A disappointing end to the season for the North Ballarat Rebels when they were defeated by the Gippsland Pioneers in their TAC Cup Elimination final at Optus Oval on Saturday.
A firm ground surface and a strong wind made conditions a bit tricky for both sides in a game with no second chance for either team under the new finals system.
Tim Ruffles was prominent early with two goals as the Rebels led by Jordan Roughead in the ruck and Andrew Hooper, Jason Linke and Bryn Weadon steady in defence gave Taite Radley the chance to set up an early lead.
Gippsland appeared to be flat footed and it took them until mid term to settle and score against the wind but when they did it resulted in three goals including one from a costly 50 metre penalty.
David Astbury looked handy up forward and late goals to him and Nicholas Suban gave North Ballarat a handy break.
When their turn came Gippsland used the wind to advantage with a seven goal second quarter as the Rebels could only manage two against, one each to Radley and Ruffles despite further opportunities being created by Ben Peters and Tyler George working hard with Roughead around the ground.
As in previous games coach Chris Maple threw the team the challenge of a third quarter that could perhaps determine the result but it wasn’t to be as the Power were just that as they defended grimly to keep North Ballarat to only one point but still mange three goals against the strong wind.
A lift from the senior players set the standard as the Rebels opened the final term with goals to Hooper, George and Gilbert and suddenly the game was up for grabs.
A defensive fumble let Gippsland in for a goal but a fourth to Ruffles followed by another to Ryan McKenzie retained the Rebels momentum to be within touch midway through the term.
The Power went defensive to steady the Rebels surge and left a lot of people with the thought of what could have been only for a poor third quarter.
Gippsland Power 15.13 (103) defeated North Ballarat Rebels 12.10 (82)
Best. Tim Ruffles, Jason Linke, Jordan Roughead, Ben Peters, Andrew Hooper, Tyler George.
Goals. Tim Ruffles 4, Taite Radley 2, David Astbury 1, Tyler George 1, Ned Gilbert 1, Andrew Hooper 1, Ryan McKenzie 1, Nicholas Suban 1.
Last Modified on 08/02/2009 15:45