From Bendigo Advertiser
Reported by Luke West
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BENDIGO Gold coach Hayden Skipworth slept well on Friday night after his team ticked three key boxes with its 19-point VFL win over the Box Hill Hawks at the Queen Elizabeth Oval.
Firstly, the 17.11 (113) to 14.10 (94) win guaranteed the Gold their place in the finals as they shut the door to any chance the ninth-placed North Ballarat had of climbing into the eight.
And it’s just as well the Gold won , because had they lost, the Roosters would have snatched eighth spot after beating Port Melbourne by one point on Saturday.
Secondly, the Gold returned to form as the victory ended a five-game losing streak that saw them tumble from top-four contenders to their finals hopes hanging by a thread entering the last round.
And finally, Bendigo snapped its QEO hoodoo.
Before Friday night, Bendigo had lost its previous nine games at the QEO, with its previous victory having been in round five, 2010, when the then Bendigo Bombers defeated Gold Coast by 26 points.
With a finals position booked on the back of their 9-9 home and away season, the Gold now meets Williamstown in this Saturday’s elimination final at North Port Oval.
And they will head into the game on the back of a much-needed confidence boost after their see-sawing win over fellow finalist Box Hill.
One of the most pleasing aspects of the victory for Skipworth was his side’s finish to the game after the Gold were challenged by the Hawks in the last term.
Having trailed by eight points at three quarter-time, Box Hill hit the front in the last term after kicking the first two goals and looked like running away with the game.
But the Gold responded in fine style by kicking five of the last six goals of the match to put their stamp on the contest.
“It was really pleasing the way we finished off, and what made the win even better was we had Brendan Lee (shoulder) go off in the first quarter and Matt Little (corkie) off before half-time,” Skipworth said.
“We were limited in our rotations in the second half, which obviously made it a bit tougher on the boys, but they were able to come through and get the job done.”
Earlier, the Gold let a 32-point lead slip in the second quarter during a stunning 12-minute burst from the Hawks.
At the 23-minute mark of the second term the Gold led 7.5 to 2.3 following a Steven Stroobants goal.
But by the time the half-time siren sounded 12 minutes later, the Gold were 11 points down after the Hawks had piled on seven unanswered goals in a dramatic turnaround.
“It rained goals in the second quarter for them, and we didn’t help ourselves with our discipline, which gave them a couple of easy ones,” Skipworth said.
“I think with the situation of us needing to win to make finals, the boys were just a bit too fired up there for a while and over-anxious.
“But other than that 10 or so minutes I thought they were well controlled for the rest of the game.”
Among the best for the Gold was co-captain Ben Duscher, who made his return from what at one stage looked to be a season-ending ankle injury.
In his first match for more than two months, Duscher slotted straight back in like he hadn’t missed a game.
“He was incredible for us,” Skipworth said.
“To his credit, he worked really hard in rehab to get himself back and he didn’t miss a beat all game... his hard work paid off.”
● Essendon-listed players qualified for the finals: Brendon Lee, Mark Baguley, Henry Slattery, Elliot Kavanagh, Cory Dell’Olio, Kyle Reimers, Alex Browne, Scott Gumbleton, Hal Hunter, Nick O’Brien, Michael Ross, Luke Davis, Mark McVeigh, Anthony Long, Travis Colyer, Lachlan Dalgleish, Jackson Merrett.
