Miners fall at last hurdle An injury time try lifted the Maroondah Griffins to an 18-14 victory and broke the dreams of the Keech Australia Fighting Miners in last Saturday’s rugby grand final. The Miners had established a 14-13 lead with three minutes of regular time remaining but were unable to hold out the Griffins for the remaining five minutes. From the re-start after Bendigo hit the lead, Maroondah regained possession from a short kick-off and kept the Miners in their own quarter for the remainder of the match. Regaining possession after a failed Maroondah penalty goal attempt, the Miners were unable to clear the ball from their own quarter. Eventually, Maroondah scored in the corner from a routine backline passing move. Despite running up the slope of the Box Hill ground, Bendigo was able to establish a 7-3 half-time lead with Josh Drahm scoring try just before the break. Bendigo was unlucky not to score a second try when Drahm outskirted the Griffins’ defence inside the Bendigo quarter and linked up with Phil Keech on the half-way line. As Keech touched down between the posts, the referee ruled that the pass from Drahm to Keech had gone forward on a touch judge report. After an even first half, the Griffins were well on top for most of the second half, keeping the Miners penned inside their own territory despite the Miners having the advantage of the slope. Stoic Miners’ defence held out the Griffins until the twenty fifth minute when they scored an unconverted try to go into an 8-7 lead. They stretched this to 13-7 shortly thereafter with another unconverted try. Then the drama of the final five minutes was played out. While the Bendigo scrum was dominant throughout the match, Maroondah ruled at line-out time with the second jumper being virtually unchallenged. The weight of possession and field position in Maroondah’s favour combined with Bendigo’s inability to clear the ball gave the Griffins the opportunity to force penalties and a yellow card to Bendigo forward Brad Rieri. Maroondah’s first try was scored during Rieri’s absence to give them a sniff of victory. In the end, Maroondah ran out deserved winners. Scorers: Drahm, Poto tries; Manderson 2 goals
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 23:53:46 +0000
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