And although it was a hard slog, the Wombats on Saturday fulfilled Davies’ plans to win that game and be rewarded by moving into a double-chance spot on the ladder.
Davies and his charges had to sweat out a 34-minute last quarter to get the win, if only just, against a very competitive East side, which was also eyeing a double chance.
The double chance is not done and dusted quite yet for Lancaster, which tackles another finalist, Stanhope, in the final home-and-away round this Saturday, but at least the Wombats now have the fate of their season’s finishing position in their own hands.
“We played well early and missed some chances but I’m not taking anything away from them as they played very well, particularly in the third term when they got right back into the game,” Lancaster coach Tom Davies said.
‘‘After half-time we made hard work of it but we were still able to get the premiership points, so that was the big positive.“
Lancaster always had its nose in front, in what was an absorbing tussle with a finals-like atmosphere in front of large crowd.
Some of the Wombats’ key players made an impact.
One of these was Cam Simpson, one of the club’s premiership heroes from last season, who was arguably best afield.
He got plenty of support from fellow midfielders Zac Cerrone and Charlie McLay.
In a defence under siege for the first time in a while, Luke Davies and Phil ‘The General’ Carroll stepped up, with support from Lachy Boscarini, to keep a tight rein on East’s dangerous forwards, including Tyson Sidebottom, who was restricted to three goals by a committed Logan Demasi.
Lancaster had no dominant forward, with the majority of its goals coming from Morrie Serra, Ricky Thomson and Jamie Scapin — with two each.
Adam Fichera, Adem Barolli, Matt Rendina and Jamie Spencer were the East players to keep the visitors in the game, with support from Thomas McCluskey and Jordan Gattuso.
The Wombats face Stanhope at Stanhope in the final home-and-away round this Saturday and expect to be at or close to full strength in a bid to sew up the double chance for the finals, which start the following weekend.
• Lancaster’s reserve grade team remains unbeaten after a 68-point win against fifth-ranked Shepparton East and remains on track for back-to-back premierships.
The accurate Wombats kicked 13 goals from 17 scoring shots and allowed Shepparton East just one goal in the opening half.
Tim Strapp’s four goals and a pair from both Riley O’Neill and Jack Elliott represented the bulk of the goals, as Daniel Gentle was named best on ground in a team that included regular senior players Kyle Kydd and Zaid Besim.
