GFL Finals: Leopold beat Colac in semi final

Leopold coach Garry Hocking said it was ‘deja vu’ at West Oval as the Lions bundled Colac out of finals for the second straight season.

GFL Semi Final: Colac v Leopold. No 9 Logan Wagener for Leopold.

Leopold coach Garry Hocking says it is feeling “a bit like Groundhog Day” after progressive through to a preliminary final at the expense of Colac.

The Lions knocked off the Tigers in the semi-final for the second straight season, with five goals to Mitch Patten setting up a 9.17 (71) to 7.12 (54) victory.

Hocking said the group was finding form and playing good footy.

“It’s sort of deja vu, a bit like Groundhog Day, we’ve been here before and it’s happening again,” he said. “We’re pretty happy with how we’re playing at the moment, my blood type is ‘B positive’ not ‘B negative’.”

Colac was left without young gun Cooper Hayes when he was left dazed following a tackle in the first quarter.

The long-sleeved defender spent time on the turf before being helped off, visibly distressed and holding his head.

Riley Stone for Leopold.

Things further soured in the second quarter for Colac, with key forward Adam Garner suffering a lower back injury and hampered for the entire second half.

Garner played out the match, but struggled to impact the contest playing as an immobile deep forward.

The Tigers were then left with just two rotations after Aaron Hawker injured his ankle and needed to be carried off by trainers in the third term, finishing the day on crutches.

Mitch Patten was a clear matchwinner for Leopold, booting two first-quarter goals and looked consistently dangerous.

He had multiple chances to extend the lead but missed shots at goal, finishing the day with five majors but it could have been closer to 10.

Hocking said Patten had kicked his fair share of points this season but he was a genuine matchwinner.

“There’s no temptation (to move him into the midfield), what he provides us close to goal is as dangerous as it comes,” he said.

“He’s going to kick some points and miss shots he should be kicking, but then he can do some things that not many people can.

“You’d rather have him closer to goal and providing us with a scoring threat and just cope with the points he kicks.”

Originally published as GFL Finals: Leopold beat Colac in semi final