Game of two halves finishes in two-point thriller at Wonthaggi

IF YOU can believe it, Wonthaggi was 41 points in front of the visiting Traralgon side at the 11-minute mark of the third quarter on Saturday, in a low-scoring affair, with the scores 7.10.52 to 1.5.11; and they still lost the game!

From that point onwards, Traralgon kicked 8.5 to the home side’s 1.3, in a complete reversal of the first half of the match, to win the game by a measly two points, with Wonthaggi’s only goal in almost 40 minutes of football coming after 33 minutes had elapsed in the last quarter.

For all that though, the game reached a thrilling climax in the final few minutes.

In an innocuous-looking piece of play at the 27-minute mark of the last quarter, with Traralgon leading by three points, the Maroon’s playing coach, Dylan Loprese, plucked the ball out of a mud heap in front of the coaches’ boxes and found teammate Hayden Willaton on the move.

His speculative mongrel punt forward started a sprint race between the two No.13s, Josh Schulz for Wonthaggi and Jackson McMahon for Traralgon, in an open forward line, with Isaac Chugg running in support.

But it was McMahon who trapped the loose ball and popped it through for the winner.

Try as they might, Wonthaggi simply could not get the score they needed in the dying minutes to close the gap, until Schulz made amends in the dying seconds, getting it across to Matthew Wade, whose shot sailed through from the boundary just as the final siren sounded.

Officially, at least, there wasn’t a lot at stake in the last home and away match of the season. Traralgon stayed in fifth and Wonthaggi in third and both will play in next week’s opening round of finals matches, Power at Moe next Saturday against Leongatha in the Qualifying Final and Traralgon at Drouin against Warragul in the Elimination Final on Sunday.

Traralgon actually started the day better than Wonthaggi, notwithstanding the fact that they finished the quarter with only one goal to show for it, six minutes in, to Sam Walker, an easy one after a 50-metre penalty.

The defence was good from the Power, however, as the visiting Maroons pressed to the town-end goal for the first 10 minutes, Hunter Tiziani coming up to intercept well, and Jai Williams bashing the loose ball through for a harmless point.

They supported the efforts of Kyle Reid and Jakeb Thomas who had both started well in their key defensive roles.

Up the other end, it was a lively Cooper McInnes who got the score ticking over with a couple of handy goals, kicking nice and straight to the pool end of the ground after a winning a free kick for a good tackle and the second from a contested mark after Brodie Mabilia centred the ball to a dangerous spot.

Play went up and down the ground in an arm wrestle at the stoppages and with play moving slowly through the heavy sections of the ground.

Finally though, it was Wonthaggi getting reward for effort and it was noticeable that when Shannon Bray was adding his strength and cut through in the ruck, giving midfielders Josh Bates, Bryce Joyce, Mabilia and co plenty of support as they attacked the ball and pressed forward.

A string of three goals in the last five minutes of the first quarter gave Wonthaggi a handy lead going into the first break and what a difference it made when Kyle Reid, Jarryd Blair, after a trademark smother and Brodie Mabilia, following through after a ruck duel, each nailed their chances.

The second quarter was a rugby scrum start to finish with neither side able to score a goal from a limited number of opportunities, Wonthaggi finishing with three points and Traralgon five points to see Wonthaggi with a healthy lead of 27 points, in a low-scoring affair, at half time.

Power’s best chance came in the last seconds of the quarter when Bates picked up cleanly out of the gluepot on the flank, found Mabilia who combined with Ollie Dawson to find Cooper McInnes, one out with his opponent, but with McInnes in good position, the siren blew just as the ball was poised above him.

The sun was out, the wind had dropped and there was absolutely no reason for the lack of scoring, beyond the willing contest for the ball and the heavy going.

Wonthaggi appeared to have iced the game with the first two goals of the third quarter, with Kyle Reid, thrown forward, calling for a handpass from Tiziani before goaling on the run and Wade finishing off nicely with a straight snap, all in the first 10 minutes to stretch the lead to 41 points.

Wonthaggi still had a handy lead of 23 points at three-quarter time but it was Traralgon which had its tail up and nothing to lose while Wonthaggi was playing a lockdown game.

Power had made four changes for the game with Jaxon Foon, Lachie Ferguson, Jack Blair and Blake Cornelis missing, replaced by Shannon Bray, Ollie Dawson, Harry Dawson and Matthew Wade, giving the Wonthaggi coaching panel plenty to chose from next Thursday.

Likewise, Traralgon made three changes, with Maroons’ regular Connor Ambler the main one missing. They otherwise had a full-strength side for their final hit out before the finals.

Final scores: Traralgon 9.9.63 def Wonthaggi 8.13.61