Lancaster’s dream run comes to an end

by Gus UnderwoodLANCASTER’S hot finals run was doused in no uncertain matter by a more robust and slicker Tallygaroopna in last Saturday’s Kyabram District Football League preliminary final at Dookie.In what was a 184 point turnaround from its 99 point thumping by Nagambie in the second semi-final the previous week, Tally took the sluggish Wombats to the cleaners in a 95 points - 21.14 to 8.7 - demolition to book its spot in the season decider against Nagambie this Saturday at Mooroopna.Rebounding from its walloping the previous week when not at full strength Tally was in command from the start on Saturday, jumping the Wombats by kicking the first five goals of the game.It was obvious even then Lancaster was in trouble and it got no better as the game progressed.Bustling Tally midfielders and onballers in Adam Brassil, Matt Pianto, Tim Karolidis, Jayden Goodwin and Austin Tricaro won the tough ball and supplied a smorgasbord of chances for the team’s forwards Josh Wellington, Jai Utiger, Sean Arnold, Heath Barton and Tyson Sidebottom.They kicked 16 of Tally’s goals and Lancaster didn’t have enough manpower to contain them.Fly-in Lancaster player Tom Davies started winning some of the ball after a slow start but Lancaster had no playmakers to make a sizeable impact on the game.Defender Adam Vick continued his fine season and worked tirelessly on a class opponent in Sidebottom and forwards Nic Ryan, Zac Cerrone and Billy Ryan were able to make an impact at times.Besim Besim, Brad Orr, Steve Thomson and Jack Donnell also battled hard to the bitter end but with Tally dominating the centre balls ups and clearances the Lancaster’s defence was under siege all game.Key forward Billy Ryan sparked to life in the third term to kick three successive goals, but Tally also slotted three goals to hold its commanding lead going into the final stanza.Tally went on with it again in the last term to kick seven goals to Lancaster two to further increase its winning margin in the remarkable turnaround.‘‘We were cooked after two previous hard finals games,’’ said Lancaster coach Corey Caver.‘‘We hardly fired a shot really and they were a lot harder at the ball than us.’’But Carver, who has been reappointed for next season, said at the start of the season if he was offered a top three finish he would have taken it.‘‘We virtually came from seventh spot to get as far as we did so that’s a big plus.‘‘We have to try and pick a couple more strong bodied recruits to take the next step,’’ added Carver.The 64 dollar question now teasing league fans is: Can Tally reverse two heavy recent defeats by Nagambie in the season decider this Saturday at Mooroopna?Tally was too bad to be true when undermanned and thrashed by the Lakers by 99 points two weeks ago in the second semi final. Although it is expected to make a lot of improvement on that effort Nagambie holds a massive mental edge for this showdown.