Matt Hewson
St Joseph’s has booked its place in the GFL finals after a comprehensive victory over Geelong West Giants on the weekend.
Luke Webb booted five goals on his return from a lengthy lay-off with a broken collarbone as the Joeys triumphed 18.10 (118) to 7.5 (47).
The outcome was hardly in doubt after St Joseph’s held the Giants to no score in the second quarter to take a 40-point lead into the half-time break.
Joeys coach Paul Carson said he was proud of the way his players had dominated the match.
“No disrespect to Geelong West, they’re a good footy side and a young team not dissimilar to us,” he said.
“They had some momentum at different stages, but we controlled the game for large parts of it.
“The boys executed really well. Their pressure was great, we moved the footy really well and had scoreboard pressure, and the result took care of itself.”
St Joseph’s 18 goals came from 10 individual goal kickers, which Carson said was a good sign heading into finals.
“It’s been a real strength of ours, and a real positive, over much of the year,” he said.
“When we’re up and about and things are going well we tend to have up to 10, or even 11 or 12 goal kickers. I really like that, and I know the boys enjoy it too.
“The more goal kickers the better, it means we’re sharing the load and not being dependent on one or two guys.
“It makes us really unpredictable to the opposition, so that’s definitely a good thing.”
While St Joseph’s had a stranglehold on fifth before the weekend, Carson said he was glad to have mathematically guaranteed his side’s place in the finals this season.
“We’re going to finish two games clear now inside the five now, so that bit’s done and dusted,” he said.
“That’s the aim of any footy club, to qualify yourselves as soon as possible. It’s a good thing for us having two games still to play and to know what our next month of footy looks like.
“It’s fantastic to be playing finals again and to give ourselves another opportunity for success.”
Joeys play Lara and St Mary’s in their last two matches of the home and away season, and Carson said he could approach the games in a slightly different way now his side’s finals berth was guaranteed.
“It’ll be an interesting two games, they’ll both be different challenges in their own right,” he said.
“But I suppose for us, now that we know we’ve qualified for finals, we’ll still be working on the development of individuals in the group, ironing out issues and work-in-progress areas.
“We just want to keep taking baby steps forward and keep our form up while keeping one eye on the finals.”
Bell Park had a 41-point victory at home against Grovedale with Jackson Bright and Hamish Dawson kicking six and five goals for the victors, respectively, while Hamish Lucas was named best on ground.
Colac trounced Lara with a score of 20.12 (132) to 8.13 (61) to jump into second place and keep the pressure on top dogs St Mary’s.
Leopold continued its run of form, defeating South Barwon by 80 points at home and virtually guaranteeing at least a fourth-place finish to the year.
North Shore captain Nicholas Dixon was his side’s best player as they defeated St Albans 18.18 (126) to 7.6 (48).
