Miners wide receiver Cameron Neale caught a 40-yard touchdown pass in the final quarter, but Berwick suffered a 45-14 loss to the Western Crusaders at Henry Turner Reserve in Footscray on Sunday.– Marc McGowan
A LETHARGIC first half ended any hope of the Berwick Miners upsetting the undefeated Western Crusaders at Henry Turner Reserve in Footscray on Sunday.
The Crusaders ultimately ran out 45-14 winners in the Gridiron Victoria semi-final after leaping out to a commanding 35-0 buffer at half-time.
Miners quarterback Sam Walker, who was a surprise winner of the league’s most valuable player award last week, did not begin well and the Western defence picked off one of his early passes and returned it for a touchdown.
Berwick’s defence held strong, particularly Donte Newton, Mark Petana – who won league defensive player of the year – and Rob Zimmerman, but its offence failed to fire.
The Crusaders’ offensive barrage eventually told on the Miners’ defence and four more touchdowns followed for Western in the opening two quarters.
Running back Grant Lamb had Berwick’s best chance when Cameron Neale recovered a fumbled punt return, but Lamb’s rushing attempt was halted on the one-yard line and time ran out for the Miners.
The margin was stretched further with a Crusader field goal after the main break before Berwick finally registered points in the final term.
Walker firstly threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Neale, with Lamb running in the two-point conversion before connecting with Lee Lindsay in the end zone for another soon after.
Western also scored its sixth and final touchdown to put an exclamation mark on the result.
Miners head coach Dale Warren was disappointed his side’s 2007 campaign had come to an end, but was upbeat about its chances next season.
“The main thing out of this year is the quality coaching we’ve had from John Leijten, Mel Martin and Darren Shaw,” he said.
“We’ve got a good defensive crew now – they’ve really stepped up during the year – now we just need our offence to start gathering steam.”
The Crusaders will meet the Nunawading Warriors in Vic Bowl XXIII at Sydney Pargeter Reserve on Saturday at 1pm.
Entry is $2, and on top of the gridiron action there will be a wrestling demonstration and a Dash for Cash at half-time.
