{"id":216775,"date":"2018-08-29T15:38:05","date_gmt":"2018-08-29T05:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=216775"},"modified":"2020-07-28T12:41:43","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T02:41:43","slug":"gunners-bow-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/08\/29\/gunners-bow-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunners Bow Out"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
An exhausted Maxine Evans walks off the field with her fellow Panthers players at the end of a match where the Gunnettes made Nanango work hard for the win<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 29, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year’s football season came to an end for Gunners on Saturday when both the Women’s and Men’s Division teams were defeated in the make-or-break Preliminary Finals.<\/p>\n

The matches were played at Nanango’s Burnett Street sports fields between the winners of the minor semi-finals and the losers of the major semi-finals, both played on August 18.<\/p>\n

The Preliminary Finals winners will now go on to play Barambah and Wests in next Saturday’s Grand Finals to determine the season’s top teams and runners-up, while both Gunners squads bow out in third place.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Women’s Division<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the Women’s Division, Gunnettes were scheduled to play Nanango’s Panthers in a match that turned out to be almost as knife-edged as Gunnettes’ narrow win over Wests in the Minor Semi-Final the previous week.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On that occasion, Gunnettes walked off the field 3-2 victors against Wests after a scoreless match and scoreless extra time led to a nail-biting penalty shoot-out.<\/p>\n

The Panthers, meanwhile, broke their own three-year winning streak when they lost their Major Semi-Final to Barambah 4-2.<\/p>\n

The loss was a wake-up call for the side, and they were clearly keen to return to form.<\/p>\n

Sadly for the Gunnettes, who have 14 sign-ups for this year’s team, only 10 players fronted for the Preliminary Final while the Panthers came onto the park with a full squad plus three reserves.<\/p>\n

But what Gunnettes may have lacked in numbers, they more than made up for in heart.<\/p>\n

To the surprise of many spectators, the match remained scoreless at half time and stayed that way until roughly mid-way through the second half.<\/p>\n

Both teams threw themselves at one another with such ferocity that two Panthers players had to be taken off the park with minor injuries after on-field collisions.<\/p>\n

But it wasn’t until Maxine Evans found the back of Gunners’ net somewhere close to the 65th minute that the Panthers sensed the chance of victory.<\/p>\n

And when Lauren Sims repeated the effort a short time later, Gunnettes fate was sealed.<\/p>\n

Even so, the Gunnettes drew praise for the fearless and skilful way they played right up to the final whistle, and their dogged refusal to let their heads drop.<\/p>\n

“They really made us work hard for this victory,” Panthers coach Alan Downie said.<\/p>\n

“I really have to take my hat off to them.”<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
An on-field collision between two Bears luckily caused no injury, but it showed just how determined the Barambah side was to secure a win over Gunners<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Men’s Division<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the Men’s Division game that followed, Minor Semi-Final winners Barambah were scheduled to play Gunners in a match that could have been anybody’s.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On overall season form, Gunners appeared favourites to win the match.<\/p>\n

The squad has sat at or near the top of the table for most of this year, and until their narrow loss to Wests in the Major Semi-Final, seemed certain of a Grand Finals berth.<\/p>\n

By contrast, the Bears have had a much more mixed season, displaying brilliant form some match days and indifferent form on others.<\/p>\n

But given the Bears have shown an uncanny ability to turn the tables whenever their backs are against the wall, there was a lot to be said for that team’s chances, too.<\/p>\n

Rain had begun to fall on the park by the start of the match, and it soon became clear the Bears were in it to win it.<\/p>\n

Their generally older, bigger and more experienced side played a quick and aggressive game from the get-go, giving Gunners as few opportunities as possible and dominating possession.<\/p>\n

Gunners fought back boldly, refusing to be awed by the Bears attack and making many of their own whenever the ball fell into their grasp.<\/p>\n

But by the end of the match, their efforts weren’t enough to prevent the Bears securing a Grand Final berth of their own with a 2-nil result.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Grand Finals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This coming Saturday, September 1, the local competition’s Grand Finals will be played at Tom Alford Oval in Kingaroy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The matches had originally been slated for Wondai, but a dry month and many frosty mornings have left that venue in a sub-standard condition.<\/p>\n

Football South Burnett officials made the decision to relocate the Grand Finals early this week after inspecting the Wondai playing fields.<\/p>\n

The Women’s Division match between the Panthers and the Bears will be played at 1:00pm, and will be followed by the Men’s Division clash between Wests and Bears at 3:00pm.<\/p>\n

A canteen will be running on site, and spectators can confidently expect to see two of the best games played in local football this year.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>
South Burnett United will be going all out against USQ this Sunday to secure a Grand Final berth for a rematch against Willowburn White<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toowoomba Competition<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Last Sunday’s semi-final between ladder leaders South Burnett United and Willowburn White didn’t go well for the local team, with Willowburn narrowly taking out the match 1-nil.<\/strong><\/p>\n

United were understandably disappointed with the result, but they’ll get a second chance at a Grand Finals berth this Sunday (September 2) when they face off against USQ at Dixon Oval in Gatton in the Preliminary Finals.<\/p>\n

United triumphed over USQ 3-1 the last time both sides met, and supporters will be hoping the local side sees a similar result this time around.<\/p>\n

The match will get underway at 1:00pm.<\/p>\n

If it goes United’s way, they’ll be having a rematch against Willowburn White at Clive Berghofer Stadium in the Toowoomba Football League’s Grand Final on Sunday, September 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year’s football season came to an end for Gunners on Saturday when both the Women’s and Men’s Division teams were defeated in the make-or-break Preliminary Finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":216784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,68,6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nGunners Bow Out - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This year's football season came to an end for Gunners on Saturday when both the Women's and Men's Division teams were defeated in the make-or-break Preliminary Finals.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/08\/29\/gunners-bow-out\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gunners Bow Out - 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