WANDELLA have soared over Macorna for the second week in a row, booking their spot in next week’s preliminary final in a 99-point victory.
The Bombers again claimed the win over their local rivals – this time turning up the heat to celebrate club legend Tim Robinson’s 300th game.
Bombers co-coach Justin Robinson said the day would be one that would be forever etched in the history of Wandella football club.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the boys for the way they went about it today,” he said.
“As much as Tim would’ve said that the result wouldn’t matter at the end of the day, a convincing win in Tim’s milestone game is just right.
“We were able to chuck him forward towards the end, and I just knew if he got it within range, he’d nail the goal.
“Nobody forgets what we’re playing for out on the ground when moments like Tim’s goal happen, it’s a great thing to celebrate.
“Everyone who played in the game will look back and say they were out there when Wandella had a big win in Timmy’s 300th.”
Full forward Michael Rowe opened the scoring in scintillating fashion, bursting through a pack and snapping over the shoulder for his first of two first-quarter goals.
It was a sign of things to come for the match, as the Bombers piled on five unanswered goals in the first quarter to blow the game out of the water.
The onslaught continued in the second quarter, Wandella pushing the margin out to 43 points at half-time before a thunderstorm called a halt to the second half.
Both sides ran out for barely a minute after the break, having to quickly rush back into the rooms due to the risk of lightning.
While the storm quickly rolled through, the rains it brought hung around for much of the third quarter – but it couldn’t slow the rampaging Bombers.
The conditions had little impact as the Bombers kicked away in the second half, kicking 10 goals to one after half-time.
When Tim Robinson kicked the game’s second-last goal, the entire Wandella team flooded the milestone man – soaking in the moment as a team.
Samuel Taylor put the cherry on top of the game, kicking the Bombers’ 19th goal from the goal square just before the final siren rung.
Michael Rowe was the game’s leading goalkicker with a bag of five, Bombers co-captain Logan Keighran topped off a strong game with three goals and Darren Rushton kicked two.
Kaine O’Connell and Adam McKenzie led Wandella in the middle of the park, as did Samuel Taylor and youngster Archer Lancaster who took a high-flying mark.
Tigers midfielder Malcom Neiwand was one of his side’s best players, tirelessly working to get Macorna forward, Jordan Simpson another who stood tall for the Tigers.
Fergus Bear, Blake Foster and Harley Somerville were also stand-outs, while skipper Laing Whinfield found plenty of the ball.
Robinson said he was proud of the way his team played and got the win over a team who had taken it up to them all year.
“We’ve been neck and neck with Macorna all year, so it feels great to pull it all together today and play like a team in the finals should play,” he said.
“The pressure was on all game, it was one of those games where you have to be pretty quick with the ball – but that’s just what finals games bring.
“It feels unreal, it feels as though we deserve to be in a preliminary final at a minimum and we are expecting the pressure to be even stronger next week.
“We’ve only got a six-day turnaround, so now it’s about looking after ourselves and planning well for Ultima.”
While Wandella will plan for their preliminary final match-up, Macorna will be planning a strong off-season they hope will see them strengthen next season.
