LADDER leaders Birchip-Watchem suffered their first blemish of the season on Saturday, with Wedderburn coming from 42 points down midway through the third quarter to share the points with the unbeaten Bulls.
After trailing by seven goals, the Redbacks kicked eight of the last nine goals of the match to draw level with Birchip-Watchem in front of a parochial home crowd in the Redbacks’ first home game of the year at Donaldson Park, after the opening of their new clubrooms on Saturday.
The turning point in the 12.10 (82)-apiece draw was the loss of Hamish Hosking midway through the third term, with the Bulls ruckman suffering an Achilles injury and taking no further part in the match.
While both coaches were disappointed to share the points, it was particularly disheartening for Birchip-Watchem coach Trevor Ryan, with his team failing to hang on to their commanding lead over the final quarter and a half.
“It was disappointing on our behalf because we had a good hold on the game and should have been able to close it out from that position,” Ryan said post-match.
“The first half we had opportunities that we didn’t make the most of, but after half-time we played five or six minutes of really good footy which helped us put some margin between them on the scoreboard.
“Losing Hamish (Hosking) gave Wedderburn more of an opportunity to get their hands on the ball in the middle, which they made the most of, and they slowly pegged us back.
“We went away from playing the footy that gave us the lead and instead played a bit more defensively.
“They started spreading from the contest and doing all those things that we were doing and pegged us back and we just weren’t able to hang on.
“We just didn’t play well enough for long enough to get the points.
“It’s a bit of a learning experience for our boys and we’ll get a bit out of it, but it goes to show that you have to be at your best for every minute of the game in order to get the result.
“We were lucky we got out of it with at least two points.
“It was just mistakes we made by giving the ball back to them at crucial times that cost us badly.”
One of those mistakes came in the dying minutes when sharpshooter Ben Edwards had a chance to steal victory for the Bulls only to see his shot on goal miss, leaving the Bulls forced to share the points.
Hosking wasn’t the only influential player to sit out the crucial last quarter, with Bulls midfielder Marshall Rippon suffering a knee injury, while the Redbacks were without their coach Tom Metherell for the final quarter after he suffered a hamstring strain.
It was another strong display from a Wedderburn side that are continuing to prove their credentials as a finals contender week by week, with the 82-point draw leaving Metherell with mixed emotions post match.
“With them (Birchip-Watchem) being such a good side, it was disappointing to let them get that break on us early, but by the same token, the fight in our boys was unbelievable,” Metherell said.
“We showed a bit of spirit and grit.
“Most of the year when we have been challenged we have stood up, but it just went to another level on the weekend.
“We had a plan with how we wanted to play and that just came to the fore.
“We had Danny Benaim sent off late in the second quarter but once we got him back we started using the ball a bit better through the middle and got our running game going and got on a bit of a roll.”
Midfielders Meyrick Buchannan and Nick, Rippon, defender Angus Butterfield and forward Ty Colbert were among the Bulls’ better players, while Oscar Holt was a key player for the Redbacks, especially in the third quarter with three unanswered goals to begin Wedderburn’s charge home.
Wedderburn will face off against Nullawil this weekend in an eight-point match for both clubs after the Maroons endured a hard-fought nine-point win over Boort on Saturday.
The Magpies were quick out of the blocks with a seven-goal-to-one opening quarter forcing Nullawil to produce their best football after quarter-time, with the Maroons fighting their way back into the contest to lead by one point at half-time.
From there the match descended into an arm wrestle, with neither team able to break clear until the dying moments when the Maroons secured their third win of the season 13.9 (87) to 12.6 (78), with Jack Exell kicking five goals for the winners.
The remaining results went according to the script, with Donald defeating Charlton by 31 points while Sea Lake Nandaly secured a 119-point win over St Arnaud to maintain a firm grip on second place behind the Bulls.
