Football
19 August, 2025
Dimboola book finals place
The contenders for finals in the 2025 Wimmera Football Netball League season have been decided, with Dimboola edging Minyip Murtoa out of fifth place, despite there still being one remaining round.
Dimboola, with their win against Warrack on Saturday, shattered the dreams of Burras fans and players, with eight points now between fifth and sixth on the ladder – a difference that can't be overcome.
The finals series will be contested between Ararat, Nhill, the Thunder, the Warriors and Dimboola.
Final scores between Dimboola and Warrack on Saturday were Dimboola 19.11 (125) to Warrack 6.6 (43).
Better players on the losing side, according to PlayHQ, were Matthew Penny and Sam Hanna, with Hanna finding the big sticks four times during the match.
For Dimboola, it was Ben Miller and Lachlan Mackley who led the way, with Jackson Calder booting five majors.
Andrew Moore, co-coach of Dimboola, described the victory as a "good result (and) in the end a hard-fought win".
"Especially in the first half, we probably were able to break them a bit in the third, which is good, as we always know with Warrack they are a fantastic side in terms of their defensive pressure more-so, and it is hard to be able to break those lines and be able to get plenty of inside 50s," Moore said.
"I am proud of the effort of the group.
"We were able to have a consistent game through all four quarters, which is something we have been focusing on for some time.
"And on the flip side, it was great to be able to cement a finals sport, which is great reward for all the effort the boys have been putting in."
Moore said they had been focusing on consistency across the game.
"We have had times through the year, probably more in the first part of the season, where we might have a good first half then that dropped in patches in the second or vice versa and, look, it is hard to have a really good four-quarter performance but the main thing is being able to have consistency through effort, or if it is structuce wise, making sure every player is playing their role within your framework," he said.
"So that has been something pleasing over the last couple of weeks and that was demonstrated on Saturday, as well, and we know how competitive the Eagles can be, and they have had many close matches, but it was our work and being able to stay deligient with our process that got the end result."
Moore acknowledged Miller for his efforts on Saturday, along with the performance of their full forward in Calder.
"One player who really stood out who I thought was close to best on ground for us was Lachlan Mackley," Moore added.
"He's a guy who is local and he has been working extremely hard on some of his areas of the game and to be able to see those actions he has been putting in place have an impact, not only in general play but also on the score as well – he's one who's been our most consistent performer over the last month."
Meanwhile, coach of the Eagles, Matt Walder, admitted it was a disappointing result against the opposition on Saturday.
"We took control by quarter-time – they did skip out, I think it was four goals to four points at one stage and we responded," Walder said.
"There was a breeze going our way to start with and by quarter-time we had our noses in front.
"Obviously they had the chance to go with the breeze in the second quarter and consolidated, but as far as motivation, Dimboola had their own motivation in securing a finals spot.
"But at the end of the day our motivation is to finish off the season as strongly as we can, but after quarter-time their better players got hold of us and we weren't able to keep up."
From a disappointing result, Walder said at least some of the youngsters were able to get an opportunity for senior game time, which would only benefit both the club and the individual players next season.
"As far as the game play side of things, we got to play in different positions over the course of the game, and obviously we can identify some strengths there," Walder added.
Walder gave a nod to Tim McCormick for his efforts on Saturday, who he said was terrific through the middle and down back.
"Matt Penny played a solid game in the middle and down back as well," he said.
"Sam Hanna, Sam Hayden, who kept us in the game with some goals that were terrific, and Machok (Garang) were also good."