Chaotic round sees all loose ends tied up
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IT was an action packed final day of the 2024 VNL Championship season, with plenty of elation, heartbreak and narrow escapes across the competition.
Blaze suffer heartbreaking loss, but not all is lost
The North East Blaze were unable to beat the Boroondara Express which they needed to do to make finals – losing by a mere goal – but thanks to how other results went, they will still play finals.
North East actually held the lead at the first change, but the Express took the lead in the second term and held it at every change after that. Scores were actually dead even with seconds left, but the Express pinched one last goal at the death to take the win.
Geelong win big, but not big enough
Geelong recorded a big win over the Hawks, but it was not big enough for it to leapfrog the Blaze into a finals spot.
The margin progressively grew quarter on quarter as the match progressed, and although the Hawks won the last quarter it was a case of too little too late as the Cougars were already too far ahead.
Thanks to the Blaze losing by such a small margin, the Cougars fell 0.64 per cent short of jumping them into fourth.
Strikers end debut campaign on a high
The Bendigo Strikers have ended their debut campaign on a high after overcoming Melbourne Uni by eight goals.
The game started out pretty tightly – with the score dead even at half time – before the Strikers were eventually able to break away properly in the final term to take the win.
Falcons fly high yet again
The City West Falcons have tuned up for finals in the ideal way, comfortably downing Casey.
Things started a lot tighter than they ended, but the Falcons built their lead as the match progressed, ultimately culminating in the 27 goal final margin.
Saints pull off nail biting season ender
The Southern Saints have pulled off a nail biter to end their season, downing the Western Warriors by a mere two goals.
The Warriors were actually the ones to hold the lead at quarter time, but the Saints had wrestled it away from them by the half time break rolled around. Proceedings remained tight for the rest of the game, but the Saints scored the last three goals of the game to come from behind to take the win.
VNL Championship Round 22 Results
Boroondara Express (57) defeated North East Blaze (56)
Bendigo Strikers (53) defeated Melbourne Uni (45)
Casey (59) lost to City West Falcons (86)
Western Warriors (53) lost to Southern Saints (55)
Geelong (53) defeated Hawks (42)
Bye: Peninsula Waves