Country Championships: Two costly periods for Upper Great Southern as they fall short in bid to reach decider

Upper Great Southern Football League were left to rue a late lapse against Peel and a slow start against Avon as they missed a grand final berth in division 1 of the Nutrien Ag Solutions Country Football Championships for the second straight year. A heartbreaking two-point loss in the final qualifying game on Saturday ended Upper Great Southern’s hopes of playing in the decider on Sunday. Avon held on desperately in the dying stages to beat Upper Great Southern and they went on to claim grand final glory, upsetting South West by 12 points. Upper Great Southern coach Gerard Medlen said he was proud of his players’ efforts, especially to fight their way back into the game against Avon and give themselves a chance of progressing. “I think we had more of an opportunity (to make it) this year than last year,” Medlen said. “We blew a four goal lead against Peel and lost by a point and started slow against Avon and fought our way back. . . we just had to capitalise on our opportunities “The guys we took stood up and the young blokes were really impressive as well. “It was an even effort from the team and everyone had their moments.” After an inspired win over reigning champions South West on Friday to kick off their division 1 campaign, Upper Great Southern went down to Peel by one point. Peel entered the second day of senior action on top of the standings but were emphatically beaten by South West on Saturday morning to open up the division. Upper Great Southern thumped rivals Ongerup by 43 points to win a second game of the carnival on Saturday and then needed to take care of business against Avon later in the day. Avon were victorious over Peel to keep their grand final hopes alive and then South West thrashed Ongerup by 68 points to ensure they would be in Sunday’s decider. It came down to the winner of Upper Great Southern and Avon in the final division 1 match at Mineral Resources Stadium. Skilful forward Ryan Bennell kicked the first goal of the game before Ryan Mawer answered at the other end. Avon then took the lead after two goals in as many minutes, Cameron Sharp with a class finish on the run before captain Marshall Jones kicked one off the ground in the goal square. Avon led by 11 points at the break and that was quickly 17 after an early conversion from Zac Casey. Upper Great Southern hit back quickly through Laurence Collard and then Ryan Melvin reduced the deficit to five points. A costly 50m penalty gifted Casey his second at the halfway mark of the second half and then Mawer made it tough for Upper Great Southern, pushing the margin to 17 points. However, James Laurino and Kade Stewart failed to give up in the middle and they pumped the ball inside forward 50 where the dangerous duo of Bennell and Sandover medallist and former WAFL star Haiden Schloithe were operating. A downfield free kick handed Jimi Gillespie a simple goal and when Schloithe was too strong for an opponent to mark and convert close to goal, it was swiftly back to four points. Upper Great Southern had the majority of the play in the final minutes, a rushed behind and then Daniel Harley missed a chance on goal. Avon defended desperately in the final 90 seconds to record a famous win, 6.1 (37) to 5.5 (35) and progress to the division 1 grand final. Upper Great Southern were best served by Schloithe, who played deep forward with his left leg heavily strapped in the last half, while Laurino, Stewart and Melvin all won plenty of the ball. Tall Anton Hanson and wingman Flynn Spark were also strong contributors. Earlier Upper Great Southern powered to a big win over Ongerup, as Bennell, Schloithe and Coen Marwick all kicked two goals. Ongerup held their rivals to only two goals in the first half but Upper Great Southern broke the shackles after that to run out winners, 6.8 (44) to 0.1 (1). Schloithe and Bennell were electric for the winners, Laurino, Daniel Stubbs and Simon Panizza provided plenty of drive and Billy Clay was a great target going forward. On Saturday at Pentanet Stadium in Joondalup, Upper Great Southern led by 11 points at half-time against Peel but were overrun to go down 6.0 (36) to 6.1 (37). Stewart was outstanding in the middle and kicked two goals while Schloithe, Bennell and Laurino also played well. In the 19-point win against South West to kick off their campaign, Collard booted two goals while Schloithe and Gillespie also kicked majors. Bennell, Schloithe, Jordan Heil, Gillespie, Fraser Wittwer and Melvin were the best contributors in the 4.2 (26) to 1.1 (7) triumph.