Leongatha stands tall against Morwell

AWAY from home and with two defenders injured and out of the game early in the second term, Leongatha displayed tenacity to beat Morwell in a thrilling contest, having tasted defeat against the Tigers in both encounters last season.

While the final margin was nine points, Morwell was in the hunt deep in the last term, Jenson Garnham booting a major after marking just prior to the final siren.

Cade Maskell impressed from the outset.

He rose to the challenge after experienced fellow backman Sean Westaway was forced out of the action with a first term hamstring injury, Mitch Bentveltzen, who was impressing in defence, hurting his knee not long into the second quarter.

Maskell continued to take crucial marks as Morwell drove the ball into attack, teammate Tim Sauvarin’s composure in defence, positivity and accurate passing helping get the Parrots out of danger and applying pressure to Morwell.

Ben Harding handled his injury-enforced shift into the backline with aplomb and Travis Nash was another helping contain Morwell.

A third-term shoulder injury to Tiger Zachary Anderson forced him from the ground and prevented him from having much impact when he returned to the field but Leongatha remained at a disadvantage in terms of rotation options.

The Parrots defied that adversity to dominate much of the final term and appeared in command when Zavier Lamers booted his first Senior goal for Leongatha to put it 14 points ahead at the 15-minute mark.

Brandon McDonald then sparked the Tigers back into life, goaling from point-blank-range after a 50-metre penalty on the cusp of time on, and a Tom Gray major at the 27-minute mark ensured a nail-biting finish by cutting the Leongatha lead to just three points.

Morwell surged forward again but the Parrots held firm to force repeated ball ups just outside the Tigers’ forward 50 arc, the physicality of Ben Willis proving important as he laid a tackle and worked hard in the ruck during the game’s frantic final minutes.

A free kick to Lamers eventually allowed Leongatha to clear the danger zone, working its way forward for Garnham to finish the day in style.

While this scribe had Maskell as a clear best on ground, the TRFM radio crew saw it differently, bestowing that honour on his defensive sidekick Sauvarin, but really all the Parrots deserve praise after a brave display.

“We did really well with having our two backs down and we just rallied together as a team and it was good team defence from all of us,” Sauvarin said postgame when chatting on the radio.

It was his attack from halfback that caught the eyes of the commentary team.

Justin Pellicano’s physicality up forward was an important element of the Parrots’ win and he finished with three majors, including a terrific effort in the opening quarter when he punished an errant Morwell pass to kick Leongatha’s second goal.

While Garnham had a reasonably quiet day, he matched Pellicano’s goal tally, Tallin Brill managing a couple of majors.

The ball winning efforts and effective disposal of skipper Tom Marriott, Aaron Heppell and Nick Argento saw that trio among the best Parrots.

McDonald and Gray each managed three goals for the beaten side, coach Boyd Bailey and Tyler Hillier both snavelling a couple.

Bailey won plenty of the footy to rate highly in the beaten side’s best with only Harrison McColl and Josh Galea rated ahead of him.

While Anthony Rosato was another strong performer for the Tigers, Luke Bowman worked hard to contain his impact.

The win has Leongatha sitting third on the ladder, behind Moe and Wonthaggi on percentage, while Morwell tumbled to its third loss in a row after starting the season brightly with a couple of wins.

Leongatha faces another away challenge, a test it should pass against Warragul, the Gulls looking to bounce back after a couple of consecutive losses.