Sunbury miss double chance by 6.26 per cent despite winning as many games as BFL minor premier
Sunbury won as many games as Ballarat Football League minor premier East Point but percentage saw the Lions finish fourth in one of the tightest finishes in league history, putting the club’s season on the brink.
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Just 6.26 per cent cost Sunbury a double chance in one of the tightest finishes in Ballarat Football League history.
The Lions can count themselves extremely unlucky, with the top-four teams all finishing on 11 wins.
However, Travis Hodgson’s men were squeezed back to fourth on percentage and face an elimination final against Melton on Sunday.
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A 65-point win over Bacchus Marsh on Saturday wasn’t enough to bridge the gap to third-placed Darley, which defeated Ballarat by 51.
Hodgson said the Lions’ inaccuracy across the season had ultimately came back to bite them but remained confident his team was still capable of challenging for the premiership.
“It might present as unlucky but our inaccuracy over the course of the year — we’ve been really poor in front of goal — and you miss out on a double chance on percentage, we’ve let ourselves down,” Hodgson said.
“Bad kicking is bad footy, and it’s cost us.
“We think, the way this year is, we genuinely believe any of the six can beat anyone.”
It was a big weekend for Hodgson.
After guiding the Lions past Bacchus Marsh on Saturday, he backed up to coach the club’s under-18 girls team to a hat-trick of EDFL Division 1 Girls premierships on Sunday.
Sunbury will tackle last year’s runner-up Melton at Darley Park in a sudden-death final.
The clubs shared the points this season, Melton claiming the most recent clash by 18 points in Round 16 after Sunbury had triumphed by seven goals in Round 6.
The Lions enter the finals campaign on a high after smashing the Cobras at Clarke Oval.
Lachie Bramble was prolific through midfield while mid-season signing Jarrah Maksymow ran rampant up forward with six goals.
“I’ve seen Lachie Bramble play some good football but that was his best game for the club,” Hodgson said.
“His ability to break the lines and carry the footy was outstanding.
“We left (Maksymow) inside 50m for the day, he’d spent a lot of time on ball over the last month to build his fitness.
“He punched 14.5km against Melton playing on the footy and we then we put back inside 50m and let him do what he does best.”
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