EFL: East Burwood scores first Eastern Football League finals win since 2004

EAST Burwood has ended its 14-year wait for finals success after knocking Forest Hill out of the Division 4 premiership race.

East Burwood’s last finals win came in the 2004 preliminary final.

That was in the Division 1 glory days when the Rams were regularly contending for top tier flags and a powerhouse of the Eastern Football League.

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Not many would have tipped East Burwood would have to wait 14 years for its next finals win.

Troy McGown looks for options. Picture: Davis Harrigan

You would have got even longer odds if you were to say the Rams’ next finals victory would come against Division 4 neighbour Forest Hill.

But East Burwood’s 5097-day wait for a taste of finals success came to an end on Sunday after the Rams scored a comfortable 42-point triumph over Forest Hill.

The Rams conceded the first three goals of the game and went goalless in the first quarter, but broke the contest open with a run of five answered goals in the third quarter to book a place in the preliminary final against Glen Waverley Hawks on Saturday.

Coach Stuart Wynd played in the club’s last premiership in 2000 but returned to East Burwood Reserve over the summer to help rebuild the club after three relegations since 2013.

“It’s been a long road, a long hard road for a lot of supporters and a lot of the players here still that have been through that last five or six years that have been really tough,” Wynd said. “Just to win some games again this year has been really exciting for them and the supporters but to make a preliminary final, it’s massive.”

It was a mix of the old and the new up forward for the Rams, with emerging tall Max Wills finishing with a bag of five goals and veteran Adrian Gileno booting four.

East Burwood coach Stuart Wynd. Picture: Mark Dadswell/AAP

Ruckman Jai Middleton gave his midfield group first look, particularly after halftime, to be one of the best players in the 15.11 (101) to 9.5 (59) victory.

“I think in the midfield we started really getting on top of them, every time they got it we pounced on them and we were able to slip it out the back and get a bit of release and get it out in the open spaces,” Wynd said.

“I thought our delivery in the forward line was sensational, probably the best it has been all year.”

East Burwood grabbed the lead from the seven-minute mark of the second quarter, with the Zebras poking their noses back in front for a minute just before halftime.

“Our first quarter was really good, our pressure was up, the boys were right on their game but in the third quarter East Burwood got on top around the midfield, stoppages and clearances,” Forest Hill coach Stillman said.

“The game changed in that third quarter especially when their midfield dominance really took over the game.”

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