The Lions’ final home-and-away match is against second-ranked Lancaster this weekend, at Stanhope Recreation Reserve, where only a win or a shock loss by sixth-ranked Dookie United will allow the Lions to keep fifth place.
Stanhope lost to Lancaster by 74 points in round three and has struggled to match it with teams above it on the ladder, losing to Nagambie in the opening round by 84 points and again a fortnight ago by 37 points.
It has run Murchison-Toolamba to within 31 points and lost to Shepparton East by 30 points mid-season.
Nagambie leads the competition with a round remaining, a game clear of Lancaster and facing underperforming traditional rival Avenel in the final round.
Lancaster is equal on points with Murchison Toolamba and must win to keep the double chance. That should be enough incentive to come out all guns blazing against the Lions.
Third-ranked Murchison-Toolamba has an appointment with Girgarre, which it beat by 127 points the first time they met, but even a repeat of that performance won’t make up the 68 per cent difference between it and the Wombats.
Shepparton East doesn’t look likely to move in either direction from its fourth ranking, meaning the only likely chance is for Stanhope and Dookie to exchange positions.
To be fair there is little between the likely finals opponent for the Stanhope combination. If they manage to hang onto fifth position they will face Shepparton East and if they fall to sixth they will meet Murchison Toolamba.
The big difference is probably in-form Murchison-Toolamba forward James Lloyd, who kicked nine of his team’s 13 goals in a one-point loss to competition yardstick Nagambie last week.
In his last four games Lloyd has kicked 35 goals, including an 11-goal haul against cellar dweller Violet Town.
After 15 rounds the Lions have a 9-6 win/loss record and a significantly higher percentage than sixth-ranked Dookie.
Dookie faces a brimming with confidence Tallygaroopna (eighth on the ladder with seven wins) in its final home-and-away match after the Redlegs won by 113 points against 11th-ranked Undera.
Last time Dookie played Tally it was a 40-point win for the top six team, but Tally kicked a season high 27 goals on the weekend when in an interesting quirk three players named Dylan (Butcher, Wayman and Macfarlane) kicked 11 goals between them.
Stanhope warmed up for its match with neighbouring Lancaster by kicking eight goals in the opening term against Girgarre as spearhead Tom Rennie continued his breakout season.
His eight goals took him to 61 for the season, leading the league goalkicking by two from fast-finishing James Lloyd. No doubt Lloyd will be the focus of his team’s attention in the match against second from the bottom Girgarre.
Key defender, and assistant coach, Adam Lovison was again his team’s best player and they welcomed back gun mid-fielder Nathan O’Reilly.
Jonathan Pearson kicked another three goals (20 for the season), while Darcy Keck matched his season high with three majors for the second time this year.
