EFL 2018: Doncaster knocked out of Eastern Football League finals in straight sets
DONCASTER coach Andrew Tranqulli says his side needs to “find some genuine leaders” after the Sharks season went up in smoke against Blackburn.
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JUST a kick away from winning its first Division 1 final one week, knocked out of the Eastern Football League premiership race the next.
Doncaster’s season went up in smoke in one quarter on Sunday after Blackburn piled on seven unanswered goals in the third term.
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The Sharks led by 20 points midway through the second quarter before the Burners kicked 11 of the next 12 majors to claim a 14.9 (93) to 10.12 (72) victory.
Doncaster was rated a genuine premiership threat after a top-three finish, but instead it was bounced out of finals in straight sets.
The Sharks fell just six points short against South Croydon in the qualifying final after the Bulldogs kicked a goal with the final foray forward.
Doncaster coach Andrew Tranqulli said his side’s season capitulated in 30 minutes of football.
“You make the finals and then you believe you’re good enough, and we did believe we were good enough,” Tranquilli said.
“We just weren’t good enough in the two weeks we put together.
“We should be proud as a club, not only the senior side but the reserves as well got themselves into the second week of the finals.”
Doncaster finished the season with a 14-4 record and toppled last year’s grand finalists Vermont and South Croydon in the home-and-away campaign to announce itself as a contender.
But instead the Sharks will leave 2018 empty-handed and with a 0-4 finals record since coming up to the top tier in 2016.
Despite signing a host of recruits in the off-season, Tranquilli said his side needed more leadership.
“We built the list, it was a good list, but we’ve got to build on it again because if we’ve improved 15 per cent to get where we are and we’re still no good, well then that means we’re going have to find another 10 per cent I’d say,” he said.
“We’ve just got to find a way that when a side gets that momentum, something has to change and there is only so much you can do from this side of the boundary.
“We need to find some genuine leaders and people that want to be the spark to make that change.”
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