Gulls see off dangerous Eagles

by Nicholas Duck
Warragul's hopes of a top three finish took a significant step on Saturday after a hard-fought 22-point win over Maffra.
The Gulls were put through their paces by a tenacious Eagles team on a blustery day but were able to break clear thanks to a powerful second quarter display that saw them kick five goals to one, building a lead that would never be headed.
The 10.15 (75) to 7.11 (53) result sees Warragul move eight points clear inside the top three as they continue to hunt a double chance come finals time.
After falling behind early thanks in part to a swirling breeze favouring the Eagles' end of the ground the Gulls settled past quarter time, making the most of the conditions to turn a 10-point deficit at quarter time into a 16-point lead at the half.
Maffra were their own worst enemy at times, committing some catastrophic errors out of their backline to hand the Gulls goals and wasting their chances up forward.
A run of six straight behinds to end the third quarter was particularly egregious, allowing Warragul to keep them at arm's length for win number 11.
Tom Hobbs was again at the forefront for the victors, running through the midfield and impacting inside 50 when required to be Warragul's best.
Defender Sean Masterson got off the chain, reading the play and getting a well-timed fist or mark on a host of Maffra kicks inside 50.
Masterson was helped by a great showing down back by Kai MacLean, who has built into the role over the past few weeks to help cover for the team's injuries.
Tom Stern played another great game at centre half forward while forward Keenan Boi – in his first senior game of the year - showed every bit of his craft with two brilliant goals. Watching Boi in action it's not hard to see why the Hawthorn Next Generation Academy prospect has spent most of the year plying his trade for Gippsland Power and Vic Country.
Sam Whibley rounded out Warragul's best, bouncing back to consistently combine with his midfield and give them first use.
Max Stobie led the way for the Eagles, racking up touches and looking dangerous every time he got near the ball in the middle and inside 50.
Defender Will Burgiel was a mostly steady hand down back as Macauley Pendergast, Jack Armstrong, Alex Carr and Seth Smith (four goals) all impressed.
It took 13 minutes for the game's first goal but less than 30 seconds for its second in a bizarre play that saw Smith handed two majors in a minute.
Smith was awarded a high free kick and nailed it, only to be given the ball again for what looked like a Warragul player making his thoughts known to the umpire, taking the same shot from the same spot for the same result.
A long ball into Warragul's forward line ended with Stern running in the Gulls' first, but Smith struck again when he plucked the ball out of a contest one-handed and snapped a beauty mid-tackle.
Jed Lamb hit the scoreboard early in the second shortly before the Butchers combined for Maffra's response – Danny cleverly tapped the ball back over his head to John, who shrugged off a tackle to goal.
A couple of free kicks weren't to the home crowd's liking but allowed Henry Allsop and Lamb to put the Gulls ahead.
However, there was no doubting the legitimacy of their next major. Keenan Boi put through the goal of the day when he took possession outside 50, wheeled around and found his target with the accuracy of a long-distance sniper to send his teammates into raucous cheers.
Now down on the scoreboard the Eagles were also down on confidence, a wayward kick out of defence landing in the lap of Gulls winger Caleb McIntosh. McIntosh chipped to Brad Hefford, who sent the Gulls into the sheds hot off a four-goal streak.
Smith got his fourth for the day only for the goal to quickly be cancelled out courtesy of a textbook Gulls goal – Whibley tapped it down Hobbs' throat, who thumped it long and Finn Sheehan expertly roved the marking contest.
That turned out to be the most exciting minute of the third quarter as Maffra let chance after chance go begging, ending the term with a goal's worth of behinds.
Hobbs punished that inaccuracy in the fourth quarter, putting through a set shot major. Although Max Stobie picked off the next one, yet another horror kick in defence let Hefford keep the Gulls ahead.
And just in case there was still any doubt the game was over Boi reached into his bag of party tricks again – coming in for a set shot beyond the arc, he baulked around Will Burgiel on the mark, running in his second and slamming the door on Maffra.
Speaking post-game, Ayres was happy to have navigated a real danger game.
"Clearly the boys had to contend with some pretty tricky conditions, it was pretty windy up there," he said.
"I thought actually in the first quarter we were able to play a way that held them up to a degree. And then of course the second term set the game up for us.
"We certainly had to defend because they way they score launch is from their defensive area, they run, overlap handball and if you retreat that opens up space for them."
Warragul will now face a brutal three-week stretch of footy, taking on Traralgon, Leongatha and Moe in successive weeks.
If they want that top three spot they'll be earning it, beginning this week with their past players day against the Maroons.