SEA Lake Nandaly have survived a late scare against rivals Nullawil, claiming a four-point win in difficult conditions at a blustery Nullawil Recreation Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
With a strong breeze favouring the town end of the ground, the Maroons had use of the advantage last, and almost pulled off a come-from-behind win in the final quarter after trailing by 18 points at the final change.
Despite kicking the three goals needed to hit the front in the final term, Nullawil still came up short after Sea Lake Nandaly managed to score their only goal into the wind all afternoon to cling to a 8.15 (63) to 8.11 (59) victory.
The win keeps the Tigers on top of the North Central ladder, with Nullawil remaining two points behind fourth-placed Wedderburn with four rounds to play.
Full of grit and determination, the win pleased Sea Lake Nandaly co-coach Bryce Delmenico.
“It was anyone’s game really, we did pretty well to hang on in the last quarter as it was just a dogfight in the last quarter,” Delmenico said.
“It was all about how hard we could scrap and bottle the ball up really, you can’t take too much out of the result because it was such a scrap.
“We nearly shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times in red time in the last quarter when we tried to take the game on a bit, but in those conditions we just needed to play a bit smarter.
“I’ve never played in wind like that before, I think we went inside 50 into the wind four times for the whole day and both teams kicked just one goal into the wind.
“Both teams played the ball out towards the dead pocket and there would have been 30 players around every contest, it was hard work.”
Wade Donnan, Thomas Cox, Jack Poulton and ruckman Ryan O’Sullivan were among the Tigers’ better players, although Delmenico reserved special praise for two key players.
“Kane Donnan was best on ground by a mile in my opinion, along with Brodie Adcock,” Delmenico said.
“(Donnan) played on Travis Cloke and didn’t give him a look in for most of the afternoon, and his ability to nullify his influence was a key reason in why we won.”
Cloke finished with two goals for the match to be the only multiple goalkicker on the ground, but was still well held by Donnan in the second and fourth quarters when the Maroons had the wind at their backs.
Dean Putt was among Nullawil’s better players, with the ruckman battling hard all day around the contest and behind the ball to take the points in his highly anticipated clash with O’Sullivan.
Lucas Caccaviello, Brent Sheahan, Matthew Wade, Adam Thomson and Kyle Doran were also named among the Maroons’ better players.
Delmenico is the only concern for Sea Lake Nandaly ahead of their clash with Donald this Saturday, with the co-coach suffering an ankle injury late in the game.
Donald will go into the match full of confidence after defeating a determined St Arnaud by 38 points.
Leading by just six points at three-quarter-time, the Royal Blues were able to kick clear with the wind in the final quarter to run out 10.7 (67) to 4.5 (29) winners, with Blake Grant and Todd Stevenson each kicking two goals for Donald.
Boort managed to keep their finals hopes alive, while simultaneously denting Wycheproof-Narraport’s chances, by securing a hard-fought seven-point win.
With no more than two goals separating the two teams all afternoon, the Magpies made the most of their opportunities in the last quarter, kicking two straight goals to the Demons’ one among five scoring shots.
Birchip-Watchem recording a 53-point win over winless Charlton at George Cartwright Oval.
The Navies could manage just two goals for the day, with Ben Edwards kicking five goals for the Bulls in the 9.16 (70) to 2.5 (17) win.
