Season ends with a whimper

By Marc McGowan
THE Berwick Miners took to the field on Sunday knowing they had no chance of making the finals.
The Western Crusaders provided the upset of the Gridiron Victoria season on Saturday when they pipped the previously undefeated Monash University Warriors to snare fourth place on the ladder.
Berwick needed to beat the Croydon Rangers at home on Sunday and was also relying on the Crusaders losing to the Warriors to reach the finals.
But ultimately neither scenario took place as the Miners settled for a 6-6 draw with the Rangers in a lacklustre affair.
Croydon hit the front five minutes into the final term before a Sam Walker rushing touchdown locked up the scores.
Berwick head coach Mel Martin gave his players the choice of kicking the extra point or going for the two-point conversion and they chose the latter.
The Miners failed on the resulting play and neither team could produce the match-winning score from there.
Donte Newton, Mark Petana, Scott Sunderland and Sam Walker – again switching between offence and defence – were Berwick’s best.
Steve Baker, who recently represented Australia in the sport, Josh Luke, Newton and Petana all played their last games for the Miners on the weekend.
Martin, back in charge after spending time with NFL side the Oakland Raiders in the US, was naturally disappointed.
“It was the same old story – we had chances, but we just didn’t take them,” he said.
“We knew we were out of the finals before the start of the game, but when you leave your destiny in other people’s hands you have no-one else to blame but yourself.
“When we look back at the season’s games, we lost by less than a touchdown in five of them … we had plenty of opportunities throughout the season that we didn’t take.”
Berwick’s junior training has begun and is being held at 6pm on Mondays and 2pm on Saturdays and more players are needed.