Left: Gippsland Power defender Josh Tynan just manages to get his kick off in time as a Sandringham opponent prepares to lay a tackle.
By Gavin Staindl
THE most accurate way of summing up Gippsland Power’s embarrassing qualifying final loss may have come at the end of the first quarter at Visy Park on Saturday.
That’s when a Power official asked Essendon star Dyson Heppell if he still had a Power jumper that fitted.
The former Gippsland captain and favourite for the AFL rising star award returned to his under-18 club, offering support and advice, but no doubt Gippsland would have preferred him on the park as Sandringham knocked off the Power by 44 points.
Gippsland returns to Visy Park for Sunday’s do-or-die final against Oakleigh and faces the same team that kick-started Gippsland’s run of four consecutive losses last month.
Since then, Gippsland has lost each game by an average of 30 points, with Saturday’s loss to the Dragons the worst of a bad bunch.
Accurate kicking in the first quarter gave the Power an early sense of hope and even though the sign out the front of the canteen said “snags for $2.50”, Gippsland struggled to snag a goal at any price in the second and third quarters.
By three-quarter-time, Gippsland hadn’t kicked a behind, but its accuracy in front of the sticks made no difference to the 58-point lead Sandringham held heading into the final break.
Despite a mini-revival in the fourth term, Gippsland trudged from the ground with the imposing late-afternoon shadow reminding the players they might well be in the twilight of their season.
From the start Gippsland was under the pump as leading ball-winner Clay Smith came from the ground with a deep cork sustained in the opening five minutes.
Smith was rested forward for the majority of the game and while he still menaced the Sandringham defence, the lack of clearances became an imposing issue for Gippsland.
But Power midfield coach Scott McDougal said as long as the team kept digging in, anything could happen.
“To win these games (finals) everything has to go your way, so it wasn’t helpful when we lost our best on-baller,” McDougal said.
Smith has been given the nod to start on Sunday and McDougal said his team was not shying away from the clash.
“We believe Oakleigh is one of the better sides in the competition, but we wouldn’t prefer to play anyone else,” McDougal said.
“We don’t want to be limping through the finals and if we do get over Oakleigh, it will instil a lot of confidence in the boys.
“All we can ask is they keep fighting, and they have.
“At no stage have they thrown the towel in, it’s something that comes with being at Gippsland Power, you just don’t give in.”Sandringham Dragons
4.3 11.4 16.10 19.12 (126)
Gippsland Power
4.0 5.0 8.0 13.4 (82)
GOALS – Sandringham: F. Roberts, J. Paine 3, L. Sumner, Y. Zijai, A. Anastasio 2, J. Williams, J. Coleman, B. Seccull, T. Tyquin, S. Woodard, S. Glennen, T. Temay. Gippsland: S. Deery 3, W. Hams, S. Lange, T. Muir 2, R. Hall, J. Huts, J. Staley, H. Hector.
BEST – Sandringham: K. Ong, F. Roberts, Y. Zijai, A. Woodward, J. Paine, B. Seccull.
Gippsland: D. Butcher, J. Tynan, W. Hams, T. Muir, C. Smith, R. Hall.
