By Marcus Uhe
A grand final awaits for Emerald in Outer East’s Division One competition, having dusted off the disappointment of last week’s extra time loss to Berwick Springs with a 25-point win over Healesville on Sunday at Woori Yallock.
The Bombers had their work cut-out for them for three quarters with a plucky Bloods side playing with nothing to lose keeping them honest for much of the contest, but the bigger bodies didn’t get any smaller as the game wore on, allowing Sein Clearihan’s side to prevail 15.15 105 to 12.8 80.
Healesville danger-man Sam Gebert made an immediate impact on the contest by getting some airtime and opening the scoring in the first minute of the game, putting the Bombers on the back foot early, before the minor premiers steadied with the next two.
Callum White looked lively on his return to football after missing last week’s semi final as pressure in the Bombers’ forward half caused Healesville defenders all kinds of issues, forcing rushed kicks and turnovers.
Nerves were evident in both sets of jumpers, the ability to hit targets inside 50 unravelling skilful threads from further afield.
The Bombers’ want to use the corridor and playing attacking football from the back half was proving high-risk high-reward as the Bloods took full toll on turnover.
Emerald led by eight points at quarter time and Adrian Russo quickly made it 14, rewarded for his tenacity inside forward 50 after wrapping-up a Healesville opponent, but every time they threatened to pull away, Gebert found an answer.
Goals were traded throughout the second term, until a run of three from the Bloods saw them snatch the lead after 20 minutes thanks to a dominant period of possession.
They Bloods were able to pick their way through the Emerald defence from the back half, while also squeezing the ground and locking the ball in the forward half.
Gebert quickly had four, wreaking havoc and providing an assist in a Toby Greene-like performance.
It was up to the mature head of Josh Rich to put the Bombers back on track, held at a stoppage and converting the resulting free-kick to give his side a slight edge at the long break.
The Bombers were winning the inside 50 count 30-21 and dominated clearances 13-6 in the second quarter, but Clearihan needed more, imploring his players at half time to stick to their structures and game plan that had netted them top spot on the ladder and made them such a dominant force all season.
The cream rises to the top in finals footy, and Emerald’s big names began to rise to the occasion.
Russo ended an early-half stalemate by kicking the first of the third quarter, before Rogan Goonan twisted and turned to shake off defenders and find David Johnson deep forward, to stretch the lead to 14.
Russo’s footy smarts came to the fore minutes later, tapping the ball into space for White to run on to and goal, but Gebert and Max Donegan were almost single-handedly keeping Healesville afloat.
For all of Emerald’s control in the third term, they were unable to kick more than three goals clear in what was a genuine arm-wrestle.
17 points separated the two at the final change, Clearihan imploring his men to give one final quarter of effort.
Frustrations were beginning to show from the Bombers, Ben Wilsmore kicking the opening goal of the fourth term before a series of indiscretions saw Healesville marched 50 metres up the field out of their back half.
The resulting inside 50 saw Donegan take another mark and get crunched in the aftermath, but another 25 metre penalty was rescinded after Healesville tempers boiled-over, making a certain goal that would have reduced the margin to single figures, a critical miss.
The Bombers soon after made Donegan pay, a five-minute blitz of three goals blowing the game open midway through the quarter.
Composure from Isaac Seskis in the forward 50 saw him find Lachlan Hoye, who goaled from distance to spark his teammates, Emerald’s first goal in nearly 20 minutes of football. Ruck Jared Derksen pounced on a turnover in the Emerald forward half only moments later to push the lead to a game-high 24 points, Seskis goaling shortly after to make it a 32-point gap and ultimately putting the result beyond doubt.
Red and black jumpers assembled behind the ball for the dying stages as the Bombers protected the lead with the clock ticking away, the final siren confirming what was expected for much of the year; that the Bombers would be playing-off for the Division One crown.
An emotional Clearihan sung the praises of his side and its ability to shake off the agony of the previous week.
“I think when you get done in the second semi and then you go through all the emotions of the week, you look at a lot of negatives, then you find a plus, but then there’s three negatives,” he said.
“The boys hung in there and stuck to the system.
“That’s what I told them at three-quarter-time; the reason you’ve been on-top all year is because you play structured football. If you deviate away from that, you’ll lose the game, but trust one-another and trust the system and you’ll win the game.
“You can’t take too much away from Healesville, they came to play too. A grand final is up for grabs, they weren’t going to fade away.”
Rich, Dale Karacsonyi and Steven Paull were among the most influential on the ground for the Bombers, while Goonan still caused havoc for his opponents despite a rare goalless game.
White looked like he had hardly missed a bit, kicking three and re-establishing his dynamic combination with Johnson, who recovered from what was feared to be a hamstring tare the previous week, downgraded to a glute strain.
For Healesville, Gebert finished with six goals and had claims for being the best player on the ground, while Nick Mende, Daniel Plozza and Liam Daly were all key contributors.
