Country Championships: Ongerup narrowly avoids double relegation after securing just one win in division two

Ongerup narrowly avoided the dreaded double relegation after a disappointing Nutrien Ag Solutions Country Championships division two campaign in Perth at the weekend. Arguably punching well above their weight in the top division last year, Ongerup failed to register a win and were relegated back to division two for this year’s tournament. Their 25-point win against Mortlock in their opening match of the tournament on Friday proved crucial to their survival after they failed to record wins in their next three outings. They were demolished by the clinical eventual grand finalists Central Midlands Coastal in their next game by 40 points on Friday before five-goal losses to premiers Great Northern and Eastern Districts in their remaining two matches. Ongerup coach Chris Walker conceded it was an underwhelming tournament for his side that struggled to find their groove. “It was disappointing we only got one win,” he said. “We thought we had a fair chance to have a good crack at it this year but we just weren’t good enough. “We lacked pace on the outside and just got exposed at times. “In all three games, we turned the ball over in crucial areas which hurt us and then we started to gamble a little bit and got burnt on the slingshot. “I think players got caught in the pressure a little bit, and couldn’t sustain their effort for the whole game and didn’t have the running capacity.” Ongerup were dealt a major blow when centre-half-back Dean Rintoul was ruled out on the eve of the tournament before star midfielder and three-time Bud Byfield medallist Luke Bairstow suffered a calf strain during their third game. It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Ongerup with former Geelong-listed player and captain Timm House being selected in the championship all-stars. “We suffered some pretty key injuries throughout the tournament which really hurt us,” Walker said. “We had to shuffle a few things around so Timm (House) was thrown to half-back at times but was also huge for us in the forward line. “He (House) was voted our fairest and best and was unbelievable throughout the tournament. “Luke Bairstow going down on the second day is really hard to replace and losing Regan Smith on day two didn’t help either — he was probably our best on day one.” Murray Hayward and Rohan Hodgson injected line-breaking runs on the wing and 2023 Lez Ganzer medallist Jayden Brooks toiled hard in the ruck. Jackson Callope played a key role inside-50 with a team-high five goals while fellow spearhead Caleb Keley struggled to replicate his scintillating goal-kicking form for Jerramungup and managed two goals. Having started with a superb 5.5 (35) to 1.4 (10) victory over Mortlock at Revo Fitness Stadium on Friday, Ongerup were belted in game two against Central Midlands who ran away 9.0 (54) 2.2 (14) winners. With their grand final aspirations hanging by a thread on Saturday, Ongerup’s hopes were brought to an abrupt end when they were defeated by Great Northern 8.4 (52) to 3.2 (20) at Pentanet Stadium. Playing for honour in their final match, they were heavily beaten this time at the hands of Eastern Districts who emerged 7.8 (50) to 2.3 (15) victors.