antonio were among those who battled.
Hepburn coach Clive Raak wasn’t happy with the slow start but picked out the third quarter for criticism.
“It was a bit disappointing. We went forward a number of times but just didn’t get the results we wanted to,” he said.
“All in all, we were pleased with the team’s performance. It was a massive game for them (Wickers)... to double their score was pleasing.
“Good thing about the win is that we have no injuries out of the game and we have other players ready to come into the team.”
And what about the run to the finals? Raak said he was looking forward to it.
“We’ve got two big games coming up. It’ll be interesting to see where we’re at,” he said.
Hepburn takes on Buninyong next Saturday and Bungaree the week after.
It was another hard day for Creswick coach Len Watson.
“It’s been a tale of our season ... we just can’t string four quarters together,” he said.
“We knew Hepburn would be a difficult task today but we were confident if we could play four quarters (like we did in the first half) we could get them.
“We threw everything at them ... but we made some errors by foot and by hand. Some decisions moving forward were poor at times. It cost us.
“Look, they’re a young group, they’re learning. They’ve made a big improvement as far as I’m concerned.”
The Creswick coach also paid tribute to injured player Netherway as a “dedicated club man and respected by all.”
