CENTRAL Highlands was blown away by a well-drilled Ellinbank and District side in Saturday’s under-18 clash.
Ellinbank and District powered in front with a six-goals-to-one opening term. Despite a brief charge by the Highlanders early in the second quarter, the home side dominated across the ground to record a 53-point victory.
Waubra’s Mick Harrington (two goals) won the team’s VCFL medal.
Coach Gavan Keighrey said preparation had been limited for the Highlanders.
“They [EDFL] trained together for something like five weeks as a team, whereas we probably had three hours to get together. [Next year] you would go through the same recruiting process, but then trim [the squad] to a list of 25.
“Train as a 25 for two weeks leading up to the match just so you could put a team plan together and execute that team plan on the day.”
Keighrey was pleased by the performances of Tom Conroy and Fin Annscombe in the ruck, Jesse Baird (two goals) up forward and Nick Hobbs in defence.
Skipper Joe Malone and Joel Maher also drew praise for their efforts through the midfield.
