Wildcats storm into grand final
Woodside has produced a dominant preliminary final performance to defeat Heyfield by 73 points and book its place in the North Gippsland Football Netball League senior grand final.
The Wildcats turned a five-point quarter-time deficit into an emphatic 20.10 (130) to 8.9 (57) victory, kicking 18 goals to five after the opening break.
Heyfield began strongly and held a 3.2 (20) to 2.3 (15) advantage at quarter-time, but that was where its control of the contest ended.
Woodside exploded into action during the second quarter, piling on six goals and seven behinds while restricting Heyfield to just 1.1.
The 31-point half-time margin grew rapidly after the break as the Wildcats continued to dominate across the ground. Another five-goal term stretched their lead to 46 points at three-quarter time before seven final-quarter goals completed the demolition.
Woodside’s 73-point victory surprised some observers, while others believed the Wildcats were capable of taking advantage of a Heyfield side coming off a bruising contest against Cowwarr.
Heyfield had led Cowwarr for much of the previous week’s match before being overrun in the final quarter, leaving it with the difficult task of recovering physically and mentally for the preliminary final.
The Kangaroos had also held the upper hand over Woodside during the season. Woodside won their opening encounter in round one, but Heyfield responded with victory in round 12 before edging out the Wildcats by two points in the qualifying final.
Before Saturday’s rematch, Woodside defender Mark Stockdale confidently declared that no team would beat the Wildcats three times in one season.
It may have sounded bold at the time, but he was proved emphatically correct.
Hudson Holmes and Luke Johnson led the scoring with five goals each, while Brody Stainer and Jeremy Morgan added two apiece.
Cam Whiteoak, Liam Hard, Josh Fythe, Zac Richards, Ashton Janssen and James Mattern also found the goals in a remarkably even team performance.
Jeremy Morgan was named Woodside’s best, with Robert Michaelides, Johnson, Fythe and Joshua Morgan also outstanding.
For Heyfield, Finn Stephenson and Kyle Graham carried much of the scoring load. Graham kicked three goals and Stephenson added two, while Phoenix Cox, Tyson Birss and Michael Bennett contributed one each.
Stephenson, Jack Christian, Joel Lambourn, Daniel Bedggood, Graham and Tyler Anderson were Heyfield’s best.
Woodside coach Hudson Holmes praised the collective effort of his players following the win.
“Just got it done on every facet of the game. All 22 cracking in for two hours,” Holmes said.
“Rapt to obviously have both seniors and reserves in. It will be a great week.”
Woodside’s attention now turns to grand final selection, with major questions surrounding the fitness of Stockdale, Dan Missen and Tom King.
If they are declared fit, the selection panel will face several difficult decisions over who makes way following Saturday’s outstanding team performance.
