Sebas seals finals spot

North Ballarat 8.12 (60) defeated by Sebastopol 11.9 (75)

FOUR victories in a row in the McDonald’s Ballarat Football League has got the Burra firmly poised for a top three finish, the lates coming after overpowering fellow contender North Ballarat last Saturday at Mars Stadium.

In an even contest all afternoon it was the coaching masterstroke from Michael Searl that was the difference.

By swinging cagey defender Hugo Papst to the forward line in the second half, with Papst going on to put in a game winning three-goal performance to seal victory.

Both sides were without senior regulars with the North Ballarat coach Brendan McCartney missing the likes of Maxwell Tate and Jamie Quick but also controversially opting to leave out swingman Ryan Luke for the blockbuster encounter.

The Burra were missing superstar midfielder, Luke Kiel, who is currently serving a two-week suspension for rough conduct while inside midfielder Bailey Veale was a late withdrawal meaning veteran Jake Wilkinson got another crack at the big time.

Uncharacteristically Mars Stadium was very still for the afternoon, allowing a free-flowing game that was always going to favour the Burra early with Toby Hutt looking dangerous inside 50 and booting a couple of goals.

On the flip side, North Ballarat looked just as damaging inside their forward 50 as Jack Riding bagged four majors to continue his fine form in season 2022.

Josh Chatfield was sent to full forward and it gave the Roosters an extra level of potency despite not being enough for them to grab victory.

The win for Sebastopol has set them up well and truly for a deep finals push, like the kind they had back in 2019.

Up next are home games against Lake Wendouree and Ballarat with wins in both meaning they could finish second on the ladder.

For the Northies the equation is simple, if they win their next two, they’ll feature in finals.

A loss in either or both and the pre-season flag favourites can kiss goodbye any hopes of playing beyond 20 August.