EFL 2018: Blackburn sews up Eastern Football League finals berth after a three-point win over Balwyn
BLACKBURN survived a second-half comeback from Balwyn to all but secure its Eastern Football League Division 1 finals berth after a three-point win.
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Blackburn has all but secured its place in the Eastern Football League Division 1 top five and left Balwyn’s finals hopes in tatters after surviving an almighty comeback against the Tigers on Saturday.
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The Burners led by as much as 48 points early in the third quarter, only for the Tigers to kick eight of the last nine majors to fall just short of a miraculous victory.
Balwyn forward Tom Davis had a set-shot from in front about 45m out at the Central Rd end with just minutes remaining.
The chance was on line but in his kicking motion, the wind picked up and held the ball up before it was touched on the line as Blackburn escaped with a 11.14 (80) to 10.17 (77) win.
Balwyn coach Rodney Eade said his side should have won the game.
Instead, the Tigers will likely miss finals for the first time in 23 years, with the result leaving the EFL powerhouse two games out of the top five with two rounds remaining.
“We had a lot of opportunities (in the) last quarter, couple in the third quarter … to be able to do what we did showed a lot of character, we deserved to win, even their coach said we should have won,” Eade said.
“There was a lot of opportunities, we really had them on the back foot and, as I said, I thought we deserved to win.”
The former Sydney, Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast mentor said his side failed to follow instructions in the first half, booting just 2.9 after Blackburn piled on the first six goals.
Balwyn’s first goal did not come until the last kick of the first term when Jeff Gobbles snapped truly in the goalsquare.
“We started to do what we’re coached to do and part of our plan … the way we wanted to move the ball started to come to fruition rather than the first half, which was very lacklustre,” he said.
“They answered that challenge very well after halftime and the intensity and workrate lifted but at the same time we started to move the ball and our kicking patterns, the way we wanted to kick the ball, was a lot better.”
Both sides were down one rotation by halftime with Balwyn’s Lachlan Bain (shoulder) and Blackburn’s Chris Clay (broken arm) watching on the sidelines for most the game.
The Tigers’ were reduced to one rotation at the start of the third term when Casey Demons-listed Dylan Collis and Zac Elliott were issued yellow cards.
When Jake Hammond kicked his fourth goal of the game at the five-minute mark of the third term, it appeared Blackburn would cruise to its 11th win of the year.
But with its season on the line, Balwyn staged a stunning fightback, with Cameron Manuel and Gobbles each kicking two goals in the third quarter to help cut the margin to 16 points at the final break.
Hammond kicked his fifth from near the goalsquare shortly after three-quarter time, but the Tigers continued their surge through goals from Davis and Yarran Jaffer-Williams.
Manuel cut the margin to under a goal with three minutes remaining with a remarkable effort from the boundary line, but ultimately Balwyn was left to rue a poor first half.
Blackburn coach Brendan Allen was understandably a relieved coach after almost letting the game slip.
“We responded but probably a little bit too late, we got caught on our heels a bit and played into their hands, we decided to go too quick rather than slowing things down and it allowed them to play surge football,” Allen said.
“Credit to Balwyn, they threw everything at us in the second half, really got their game going, they’ve got some really good quality players still there, obviously they’ve aged a little bit but when the whips were cracking, they stood up for them.”
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