Riddell’s premiership dreams ended in tears, with the Bombers falling short against Diggers Rest in the Riddell District Football League grand final.
In a repeat of the 2016 grand final, the Bombers were hoping to turn the tables on the Burras and claim the premiership.
And while the Bombers looked like they were in with a chance early on, the Burras got going in the third quarter and were never headed.
Diggers Rest won 9.12 (66)-6.9 (45).
Bombers coach Jamie Elliott said Diggers Rest had come to play.
“I thought we played safe at stages,” he said. “We normally take the game on a bit more.
“We played really safe and it suited their backs. I thought Tom Gleeson was super and Taylor Hine is a quality player and if you kick the ball in the air to these guys, they lag off and play two on one.
“We tried to fix it in the last quarter, by putting all the young fellows forward for a bit of run. It unsettled them a little bit but we couldn’t find enough ball through the midfield to take it on.”
The Bombers led early, before things started to go against them.
Forward James Nolan was sent from the field for 15 minutes after receiving a yellow card, leaving the Bombers down a player.
That was compounded when Dylan Tarczon received a red card and was sent off for the rest of the game. He was able to be replaced after 15 minutes.
Elliott said it was difficult when they were down on numbers.
“We spoke about discipline all week,” he said. “It’s hard to coach when playing with 16 or 17 blokes against some quality opposition.
“I didn’t see the incidents … I don’t think there was a lot in them so that’s the disappointing thing.”
The Bombers found some spark to kick the first three goals of the last quarter but the Burras responded with two late goals to seal the win.
Paul Sahlberg was named the Bombers’ best.
Looking at the season as a whole, Elliott said it was tough to make it all the way, but not get the job done.
But he said they had achieved some of their other goals.
“We blooded 13 kids,” he said. “Coaching is hard, you get to the end and you really want to win.
“We had six play today that can still play junior footy. We’ve got to keep the young fellows together.”
Elliott said he would sit down with the club and discuss his coaching future in the coming weeks.
