Woodend-Hesket is back in the Riddell District top-five with two games remaining
Woodend-Hesket is just two games away from breaking a 12-year finals drought and coach Josh Pound is confident his team has it in them.
Riddell
Don't miss out on the headlines from Riddell. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Woodend-Hesket coach Josh Pound believes his club deserves to play Riddell District finals in 2022.
The Hawks jumped into the top-five with an ugly 21-point win over Melton Centrals on Saturday and have their destiny in their hands.
However, a difficult final fortnight against Wallan and Romsey looms with no room for defeat.
After a 124-point thrashing from Wallan, Macedon sits sixth, two points behind their arch-rival, and has a bye and winless Western Rams in the final round to almost guarantee eight points.
Pound remains confident his players can see it through and end the club’s 12-year finals drought.
“Realistically we’ve got the toughest game there is in Wallan at Wallan so we’re under no illusions that we’re cemented in (the top-five),” he said.
“At the same time we’re in control of our own destiny now, so if we win, we’re in.
“It’s been our goal for the whole year, the club deserves to be playing finals footy.
“It’s definitely a big carrot for us, we’re not shying away from it, it’s what we play for and where we want to be.”
Woodend-Hesket will take confidence from its Round 2 draw against Wallan, a result that could have been a victory.
A scoreboard error discovered after the match saw the final scores finish level but the result was accepted.
The Hawks’ season now hinges on that lost two points as well as a disappointing 24-point loss to Macedon at Gilbert Gordon Oval in Round 13.
Pound hopes to regain key players Dean Bramley and Ben Toman for the clash at Greenhill Reserve.
He confirmed vice-captain Harley Giddings and deputy vice-captain Tyson Chapman were ruled out for the season with a broken leg and PCL injury respectively.
Woodend has drawn with Wallan and pushed ladder-leaders Riddell and Diggers Rest to two points and five points respectively.
Pound know his team can match it with the competition’s heavyweights if they can produce four quarters of football.
“We’re yet to be convincingly beaten by any side in the league and we’ve played everyone nearly twice,” he said.
“We just need to work on our composure at important times in the game, which is something we’ve struggled with.
RUN HOME: WHERE EVERY RIDDELL DISTRICT CLUB WILL FINISH
LEADER: GET YOUR RIDDELL DISTRICT FOOTY NEWS HERE
RDFL: WHAT LURED McKERNAN TO LOCAL FOOTY CLUB
“We’ve been competitive in every game we’ve played and Wallan is no exception, given we had the draw which was actually a win.
“We need to use that as a little bit of fuel and know we are the underdogs but we can definitely do it, we need that belief.”
Frank Fazzolari was best-on-ground in the 6.9 (45) to 3.6 (24) win over Centrals at Arnolds Creek Reserve, while James Hicks, Miles Miranda and Tom Pound also impressed
Kirk Fenton was Melton’s best in defeat.
In other results, Wallan (149) dismantled Macedon (25), Romsey (118) were comfortable winners over Lancefield (31) and Diggers Rest (142) eased past Western Rams (21).
‘What we play for’: Wallan ready for grand final challenge
Wallan returns to the RDFNL grand final stage, defeating Macedon in the preliminary final, and is looking to cause a boilover on the big stage.
Grand final wins and a shock or two
Finals accelerated in local footy with plenty of grand final winners as elsewhere there were stunning results as teams looked to qualify for the decider. Here are the talking points from Saturday’s football.