NIRRANDA has staked a genuine claim as a premiership contender and will enter next Saturday’s preliminary final as the in-form outfit after the Blues held firm to secure a rousing two-point victory over Kolora-Noorat.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Blues are now set to focus on recovery to ensure they are unaffected by the six-day turnaround leading into a preliminary final against reigning premier Dennington.
A Joey Conheady goal on the siren wasn’t enough to stop the Power exiting the Warrnambool and District Football Netball League finals in straight sets, after they fell to both Dennington and Nirranda in the first two weeks of finals football.
Nirranda’s contested ball efforts and goalkicking accuracy was too much for Kolora-Noorat, with the Blues’ 12.8 (80) overcoming the Power’s 11.12 (78).
“The break that we had (a 22-point lead at three quarter time) was just enough in the end,” Blues coach Shane Threlfall said.
“We just got some good stoppages and held them up, with some good in-tight stoppages and we controlled the footy.
“We needed to win the contested footy because that’s our strength, but we also had to get a bit on the outside because we knew they’d open us up on the outside. We made a big effort to go with them on the outside but I think for most of the day, we were pretty good at slowing them down.”
The ball barely crossed into the Blues’ attacking half in the final term, with Kolora-Noorat fighting hard to keep its grand final dream alive.
The Power were hampered by injuries to key on-baller Matt Hayden (hand) – who went down within the first five minutes of play – and star big man Glen Manson.
Threlfall said he was “really proud” of his side’s ability to absorb pressure.
“They really stood up,” he said.
“The community of Nirranda is right behind us. It’s fantastic for them to wait as long as they have to see it. I always think about the volunteers that have been here for 17 years, day-in-day-out, doing the hard work.
“This is a bit of reward for those people.”
The Standard understands both gun full-forward Gary Robinson and hard-running backman Grayden Russell suffered injuries late in the clash. Robinson was subbed out of the game after booting an unmatched five goals in the game. Threlfall said it was still uncertain how serious the injuries were.