The Aussie Hotel Yass Roos finished the home and away season in second place on the ladder after their loss to Cootamundra last Saturday at Joe O'Connor Park. The final score was a bit of a blowout with the Blues winning 15-10-100 to Yass 8-10-58.
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The match promised to be entertaining and it certainly delivered. Cootamundra were looking to underline their status as favourites for the premiership. The Roos wanted to erase the loss earlier in the season to the Blues.
Cootamundra established the lead early in the first quarter but the Roos fought back to keep some chance alive. The quarter time score had the Blues leading 5-2-32 to 3-1-19.
The Roos were getting more use of the ball in the second quarter but poor conversion from set shots cost them dearly. Despite matching the Blues for scoring shots the Roos only managed one goal from a snap shot by Ben Serafin. Five set shots resulted in five behinds. Cootamundra scored three goals to extend the lead at halftime to 8-5-53 to Yass 4-6-30. It was looking difficult for the Roos as they were unable to counter Cootamundra's tactic of playing the ball to their defence before moving it forward.
It was a re-energised Roos that took the park in the third quarter. They worked hard out of the centre and this time got better value for their shots while restricting the Blues use of the ball. The Roos had closed the gap to less than a goal by three quarter time and set up a chance to snatch a come from behind victory.
It was however, a near repeat of the last time these two teams met. Cootamundra started the last quarter full of running and the first goal seemed to lift them to another gear. The Roos again looked tired and slow by comparison and an unanswered six goal haul by the Blues gave them the win.
Best players for the Roos were Aaron Wilson, Tom Hanson, Steve O'Brien, Ben Serafin, Dave Willersdorf and Daniel Smith. The Roos goals came from Jim Kelly, Ben Serafin and Doug Watchorn with two each and Cam Attwell and Simon Goyne with one each.
And so we now move to the finals. Cootamundra will have next week off courtesy of their top place finish. Yass will face Goulburn in the qualifying final on Saturday and Cooma take on Ainslie in the elimination final on Sunday.
The match against Goulburn is at Jamison Oval in Canberra from 12pm on Saturday. After a minor hiccup (mainly due to injuries) Goulburn have got back to winning form recently so this will be a tough match for both teams. With four country teams in the finals race the parochial rivalries are strong and every game will be an intense hit out. While not facing elimination in this match the Roos will want to win to give them the chance of the easier run to the grand final.
Get yourselves over to Jamison on Saturday and lend your support to the Roos as they fight to keep alive in the race for the 2014 AFL Division 3 premiership. I'll see you at the footy. Go the Roos!
The Fox Terrier.
