THERE was nothing between near neighbours Leongatha and Wonthaggi in the first quarter of the Gippsland League Senior Second Semi-Final at Moe on Saturday and that's the way the match finished too with Wonthaggi's Kyle Reid having a shot from the angle to win the match for the Power with just seconds left on the clock.
His shot from 35 metres started straight, but drifted wide to just miss the major opening and the moment was lost but it had been a grueling affair for the full 120 minutes with neither side prepared to concede an inch... what a game!
Wonthaggi broke the ice first with an early goal to Harry Dawson after good lead up work by Jarryd Blair. Blair had positioned himself on the wing and continued to control the play from there, even working across the ground at will to attack or defend and link up as the need required.
It was quite sometime before Leongatha could reply such was the defensive pressure from Wonthaggi with the likes of Steve Scott, Shannon Bray and Kyle Reid who took a number of telling grabs.
Ultimately, it was Justin Pellicano who incepted an errant defensive kick by Wonthaggi to open Leongatha's account with a calm shot at goal.
Leongatha finally started to get some clear air with the likes of Jake Van Der Pligt, Travis Nash, Cam Olden, Luke Bowman and Tom Marriott getting going and it was Jack Hume who capped off good lead-up work by Marriott, Maskell, Kim Drew and Cam Stone with a long, long shot for goal from outside 50.
But it was a tight, tough struggle with little space to work and plenty of hard hits and tackles as the teams went to the first break with nothing between them in general play. If anything Wonthaggi probably had more possession but both defences were on top and there was constant pressure on the ball carriers.
The hero of Wonthaggi's qualifying win over Sale the previous week, Troy Harley, was being closely marked by Leongatha's Matt Willcocks and the returning forward, Jordan Staley couldn't get his hands on the ball.
In fact, halfway through the quarter, the Power's brainstrust started changing the pair off the bench in an effort to liven up the attack
Quarter time: Leongatha 2.1.13 leads Wonthaggi 1.3.9
The flavour of the game didn't change much early in the second quarter, with tackle after tackle, and stoppage after stoppage in a hard, grinding affair.
Luther Juric smothered the ball on the wing and Kim Drew got a rare clear possession after the throw in to get the ball forward to where Aaron Heppell had the front position in a pack situation. He was awarded the free, about 40 metres out, and stretched the lead to two goals.
In the centre again, Wonthaggi's Toma Huther was opposed to Ben Willis and Power onballers Jack Blair, Tom Davey and Aiden Lindsay faced off against Luke Bowman, Kim Drew and Jake Van Der Pligt. Huther rucked and followed the ball to get it going Wonthaggi's way but once again Willcocks combined with the likes of Aaron Turton and Jackson Harry to get it clear. Cade Maskell and Sean Westaway were also linking up well down there, with Will Littlejohn's safe outlet passes a feature and Sam Forrester reliable.
At the other end, Shannon Bray, Steve Scott, Flynn Anderson on the dangerous Aaron Heppell, Will Lenehan and Kyle Reid were doing a similar job for the Power of limiting opportunities with close-checking play and confident clearances from the Parrots' scoring zone.
But it was repeat forward entries and relentless forward pressure by Leongatha which ultimately got its reward. Tom Marriott broke clear with the ball off half back, hit Ben Willis who was taking a turn forward and he found Cam Olden who marked the high kick, turned his opponent inside out, and ran in for the breakthrough of goal at the 19 minute mark - Leongatha by 20 points.
Leongatha had the lead out to better than three goals in a low-scoring affair and the feeling was that if Wonthaggi didn't get the next goal, it might continue to go Leongatha's way but the Power strung together a nice passage of play, Aiden Lindsay seized on the contested ball and Andrew Murray capitalised for a much-need goal. It was back to a 14-point lead and still anyone's game.
The ball pin-balled around and it seemed as if Leongatha would go to the long break with a useful lead but in a sensational twist, Leongatha's Nick Nagel bowled over Jack Blair after an initial misunderstanding about a free kick, and gave up two 50 metre penalties to Wonthaggi's Josh Bates on the wing, right on the stroke of half time, and he was marched right to the square for a goal.
Seconds later, Andrew Murray earned a free kick for a high tackle, after Huther cleared it from the centre, and from 40 metres out he barreled a beauty for a goal right on the siren to have the Power in front by one point as the players went to the rooms.
Half time: Wonthaggi 4.3.27 leading Leongatha 4.2.26.
During the third quarter, Leongatha steadied the ship after the mayhem of the last two minutes of the second quarter and got it out to a 17-point lead by the last change on the back of a purple patch by Aaron Heppell up forward with three goals, the first after good work by Cam Stone and Josh Hopkins, although it must be said that young Flynn Anderson had done a fine job competing with Heppell all day. Nick Nagel snapped the next.
Leongatha's Kim Drew played a slashing quarter for the Parrots and with the likes of Aaron Turton and Cam Stone down the wings, Jake Van Der Pligt and Ben Willis on the ball and strong play by the Leongatha back six, led by Matt Willcocks on the danger man Troy Harley, they started to regain control. Darcy Brosnan pulled one back after a 50 metre penalty but Cam Olden soon replied after a contested pack mark close to goal. Aaron Heppell stretched the lead to four goals when he was awarded a free on the angle and banana-ed the ball through for his third of the day. A minute later he was marched to the goal square via a 50 metre penalty, and he had his fourth.
Andrew Murray kept the flame flickering for the Power with a late goal after Jarryd Blair had pumped it forward to a busy Hutchinson.
Three quarter time: Leongatha 9.2.56 to Wonthaggi 6.3.39.
The messages were clear from the coaches at the last change; Trent McMicking wanted Leongatha to maintain the intensity while Jarryd Blair wanted his players to focus on the basics.
Leongatha's Jake Van Der Pligt started the last quarter in stirring style, at the 6.5 minute mark, with a 55-metre strike for goal to get the lead out to four goals but Wonthaggi answered straightaway with a goal from 45 metres from Jarryd Blair.
They'll talk about Kyle Reid's chance to win it but Andrew Murray had a similar chance halfway through the quarter and missed for a point.
The Blair brothers were really driving themselves into every contest and soon after, Jack Blair won a free and a 50 metre penalty for putting his head over the ball and banged it through for a goal. It was "game on" again and the Power was coming.
And there was still a sensational twist and turn to come in the game first when Jack Hutchinson launched himself at the ball for a spectacular mark and goal... to get the margin back to three points with six minutes to go.
Back and forwards it went with Cam Olden having a snap for a point and Aaron Heppell getting a free kick wide out on the boundary. His credible shot just missed and Leongatha had a five-point lead with less than a minute remaining.
But the never-say-die attitude of the Wonthaggi Power players came to the fore again as they strung the ball together from end to end through Tim Knowles, Jarryd Blair and Harry Dawson to where Kyle Reid put the big dukes up and earned a free kick, 35 metres from goal on a 45-degree angle.
It was a kickable chance with literally only seconds remaining. He took his time, went back and appeared to get a nice strike on the ball, the crowd hushed, then screamed, then roared as the ball went first towards the left-hand side of the goal opening, but then drifted slightly to slide through the points.
The moment was gone, Leongatha cleared and somewhere between CHF and the centre the siren sounded.
What a game, what a finish, what a relief for Leongatha, the undefeated team of 2022 which came so close to defeat but ultimately won their way into the grand final at Moe on Saturday, September 17.
