“Mini-final” facing Inverleigh

INVERLEIGH coach Adam Donohue has labelled Saturday’s penultimate round clash with East Geelong a “mini-final”, with the winner likely to claim the GDFL minor premiership.

The Hawks are a game clear of the Eagles, but Ben Boseley’s men have a superior percentage.

An East Geelong win would have both teams on 56 points heading into Round 18, with the Eagles travelling to second-bottom Corio to round out their home-and-away campaign.

That makes reversing the result of the Round 6 meeting, where East won by eight points, imperative for Inverleigh.

“It was a game of ebbs and flows,” he said.

“The main thing was Tom (Cordner)-Maas kicking two or three goals from stoppages, which you just can’t allow.

“Things like that, the guys will remember, and we’ll be much better off for that.”

Donohue will spend some time this week looking at footage of East Geelong, including last week’s win over Thomson and the loss to Bell Post Hill in Round 15.

“I’ll definitely be watching some vision of their last couple of games and seeing if there’s anything there we can exploit,” he said.

“They’re a pretty well-rounded team. Well balanced; well coached.

“There are some things we need to work on and do well if we’re to beat East Geelong.”

After playing in the reserves against Bell Post Hill, Nathan Mayes will return to the Inverleigh team, while Jarrod Love and Scott Condy will likely line up against the Eagles.

However, the experienced Mick Grozdanovski suffered an ankle injury in the early game.

“It might be tough to pick him,” Donohue said.

“Someone like him would have been really handy in the last quarter last weekend.”

 

 

Image: Inverleigh coach Adam Donohue speaks to his players during the season. (Sports Media Image/Marcel Berens)