By Olivia Condous
Diggers Rest are back in the race to finals in the Riddell District Football League, after taking out Macedon in a knockout semi final match.
After a tough 93 point loss to Wallan the week before, The Burras beat The Cats in a 12.9 (81) – 10.4 (64) win.
The Burras powered ahead in the first quarter, leading by 4 goals to 1, but fell behind by the third when The Cats took the lead 9.4 – 7.5.
Diggers Rest coach Jamie Lobb said having a few players returned to the team restored confidence.
“We had a few players back onside yesterday… that gives the guys a bit of confidence,” Lobb said.
“We went into the last quarter a couple goals down, but the guys threw everything into it and managed to get back up… we probably should have won by a bit more.”
Mitchell Jensen kicked the majority of the team’s goals, scoring five, and Lobb acknowledged he played a solid match.
“Mitch Jensen had a good game up forward,” he said.
Jensen currently sits as the fourth highest scorer in the seniors league, with 55.
Other scoring players included Lachlan Ronaldson with two goals and Thomas Taylor, Jamie Lobb, Thomas Schwarzenberg, Christopher Lawton and Matthew Krul with one each.
Matthew Krul, Luke Delahey, Mitchell Jensen, Jaidyn Caruana, Patrick Jackson were named as the team’s best.
For Macedon, Jason Cooke kicked five, Matthew Knox scored two and Jack Kernan, Karl Staudt and Daniel Salpietro scored one each.
The best for The Cats were Matthew Dick, Jordan Dyer, Jason Cooke, Jonathan Barnett, Jae Wilton and Alastair Collins.
Diggers Rest currently sit second on the ladder, but are only just behind Riddell.
Following Sunday’s win, The Burras are now set to face Wallan again in the preliminary round for a spot in the grand final against Riddell on September 11.
Lobb said the team would be focussed on winding down from the weekend’s match and thinking ahead to Saturday’s battle for the finals.
“Sunday games are always hard, with training early in the week… we’ll do a bit of recovery, watch a bit of match vision,” he said.
“We’ll figure out what went well, what went wrong and come up with a plan.”
The next match for the team will be a challenge, after Wallan has beaten Diggers Rest the last two times they’ve gone head to head.
“It will be a tough game, but the guys are confident we can get the win,” Lobb said.
It was a less successful day for the Diggers Rest reserves on Saturday, as they lost to Wallan 7.8 (50) – 3.6 (24).
The Burras reserves will face Melton Centrals on September 3 for a spot in the grand final against Wallan.
