Omeo and District, South West: Swan Reach and Cavendish stay alive in flag race
Footy finals have already started in two leagues at opposite ends of Victoria, with more underway this weekend. See the winners and losers.
Footy finals are finally back for the first time since spring of 2019.
Two leagues at either end of the state, the Omeo and District and South West District, started finals on Saturday, ending the Covid frustration of a total wipe-out in 2020, followed by a season cut short on eve of finals last year.
Four more leagues start finals this weekend, Bellarine, Heathcote, Picola and Western Border.
Swan Reach has stayed alive in the Omeo and District league premiership race despite missing the competition’s leading goalkicker and two players arriving late for the first semi-final win over Omeo on Saturday.
Brandon Scott, who has booted 62 goals this season, won’t play again this year unless Swan Reach makes the grand final due to suspension.
Father-and-son duo Keith Ritchie and Danaren Morgan-Ritchie didn’t arrive at the Swifts Creek ground for the match until the second quarter.
Swan Reach held on for a seven-point win against Omeo, which closed to within one point in the final term after trailing all day.
It’s a stunning turnaround for Swan Reach, which failed to win a match in the Covid-shortened season last year and lost to Omeo-Benambra by more than 100 points when they first met this year.
“We got flogged every week last year, I don’t think we got within 10 goals of anyone,” coach Joel Walters said.
Walters is originally from Lakes Entrance, but hadn’t played for six years before taking on the Swan Reach coaching job.
He starred against Omeo-Benambra along with onballer Jack Mills, who can’t play each week due to his job as an offshore fisherman, and another midfielder Jesse Guarnaccia.
Scott fronted the tribunal last week following multiple investigations into his conduct in a match late in the season against Swifts Creek.
He was suspended for two matches for abusing an umpire after the match.
Scott was also given a four-match suspended sentence for alleging abusing the Swifts Creek bench.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks for him, but if we make it I’m sure he will be raring to go,” Walters said.
“Some of the goals he kicks are just ridiculous.”
In the South West league on Saturday, Cavendish booked a berth in the second semi-final against Coleraine with a 38-point win over Dartmoor.
Cavendish, chasing its first premiership since going back in 1992-93, suffered a major blow in the first term when it lost No. 1 ruckman Will Baulch with a dislocated elbow.
After a tight first quarter in which both teams kicked one goal each, Cavendish broke the game open in the second term with six goals to three.
Key forward Sam Gibson kicked two of his four goals for the match in the second term as John Coughlan and Lachlan Seed started to get on top in the midfield.
Cavendish hasn’t played in a grand final since 1994 with Tyrendarra beating Heywood by eight points in the elimination final on Sunday.
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