By Tara Murray
Diggers Rest appears to be hitting form at the right time of the Riddell District Football League season.
With a finals spot already secured the Burras have been trying to fine tune their game so they can peak at the right time of the season.
On Saturday, they had no issue in accounting for Melton Centrals winning 15.11 (101)-3.3 (21).
Burras playing coach Jamie Lobb said it was the best four quarter performance from the side for the season.
They kept Centrals to just one point in the second half.
“Hopefully it’s good signs for the finals,” he said.
“We still had a few out , but we’re getting closer to being at full strength. We’ll see how we go this week.”
Thomas Taylor kicked four goals for the Burras, while Tom Gleeson chipped in with three goals.
Jesse Flannery was named the Burras best, along with Kyle Owens.
The win moved the Burras into the coveted third spot.
Lobb said it had been a frustrating season with players in and out of the team all year. Despite that, the Burras four losses have been by a total of 22 points.
“We did the maths five to six weeks ago, but we slipped up against Wallan and it took it out of our hands,” he said of finishing third.
“We had to wait on other results and they fell our way. Our losses have been done to our mistakes.
“We’ve got to focus on what we can do and it’s starting to all come together.”
Lobb said they were hoping to get at least three of their missing stars back. He said Cale Morton was the only definite at this stage.
Stuart Clarke and Brent Tuckey are among those also on the sidelines.
The Burras face Rosey in elimination final.
The two sides have built a rivalry in recent years.
Lobb said they needed to be on their game, with anyone able to beat anyone.
“There’s a great rivaaly bettern the two teams and they always seem to get up when they play us,” he said.
“We need to beat them to keep moving through the finals.”
For Centrals, the loss finished and up and down season. They finished with six wins to sit ninth on the ladder.
Jonathan Ferri was the Centrals best against the Burras.
In other results, Rupertswood claimed its first RDFL minor premiership, defeating Wallan 15.14 (104)-9.10 (64).
Macedon enters finals on the back of a 17.8 (110)-1.4 (10) win against Lancefield, while the Sunbury Kangaroos finish the season with a 24.22 (166)-3.2 (20) win against Rockbank.
Romsey finished sixth after it defeated Broadford, 17.18 (120)-0.1 (1) and Riddell beat Woodend-Hesket, 15.10 (100)-4.9 (33).
In the other matches in the opening round of finals, Rupertswood plays Riddell in a qualifying final, while Macedon and Wallan play each other in an elimination final.
