EFL 2019: Ringwood books first place in Division 2 grand final
A five-goal haul from Mitch Farmer put Ringwood through to the EFL Division 2 decider, where it will be looking to make amends for last year’s shock grand final defeat.
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It’s not unusual for a Farmer to kick a bag of goals at Ringwood.
Spearhead Trent Farmer has starred with the Redbacks for years.
But it was brother Mitch who inspired Ringwood into a second consecutive grand final on Saturday.
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Mitch kicked five goals in the 14-point semi-final win against Boronia at East Burwood Reserve to give the Redbacks a shot at grand final redemption.
Ringwood coach Brett Rowe said Farmer had enjoyed a career-best year.
“He’s had an outstanding year to be honest,” Rowe said.
“He had a pretty good year last year but he’s taken it to another level this year without a doubt.
“He’s kicked five, we win by 14 points. It speaks for itself. He was absolutely unbelievable.
“It’s always good to have a Farmer in the side.”
Ringwood went through 2018 undefeated but suffered its first loss of the season in the decider when Boronia scored an upset win.
The Redbacks will also be chasing their first premiership since 2005.
Boronia trailed by four points at three-quarter time but had the assistance of the breeze in the final term.
Rowe described the wind as a “three-goal advantage”.
But the Hawks were left to rue missed opportunities. They kicked 0.6 in the last quarter and lost 10.15 (75) to 8.13 (61).
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“We knew we had to work pretty hard going into the breeze and up the hill,” Rowe said.
“I just implored the guys to make sure they started running and play the brand of footy we’d done during the year.”
Ringwood kicked 2.4 in the final term to book the first place in the EFL Division 2 decider.
“The wind was pretty strong to one end but both sides defended it really well,” Rowe said.
“I think that was why it was so tight over the whole journey of the game.
“Thankfully we took our chances in that last quarter when we needed to.”
Rowe said he remained confident his side could hold on in last half-hour.
“Both sides hadn’t really taken any advantage with the wind so it wasn’t influencing the game that much to be honest,” he said.
“It was more who could take their chance when it presented. We knew we had to work hard. We spoke about the grind finals footy presents … we just knew if we could keep that up, who knows what would happen.”
Boronia will meet Mitcham in the preliminary final.
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