Burra battles to show its best

By Brad Kingsbury
KEYSBOROUGH sounded a warning that it may be on the way back with a competitive 16-point loss to Narre Warren in the grand-final replay at Rowley Allen Reserve on Saturday.
It was by far the best effort this season from the winless Burra and came after a tough week in which star recruit Vic Currie was told to take a few weeks off to assess his future after failing to reach expectations in the first five rounds.
The Magpies entered the game without experienced pair Glenn Hamilton and Steven Kidd and looked physically inferior to the Burra who wasted early opportunities and trailed by two points at the first change.
The game was a real battle for supremacy from then on, with young Magpies Dylan Piening, Justin Marriott and Daniel Uzarevic showing their class around the ground, while Burra stars Tyson King, Greg Walker and Travis Skidmore did a lot of heavy work in the packs.
The scores were locked up at both half and three-quarter time, setting up the final term as the deciding stanza.
The visitors grabbed an early goal through the efforts of leader Brett Evans and made the running, countering all efforts from the tiring Keysborough midfield.
Steady play from the Narre Warren defence, led by Jarrod Anderson, proved telling and the Burra was left to lament another loss, despite significant improvement.
That was a point later emphasised by Keysborough coach Greg Siwes.
“That was the best side that we’ve put out there this week, but it was still disappointing not to win the game,” he said.
“We had a lot more of the footy and I really think we should have won the game.
“We made the mistake of shooting for goal from wide and rushing our shots. That’s what happens when you’re not winning games, everyone wants to kick the goals and a bit of panic sometimes sets in.
“Even though we lost, I’m hoping that this game was a bit of a turning point for us.”
Keysborough will play ROC for the inaugural Ian McLean Memorial shield at Starling Road this Saturday.
The shield was struck by mutual agreement between the two clubs to recognise the service to both clubs of McLean, who passed away in September last year after a short battle with cancer.
McLean played two seasons with Keysborough in 1990 and 1991 after coming across from Dandenong South, before moving to play with ROC from 1993 to 1996 and then returning in 2004 to play three seasons of super rules with the Burra.