Gisborne has ended the home and away season with wins all round for their three teams, the seniors, reserves and under 18s.
The senior boys hosted Golden Square at Gisborne’s Gardiner Reserve and the Dogs were determined to win in front of their home crowd.
The first term was controlled by Gisborne from the first bounce with the Dogs having eight scoring shots to take a 20-point lead at the break.
The second term saw the game open up with both sides kicking three goals, although the windy conditions were making it difficult to kick accurately. Gisborne went into the main break with a 19-point lead.
Gisborne wasn’t able to capitalise on opportunities in the second half and this was keeping Square in the game. The winning margin ended up being 17 points to Gisborne and now it’s finals time with Gisborne finishing third on the ladder, although the outcome of the weekend’s match was not going to change this.
They are now looking for a win against Eaglehawk next Saturday at 6pm at Bendigo’s QEO in the qualifying final.
Under 18s
Gisborne U18s got off to a good start with the first goal of the match but then conceded the next three. A goal just on quarter-time left Gisborne four points down at the first break. The score was 14 -18 points.
With the advantage of the breeze, Gisborne managed to hold Golden Square scoreless while kicking two goals to take a 10-point lead into half-time, 28-18.
The game opened up in the third quarter and Golden Square used the ball well to outscore Gisborne by four goals to three.
Gisborne held onto a slender lead of three points at three-quarter-time. With a top three spot on the line, the Gisborne boys lifted in the final quarter and despite a bit of inaccuracy, the team was able to run out 19-point winners. The team look forward to taking on Sandhurst in the first final next weekend. The final score was 63-44 points.
Goal kickers for the match were L. Weber, J. Hickmott 2, J. Bannan, J. McDonald, J. Ozanne, F. Schipano and L. Shore 1.
Best players for the match were F. Lakey, J. Hickmott, T. Collings, J. Ozanne, A. Brancatisano and J. Ellings.
Reserves
The Reserves put in a good team performance against Golden Square. The game started evenly with the Bulldogs leading by one goal at quarter-time. As the game progressed the boys managed to apply the pressure resulting in a 54-point victory. The Reserves had eight individual goal kickers for the day with Hayden Doricic leading the way with three. Best players were D. Rocard, A. Whitford, H. Doricic, M. Monaghan, A. Belcher and B. Pemberton.
