EFL 2018: South Croydon set to meet Blackburn in the Eastern Football League preliminary final

SOUTH Croydon will meet Blackburn in a replay of last year’s preliminary final after the Bulldogs were left to rue an uncharacteristic second half fade out against Vermont.

SOUTH Croydon will meet Blackburn in a replay of last year’s preliminary final after the Bulldogs were left to rue an uncharacteristic second half fade out against Vermont on Saturday.

South Croydon holds a 5-0 record over Blackburn since the start of 2017, with the Bulldogs shooting for back-to-back flags and the Burners looking for their first Division 1 grand final berth since 1975.

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The two sides played one of the games of the season in Round 4 when Blackburn trailed by 24 points at three-quarter time only to fall short of a come-from-behind win by three points.

South Croydon coach Luke McCormick. Picture: Stuart Milligan

Unlike the qualifying final against Doncaster when South Croydon kept the Sharks in the contest with its wayward kicking, the Bulldogs were lucky to hold a halftime lead after Vermont’s inaccurate kicking in the first half.

The Eagles had five more scoring shots but trailed by five points before finding their range after the main break.

Vermont kicked 10.6 to 0.6 in the second half to finish comfortable 55-point winners.

South Croydon coach Luke McCormick said his side failed to find the answers to the Eagles’ firepower.

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Vermont captain Lachlan Johns collected disposals at will in his first game back in four months, spearhead Andrew Ainger again fired up forward with four goals and midfield gun Tom Schneider again starred in the centre.

“They were more proactive, they were quicker, they moved the ball better, they seemed hungrier and unfortunately we just couldn’t match it,” McCormick said.

“The good thing is we can see what we need to do next time if we get another chance.

“It’s all about this week now of course and we’ve got to get the win but hopefully we can respond.”

Dylan Marshall on the go for South Croydon. Picture: Steve Bibby

In a positive, star Bulldogs midfielder Frank Anderson found some touch in his second game back from a stress fracture in his foot.

“He was a lot better, I was really happy with how he went and more so that he was winning a few hard balls for us because obviously he is an outside player,” McCormick said.

“He and Liam Cox off halfback were probably our best in a day where we had a lot of inconsistencies from a lot of blokes.”

South Croydon will meet Blackburn at Bayswater Oval at 2.10pm on Saturday.

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