FOOTBALL
RYE made it three wins in one year against old foe Rosebud in MPNFL Nepean Division on Sunday, ending its neighbours' 2010 season.
In a do-or-die elimination final at Pearcedale, the Demons overcame a third quarter onslaught from the Buds to win 12.13(85) to 12.6(78).
Rosebud booted the first two goals of the game inside five minutes of the opening bounce and things didn't look good for the Demons.
However, through two of their best three players in Ben Winters-Kerr and Adam Kirkwood, the Demons slowed things down and worked back into the contest.
They kicked six goals to one in the second term with Sam Smith shutting down Brenton Payne and Ben Holmes coming into the contest. At half-time, it was the Demons by 24 points.
A Greg Bentley and James Ross-inspired Rosebud stormed out of the blocks in the third quarter, kicking the first six goals of the quarter and turning the 24-point deficit into a 13-point lead.
However, Rye booted the last two goals of the quarter, against the breeze, to bring the three-quarter time margin back to one point.
The Demons turned it on in the last quarter, James Appleford earning best-on-ground honours with a splendid performance in the ruck and around the ground. He finished with two goals.
The Demons peppered the goals in the last quarter (3.8) and never looked like losing the contest.
The Buds can be very proud of their midfield group, as well as Chris Rogers, however, there weren't a lot of winners on the other lines.
Rye will now play Red Hill in the first semi-final after the Hillmen went down to Somerville in a thrilling qualifying final on Saturday.
Somerville overcame a slow start to beat the Hillmen 19.13(127) to 16.17 (113).
Red Hill jumped out of the blocks and posted 12 scoring shots to just four in the opening term to lead by 28 points at the first break.
Going into the game without Aaron Murray through suspension, the Eagles turned the ball over early with over-possession in their backline and through the middle of the ground, giving Red Hill the opportunity to score.
The Eagles also failed to have players who were prepared to put their head over the footy early in the clash and the signs were not good.
Red Hill replaced the injured Jamie McCall with Damien Jones, who played deep in attack.
The Eagles found something and hit back in the second term, moving the ball directly and quickly to Joel Atkins and Glen Boyd, who responded with eight goals between them.
The Eagles started to win the hard ball, the likes of Geoff Hibberd and Josh Collie working their way into the game, along with Ben Sedgewick and Michael Towan, as Emilio Bitters, Leigh Stewart and Guy Austin also started to win the ball through the middle. Young Lachie Edwards in the ruck was also instrumental. At half-time the Hillmen still led by seven points. The last half was a see-sawing battle and Somerville looked as though they were going to blow the opposition away a number of times. But Red Hill continued to come back.
On two occasions in the last term, the Eagles blew the lead out to 22 points, only to see Red Hill bring the margin back to less than one straight kick.
But Somerville kicked the last two goals of the game to win by 14 points. The teams kicked 14 goals between them in the last 34 minutes of the game.
Red Hill's Jake Mitchell was the best player on the ground, while Peter Dal Lago did a great job on Glen Boyd and Jake Mold finished with five goals, including the first of the match.
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