Drouin has ended Morwell’s unbeaten run under Joel Soutar’s reign, with the reigning premier succumbing to Drouin on Saturday.
The 30-point victory was the Hawks’ fourth of the season and earned the 2014 wooden spooners a spot back in the TRFM Gippsland League’s top five.
Drouin coach Bob McCallum described it as the win his club needed.
“Four-two sounds much better than three-three, (so) we will definitely take a lot of confidence out of this going forward,” he said.
The Tigers booted five goals to the Hawks’ three in the opening term to lead by 12 points at three-quarter-time.
Drouin led by nine points at half time and 12 at three quarter time, before running out a 24-point winner.
“We have worked pretty hard on our fitness and it’s starting to show through,” McCallum said.
For Morwell it’s back to the drawing board.
“Credit to Drouin, they came out to play today and used the ball a bit better than us and got the result,” Soutar said.
“The guys are obviously disappointed. We did the hard yards last week against Maffra to put us in a good spot and today we have let that fly out the window.”
Soutar coached from the sidelines for a second week, due to a foot injury and said early missed opportunities came back to bite his side.
“We had 10 inside-50s early in the second (quarter) and they had four and kicked three goals, so that definitely cost us,” he said.
“We will re-group, hopefully get a few back and look at a few things over the next fortnight.”
Wonthaggi v Traralgon
Traralgon conceded its first loss since round one, going down to Wonthaggi Power by 12 points at Wonthaggi Recreation Reserve.
The tight contest was plagued by injuries and left both teams with limited interchange.
“It was one of those games, it sort of ebbed and flowed,” Power coach Rob Railton said.
“One minute they had momentum, and then we got it back. They came again at the end and it was a really gutsy win by the boys, I was really proud.”
It was a win that earned the Power second spot on the ladder, behind Leongatha.
Despite losing Joel Liddle to a knee injury in the opening 30 seconds of the match, the Power got the jump on the Maroons and led by 12 points at quarter-time.
The visitors fought back to within three points at half-time, but Wonthaggi came out firing in the third, booting six goals to Traralgon’s three, to lead by 21 points at the final change.
The Maroons won the last quarter, but it was too little too late as they fell 12 points short.
“They’ve been in really good form since round two (and) it’s always good to get a win over Traralgon, a club that’s been the benchmark for 30 years,” Railton said.
Moe v Maffra
Third-placed Maffra fought off a defiant Moe at Ted Summerton Reserve, to notch its fourth win of the year.
The visiting Eagles got the jump on their opponent, booting four goals to two in the opening term.
By half-time Maffra‘s lead was out to 29 points, before Moe slammed on five goals to two in the third term to get within two goals at three-quarter-time.
Moe and Maffra booted a goal apiece in an inaccurate final term for the visitor, which ran out a 20-point winner.
Burgiel said it was turnovers that cost his side the four points.
“We worked really hard and we were in the game for the majority, we just couldn’t bridge that gap and get close enough to win,” Lions coach Adrian Burgiel said.
“It would have been nice to try and knock them off, however it gives the boys confidence that we can match it with the top sides.”
Darren Sheen kicked a bag of five for Maffra, a haul almost matched by Moe recruit Mark Engley.
“He kicked four, but he missed a couple that he probably would normally kick. It could have been a big day for him had he kicked straight, but he gave us a good option down forward and got a lot of the ball,” Burgiel said.
Warragul v Leongatha
Leongatha bounced back from its first loss of the season to beat Warragul by 68 points at Western Park.
Eager to put its three-point loss to Sale behind them, the Parrots came out firing in a six-goal-to-two opening term.
Warragul matched its opponent on the scoreboard in the second and trailed by 25 points at the half.
However, it was all Leongatha in the third, as the visitor slammed on eight majors to two, to lead by 10 goals at the last change.
The ladder leader added another five majors in a more closely contested last term, which saw the Gulls boot four of their own.
Jake Best top-scored for the Parrots with seven goals, while Aaron Hillberg kicked four and John Ginnane three.
Bairnsdale v Sale
Despite a slow start Sale notched up its second straight win, on the road against Bairnsdale.
A week after knocking off ladder leader Leongatha by three points, the Magpies rolled the Redlegs by 23 points.
Sale coach Travis Ronaldson said it was good to follow up on last week’s performance.
Just five points separated the Redlegs and the Magpies after a hard fought opening term.
It was a similar margin at half-time, following another even quarter, which saw both sides add three majors.
The visitor kicked away in the third, with four goals to one and while the Redlegs won the last quarter on the scoreboard, it wasn’t enough to win them the match.
John Gooch and Rhys Carter were among the standouts with four goals apiece for Sale.
Last Modified on 18/05/2015 10:54
