EFL Media’s Tim Fitzsimons previews this weekend’s preliminary final clash between Forest Hill and the Whitehorse Pioneers…
FOREST HILL (2ND, 13-5, 0-1 in finals) v WHITEHORSE PIONEERS (3RD, 12-6, 1-0 in finals)
It’s preliminary final weekend for division 4 with Forest Hill and the Whitehorse Pioneers fighting it out on Saturday to see who will take on Donvale in the grand final.
Forest Hill took it right up to Donvale for much of last week but ultimately couldn’t match it with the premiership favourites, going down by 32 points.
Nicholas Pincott was excellent for the Zebras and did his best to cause an upset, slotting home five majors for the day.
The Zebras balance across the board has been evident for most of the season, possessing the third best attack and the second best defence for the competition.
Whitehorse was able to grind out a gritty two goal win in the knockout semi final against Coldstream last week to earn a place in Saturday’s preliminary final.
The Pioneers late season form hadn’t been great leading up to the finals but they were able to turn that around and knock off the Cougars, something they couldn’t do two weeks earlier.
They will be hoping to repeat that feat this week against Forest Hill who was also too strong for the Pioneers just two weeks earlier also.
LAST TIME THET MET:
ROUND 18
WHITEHORSE PIONEERS 6.6.42 def. FOREST HILL 8.11.59
A slow start didn’t prevent Forest Hill from getting the four points as they turned a 20-point quarter time deficit into a 17-point victory at Springfield Park.
Todd Burger was the best on the day for the Zebras and despite the best efforts from Maverick Gleed and Jesse Hockey, the Pioneers couldn’t get the job done.
