Goal posts go missing before MPNFL match

There was panic at Sorrento when the goal posts went missing — but the club had a backup plan and a willing search squad.

Sorrento has had better starts to a Saturday.

When club officials arrived at David MacFarlan Reserve at 6.30am, they noticed the goal posts at the clubhouse end were missing.

One was lying on the ground, the other was nowhere to be seen.

With just hours until Sorrento’s big MPNFL Division 1 clash with Bonbeach, the club’s volunteers clicked into gear.

A search party of about half a dozen set off in all directions, determined to locate the missing goal post.

Back at the club, a fallback plan was hatched just in case the post wasn’t found in time for the game.

“We had set up a fake post made out of 100ml PVC pipe and it was waving around like one of those things at a car centre,’’ Sorrento coach Leigh Poholke said.

A bit after 9am, a breakthrough...

The goal post was spotted at the nearby Sorrento skatepark.

“It was funny watching our footy ops manager Marty Clark walking over from the skate park with a post on his shoulder,’’ Poholke said.

The posts were reassembled, and this time they were screwed in.

Poholke said the incident made for an interesting start to the day.

“We got out of jail because we were sort of stuck if we didn’t find it,’’ he said.

“The volunteers were great, they all got into it, we had people driving around from 6.30am trying to find it and it only happened to be about 300m away up the road.’’

The quirky start to the day might have been a sign of things to come for Sorrento, which lost to Bonbeach by seven points, 11.14 (80) to 11.7 (73), in the seniors.

Sorrento coach Leigh Poholke. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The Sorras slipped to fifth spot and Poholke made no excuses.

“We were just really average,’’ he said.

“They (Bonbeach) played really well considering the players they had out.

“We had as good a side as we could have hoped to have in...I’m not sure we could have asked to play them at a better time. It just appears that we, right now, are not up to the standards of competing with these good clubs.’’

Bonbeach was missing several key players, including David Armitage, Luke Verma and Trent Dennis-Lane, but had a stack of contributors. Vice-captain Owen Hulett capped a best-on-ground display with three goals, captain Jackson Casey set the standard, and former St Kilda player Sam Gilbert starred. Thomas Reeves, Mitchell Gent and Shane McDonald were also among Bonbeach’s best.

But there was a positive for Sorrento. Former Melbourne midfielder Kyle Dunkley made his Sorrento debut in the reserves, kicking a goal in the Sorras’ 17-point win.

Poholke said Dunkley, who signed with the club last month, would play in the seniors against Mt Eliza next week.

Kyle Dunkley of Casey celebrates after kicking a goal during the round 10 VFL match in 2019. Photo by Scott Barbour/AFL Photos/Getty Images

In other results:

*Frankston YCW won its 12th consecutive game, pulling away from a valiant Red Hill in the last quarter to win by 19 points, 8.17 (65) to 6.10 (46), in tough conditons on the Hill. Brenton Lambert, Mackenna Hura and Josh Butland, who kicked three goals, were among the Stonecats’ best. Matt La Fontaine, back from Subiaco, played in YCW’s reserves.

*Sam Geurts, Zac Muschialli, Billy Geurts and Josh Holloway helped Dromana to a 34-point win over Edi-Asp, 7.10 (52) to 2.6 (18).

*Frankston Bombers kept their finals hopes alive with a two-point win over Pines, 9.20 (74) to 10.12 (72). Jarryd Amalfi, Sam Fox and Khan Haretuku were stand outs for the winners.

*Mt Eliza dug deep to beat Rosebud by 27 points, 12.9 (81) to 8.6 (54). Back-to-back goals late in the third quarter by Fletcher Hustwaite put Rosebud within three points of the lead but Mt Eliza responded by kicking five goals to one in the final quarter. Declan Cole, Finlay Bayne, Shane Tennant, Jordan Rouse, Elliot Simmons and Fraser Phillips were best for the 9-4 Redlegs.