LEITCHVILLE-Gunbower has won its way through to a third consecutive Heathcote District Football League grand final berth with a nail-biting 10-point second semi-final win over arch rivals North Bendigo at Lockington.
Leading by 22 points at the final change, the Bombers withstood a withering assault from the Bulldogs who kicked the first goal of the last term in under half a minute and then added 2.6 to grab a two-point lead at the 19-minute mark.
Led by Ryan Gow in the ruck, the Bulldogs looked to be in total control and with the Bombers unable to get the ball anywhere near their forward 50 it appeared capitulation was inevitable.
Missing Matt Pilcher who was injured in the first half and already without Lee Pollock who was a late withdrawal with a back spasm the Bombers also lost Ashton Dye who had performed admirably in ruck contests in the second and third term.
Without a forward 50 entry for the first 20 minutes of the final term, the Bombers finally worked the ball into their front half where a leading Matt Perri was awarded a free kick and with the advantage taken Matt Ladson set up Dan Coates for the goal which put the Bombers back in front.
Minutes later Ryan Prendergast marked deep in the forward line and with a composed set shot from a tight angle put the result beyond doubt.
It was a thrilling finish to a cracking game of football that had enthralled the large crowd since the opening bounce.
From the outset the Bombers had taken it up to North who as expected produced a physical approach in a game plan designed to unsettle.
Sensing such a plan Bombers coach Matt Hawken assigned Ayden Walton to aggressive North star Sam Barnes with good results and had uncompromising youngster Shaun Turvey shadowing the league’s most unpopular player Aaryn Craig.
In the middle hard nut Liam Guinan fossicked underneath the packs and midfield duo Matt Pollock and Matt Ladson providing grunt in the clearances the Bombers gained early ascendancy.
Early goals to Matt Perri and Jack Dye gave the Bombers an early advantage before North countered with the next four goals of the opening term to hold an eight-point advantage at the first change.
Despite the tagging of key players from both sides, the game opened up into a more free flowing and higher scoring than usual between the two sides with the lead changing five times in the second term.
North opened up a 14 point lead with the first goal only to see the Bombers rebound with the next three majors with Coates, Perri and Lincoln all scoring.
Coates was electric and with reason – the corresponding game last year saw him tear his hamstring and ultimately miss the grand final. This year the livewire midfielder was doing everything to propel his side across the line.
Perri was similar. The Bombers talisman was lightning on the lead and kicked three goals for the term as the Bombers established a nine-point half time lead.
Perri got the Bombers rolling at the start of the third term with his fifth goal and when Ladson kicked another soon after the Bombers had opened up a 19-point buffer.
A North behind saw Prendergast kick in poorly gifting North a goal through Tyson Findlay and the Bulldogs then cut the margin further with his cousin and fellow Cheatly Medallist Jarrod kicking the next major.
North struggled to clear their defensive area with long bomb kicks to packs letting the Bombers back into the game and if not for some inaccurate kicking the Bombers would have been able to distance themselves further .
Coates and Perri steadied the ship with important goals giving the Bombers the 22-point margin they had at three quarter time.
“I thought we had worked hard for that lead and in the end we needed it – North threw everything at us in the last term and I’m really proud of the ways the boys hung in there until we got a chance to go forward” said Hawken after the game.
“It just shows that North are a super side and we can’t relax for a second as they have the firepower to score quickly”
The Bombers were unlucky to lose Jack Dye to a shoulder injury shortly before the final siren and will be hoping that their ruck stocks improve with both Lee Pollock and now Pilcher under injury clouds for the grand final.
* HUNTLY will meet North Bendigo in the Heathcote District Football League preliminary final next Saturday.
The Hawks withstood a last-quarter comeback from Colbinabbin on Sunday to win by 16 points.
Colbinabbin was down by 33 points at three quarter-time, but five goals early in the quarter had them back in the game.
Huntly managed to hold sway and defy the Hoppers another chance at finals glory.
