Panthers end reigning premier’s winning streak

IN a jaw-dropping finish that had fans on the edge of their seats awaiting results, Kilcunda-Bass dethroned West Gippsland Football Netball Competition giant Nar Nar Goon on Saturday.

Thrilled with the grit and determination displayed by the team on the weekend, coach Lee Rowe said the winning mentality had already kicked in for the boys on Thursday night.

“All week, we started to think that we were up for the challenge. We considered whether we would do a few things differently or just take them on. We obviously put some things into place, but from Thursday night I felt the boys were up for it.

By the looks on their faces, they were ready to go,” Rowe said.

“We weren’t by any means thinking ‘can we get hold of them and win by this amount?’. It was more about how we could restrict them.”

However, the first quarter told the story of a team that could well and truly take down the premiership contender.

Everything Kilcunda-Bass touched turned to gold.

The midfield jumped into action straightaway and every time the ball went forward, it looked dangerous.

The pressure across the field was sensational and Nar Nar Goon struggled to hit the scoreboard.

“I think it’s been a couple of years since Nar Nar Goon has played at our ground.

We thought it might be a factor because their ground is a bit bigger and they may have had to find their feet after feeling a little bit restricted on ours,” Rowe said.

“Regardless, Dylan Taylor kicked the first couple of goals included one real ripper from the boundary. Tom Davey was potent up forward. We had Dean McRae out of the side, so Brayden Kleverkamp went to full forward. He was just launching at everything and if he didn’t mark it, he was bringing it to ground, and the boys were able to pick up the pieces and kick goals.”

The score was 23 to eight in favour of the Panthers when the first siren went 20 minutes into the first quarter.

Rowe recalled glancing at the opposition’s coach, both knowing something was wrong.

The scoreboard had been set to the Reserves’ time of a flat 20 minutes.

The umpires went over to the scoreboard to sort out the issue, and the Seniors were given another eight minutes.

Not losing any momentum, the Panthers slapped another 20 points onto its score to head into the second quarter with a six-goal margin.

“We just exploded again and opened up the margin, which was really good,” Rowe said.

“We had the opposition on the rails a bit and it looked healthier at quarter time.”

Although there was not a breath of breeze on the day, both teams seemed to favour one scoring end.

Nar Nar Goon had the scoring end in the second quarter and started to pick up the pace.

The Panthers led by 17 points at halftime.

“We were hoping to be within a couple of goals at halftime and still be in the game, but to be in front and playing the game the way we wanted to play was fantastic.

We just had to keep going,” Rowe said.

“I could see they were starting to feel the pinch from our pressure, but we were certainly on high rotations too, so it came down to how much was in the tank.

Going into the last quarter, they were coming home to the end where most of the scoring had been done all day.”

Although Nar Nar Goon had not been playing with its usual fluency, the pressure intensified in the fourth quarter.

The visitors never got on top of Kilcunda-Bass, but the margin dwindled quickly.

“We had a couple of really good looks at the scoreboard that we missed early. We went from winning the game to saving the game, and it came out as a draw.”

As the final siren sounded, the scoreboard indicated Nar Nar Goon had caught up enough to cause a draw.

The Panthers were dismayed, feeling they had let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers.

However, there was commotion from the coach’s box - all was not lost quite yet.

“My runner was saying the team manager wanted to see me at the last minute - they knew we were a point up,” Rowe said.

“The scoreboard was wrong. We finished the game and shook hands thinking we’ve had a draw. We were a bit flat - the draw felt like a loss when we were in front all day and did so well. The eruption from the boys when the scoreboard changed was pretty amazing.”

Rowe said he was pleased with the strong team effort, with everyone playing their roles with skill and intensity.

“We had guys tagging, we had forwards playing different structures, and it was all about pressure and taking something away from the opposition,” Rowe said.

“Our midfield was dominant - everyone did their jobs. This one was just a super team effort. We had no weak links.”

The West Gippsland Football Netball Competition is proving to be tight this season, with new contenders showing real improvement and looking like threats to win the flag.

Kilcunda-Bass will turn its attention on Tooradin-Dalmore this weekend - a match it will not be taking lightly.

“Tooradin-Dalmore hasn’t won a game, and they’ve come off a bye. Even before this weekend, I was thinking we can’t go over there and take it easy. They would have had some strong meetings coming from runners up to being zip and six.

They’ll be a formidable force over there, so we’ll enjoy it until Tuesday night and get right back into it. We won’t be getting ahead of ourselves, but we will enjoy it,” Rowe said.