Trevor Jackson
Mount Burr 27.13 (175) d Tantanoola 6.8 (44)
Mount Burr tuned up its game for a tilt at final football with a dominant victory over Tantanoola in the final minor round of Mid South East football on Saturday.
The Mozzies had already locked in their finals berth and just needed to concentrate on their game plan.
It worked a treat, despite a slow start, with a 12-point advantage at the first break.
Mount burr then began to find some cracks in the Tigers’ defence and pushed hard to build a 33-point lead heading to the main break.
From there it was all about the Mozzies, as they banged on eight majors in the third quarter, before running the game out hard in the final stanza with 10 goals and a huge victory.
Just as impressive was the spread of scorers, with seven Mozzies adding multiple goals.
Kallan Bevan topped the list with five, while Hamish Smith (4), Wil Bowering (3), Brodie Hennink (3), Nathan Muhovics (3), Dylan Ridley (3) and Taylor Allen all doing the damage.
For the Tigers, coach Jak Ryan contributed three goals, while Jordan Hatt added two.
The Mozzies will now begin their finals campaign and look for a win against the reigning premiers Port MacDonnell in the first final on Saturday.
That game played a major factor in the way Mount Burr approached its clash with Robe, despite the outcome having no effect on final placings.
“We certainly had to focus on playing good football and what we need to work on,” coach Reece Duncan said.
“ I think the last couple of weeks have been some different challenges and Tant bring their own challenges and style of play we had to adapt to.
“The second half we got our run and style going with solid contributors which has held us in good stead for this coming weekend.”
Duncan noted the performance of Bevan, saying the Mozzies were lucky to have him back in the roster for the game.
“He is a special kid,” he said.
“”He has great football awareness and skills was certainly was our best on the weekend.”
Likewise Duncan said Smith was invaluable to the side up forward, as he had shown throughout the season.
“Smith kicked six against Robe and showed he could do it,” he said.
“He is certainly holding up his end of the bargain.”
At the end of the day Mount Burr has returned to finals football after missing several years at the pointy end, which was something Duncan said was important to the club.
“Mount Burr is a proud club and haven’t been in finals for longer than they would have liked,” he said.
“To be back in finals was the first step and now we are there, anything can happen.”
