Great Northern Football League prelim preview: Railways coach welcomes second chance against Chapman Valley

Railways coach Karl Pirrottina, while offering no excuses for their second semifinal failure, is confident his club will accept a second chance to make the GNFL decider. To earn another crack at the unbeaten Rovers, the Blues must defeat Chapman Valley in Sunday’s preliminary final at Wonthella. “Can’t take anything away from Rovers as they were very good again,” Pirrottina said of the second semi. “They have confidence in each other while we weren’t near our best including in the middle, where we allowed too much easy ball out and weren’t accountable enough for their mids. “Our pressure was down especially off half-forward and we let them waltz too easily out — physically, we didn’t take a backward step but the fellas are hurting and want to do better.” Pirrottina plans to hold the line. “We’re confident in our game plan and if everyone does the team thing, we have enough to win,” he said. “Flynn Dillon is in the hands of the doctors but unlikely and Jaigah Williams is doubtful with an ankle injury. “We have a couple of colts who’ve been putting their hands up but we won’t pick players under injury clouds or with long absences, not in a do-or-die final, we’ve learnt that from the past. “We need to put physical pressure on the Valley and stop their run from their back line, in particular (Paul) Sorensen and (Levi) Thorne, to limit their scoring opportunities. “(Joel) Leeson is a key for them through the midfield, so we aim to contain him and I know our backline can hold their forwards.” Chapman Valley coach Paul Drennan said he was not worried after Brigades drew level in the first semi at half-time. “We worked on our positives at half-time — we’d done a lot right but kept them in it with some silly turnovers and poor discipline,” Drennan said. “We played OK in the third quarter, though I was afraid we might be two or three goals short. But you could tell the boys weren’t going to give up on our first finals win in years and the last quarter was clearly our best, our back line was superb and didn’t let Brigades near the ball. “Hunger is a great thing, we had it when it mattered and I was so happy for the boys we’re in a prelim and believing we can win.” Drennan spoke highly of man-of-the-match Sorensen, who debuted on a CV scorecard in 2003. “He’s respected by all and is the club’s heart and soul; he played like a captain should in a final and led all day,” Drennan said. “We’re not too bad with injuries; a few banged-up bodies but expect that from a knockout final. Bring on Sunday.”