Burnside Heights’ hopes of upsetting the Sunbury Kangaroos have been undone by injuries.
Hoping to inflict the Kangaroos first loss of the Essendon District Football League division 2 season, the Bears started well and led by 10 points at the first break.
But from there, the Bears dealt with injury after injury.
Through their lack of fresh legs, the margin blew out, with the Kangaroos winning 23.19 (157)-9.7 (61).
Bears president Justin Peagram rued the injury toll.
“From halfway through the third quarter, we had no bench and other players were cramping due to a lack of rotations,” he said.
“They all started to fall down … we ran out of legs.
“Once we knew the game was over, we looked to make sure there weren’t any more injuries and the margin blew out.”
Those who failed to finish out the game included Michael Wever, Theodore Sapountzis, Danny Grantham and Mark Tzinis.
While disappointed not to go with the Kangaroos for the whole first quarter, Peagram said the match-ups prepared by coach Aidan Stott had worked.
“He wanted to try something different and we started OK and it caught Sunbury off guard,” he said.
Anthony Fawcus was the Bears’ best in the loss and one of three players to kick two goals apiece.
PHOTO GALLERY: Burnside Heights vs Sunbury Kangaroos
Peagram said it would be a matter of waiting to see whether the injured quartet got up this week.
The Bears were also without full forward Josh Covelli, who is having ankle problems.
“There’s no structural damage,” Peagram said.
“Josh wants to be out there and wants to play finals. It’s about how we best manage it.”
The loss means Burnside Heights has slipped from second to fourth and drop a big amount of percentage.
With two rounds remaining, they are two games and more than 30 per cent ahead of fifth-placed Northern Saints.
Peagram said they would like to get at least one more win on the board to ensure they lock up the club’s first senior men’s finals berth.
He said they were still looking at a top two finish, with second-placed Moonee Valley and third-placed Coburg Districts still to play the Sunbury Kangaroos.
“We still have to win a game to seal our finals spot,” he said.
“We’ve got two tough games coming up. East Sunbury we haven’t beaten in about four years.”
He said Hadfield, their other opponent, was in a similar position to that of the Bears last year – out of finals contention, but looking to finish the season on a high.
In division 1, Hillside’s finals bid suffered another blow with a loss to West Coburg. Despite having more scoring shots, the Sharks lost 9.14 (68)-10.11 (71).
The Sharks sit two games and percentage outside the top four.
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