RUPANYUP’S slim finals hopes were put out by Jeparit-Rainbow as the Storm notched its second win on the trot on Saturday.
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Consecutive losses to Laharum and now the Storm puts Rupanyup back in ninth and now makes it impossible for the Panthers to clinch a finals berth this season.
In a relatively low-scoring game, it was the Storm who started the better of the two sides, earning seven scoring shots to Rupanyup’s three in the opening term.
It was a disappointing second quarter for the Panthers, who could not manage to score a goal in front of their home crowd.
However, little damage was done on the scoreboard as the Storm could only muster up one goal of their own.
Rupanyup continued to have issues penetrating the Storm’s defence in the second quarter.
The Storm capitalised on some forward momentum in the third quarter to build a lead, but was wasteful in front of goal.
Jeparit-Rainbow kicked 3.8 in the third term to lead by 32 points heading into the final quarter.
Rupanyup pressed the Storm but were unable to overturn the deficit.
Storm coach Tim Inkster said it wasn’t a comprehensive victory but his side led for much of the day.
“We were always looking like winning but they got back within a couple goals in the last quarter,” he said.
The tackle count was the best it has been all season.
- Tim Inkster
“We were happy with it and would have taken a four-goal win at the start of the day. It wasn’t anything special but we didn’t have any injuries.”
Inkster said winning the clearances early went a long way in the Storm registering their 12th win for the season.
“We dominated the clearances and that was what set us up,” he said.
“If we didn’t do that we probably wouldn’t have won the game because they outworked us in the middle. They seemed to outnumber us a lot. We kept kicking it to the wrong pocket in the third quarter and missed a lot of set shots, which didn’t help.
“I’m really happy with the clearances and the tackle count was the best it has been all season, so there were a couple of good signs.
“Sam Cranna dominated the hit outs and Luke Werner gave us a bit of a drive. Tyler Edelsten did a good job on Rupanyup’s Elliot Kelly, who has been best on for them a lot recently. Justin Cozens’ work rate and tackling was good and he didn’t go to ground like a lot of guys.”
The Storm welcomed back Jayden Werner and Simon Clugston to senior football after both had lengthy spells with injury.
“Jayden did a couple of important things in the third quarter for us,” Inkster said.
“He is a long way off his best but there were a couple of positive signs there. Simon Clugston came back in for us after a spell in the reserves. He did a good job.
“We have the bye now and Adam Schulz should be right after the bye and hopefully one or two others will come in.”
With the bye this week, the win means Jeparit-Rainbow will finish the season in third place above the Swifts.