by Jim Gordon
Ouyen United and Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers clash in the Grand Final of the Mallee Football League at Woomelang on Saturday.
The Tigers have had a great end to their season and will take a lot of confidence from their exciting win against Beulah in the Preliminary Final. Unfortunately, they will need a lot more than confidence, as they come up against a side that has not lost since Round 9 and has defeated the Tigers the three times they have met this season. They also come up against a side with a prodigious amount of talent, strength and experience all over the ground and a desire to win a premiership after coming runners up for the past two seasons.
The odds are stacked heavily against the Tigers. Ouyen United was the highest scoring side in the Mallee Football League by a long way this year. They have a star studded forward line led by MFL leading goal kicker Sonny Lindsey, who kicked his one hundredth goal for the season two weeks ago against Beulah. The strongly built high marking Bradley Vallance has dominated his centre half forward position this year and also finished high up on the goal kicking table.
The Ouyen United defence had fewer points kicked against them than any other side in the MFL this season. Andrew Jardine has just about been impassable at centre half back, he is backed up by his bother Dean on a flank and cousin Brenton who loves to get the ball and run. If he does run, he is rarely caught with the result that the ball can be lodged from defence, deep into attack.
Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers have not beaten Ouyen United since their victory over the Demons in the 2009 Grand Final although they ran them close two weeks ago in the final match of the home and away games.
In that match, Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers were playing for a spot in the finals and with Ouyen United firmly ensconced on top of the ladder, the Demons had little to play for. Although the result was only 15 points in United’s favour at the end of the day, they really should have won by a wider margin as they looked in control all day and had ten more scoring shots than the Tigers.
Nevertheless, it was a good performance from Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers. Right from the very first bounce they looked like they meant business and it was one of their best displays for the year. They were relentless in the pressure they applied to their opposition and it was similar to the endeavour that they showed against Beulah last week when they ran all day using their superior teamwork to continually hassle the Beulah players when they got the ball.
Another good sign for Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers was that in the earlier meeting, their defence had the better of the gun Ouyen United forwards with Nathan Wight holding Sonny Lindsey to two goals, Bradley Vallance not his usual dominant self and Dom Leach was held goalless.
The Tiger defence also did well against Beulah. Luke Martin had the better of Jason Turnbull, John Guthrie was highly effective in a pocket and Col Durie could be seen helping out down back when needed. The Tigers were prepared to do the hard work, punch the ball and back each other up. They will need to replicate this form again against the Demons because that same forward line that was flat against them last time, was ominous against Beulah in the second semi and made the Blues look very fragile down back.
At the other end of the ground, the Ouyen United defence has played well all year. Usually Adam O’Callaghan lines up on Tiger Joshua Longeri, although Ben Mole picked him up last time. Whoever gets him will need to play him close as Longeri can do a lot of damage running forward as he did in the first half against Beulah.
It is in the midfield that we can expect the class of Ouyen United to shine. Glenn Joyce has had a great season and he combines well with Marc Hahnel and Peter Caldow. With Ryan O’Callaghan and Brett Knowles thrown in, the Ouyen United midfield crew could be too good for their well credentialed opponents, no matter how much of the ball Col Durie gets.
A feature of their game against Beulah was the tackling of the Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers. They never gave the Blues the freedom they have become used to and used their pace on the wide open spaces of the Underbool oval to run the ball into attack.
Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers do not look to be as tall or as strong all over the ground as their Demon opponents, but they do have an ability to get numbers at the ball, an ability to fully utilise the wide open spaces and a desire to back each other up when the going gets tough.
None exemplified this last week more than Tiger John Foskett who could be seen running all day, chasing and smothering, always looking up for someone in a better position to pass it off. Foskett spends a lot of his energy and defensive skills just keeping the ball in the Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers’ forward line for as long as possible.
The Tigers had another key play maker in Mark Roberts who took some great grabs last week. The Ouyen United defence will play a lot tighter on Roberts and Daniel Carmichael than the Beulah defence last week.
This is the best chance Ouyen United has had for a few years now and they will not give it up lightly. Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers have done extremely well to make it to the Grand Final because a few weeks back they were battling to make the four.
Ouyen United will win this game; they look far too strong and too experienced all over the ground and have a desire to win after missing out last year. Nevertheless, Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers will make sure that it is a hard earned win in what should be a terrific encounter in warm conditions at Woomelang on Saturday.
Last Modified on 14/09/2011 11:58