Parrots salvage a draw with last gasp shot at Warragul.

LEONGATHA’S captain Tom Marriott snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat at Warragul on Saturday with a shot from 50 metres out, with a wet ball after the final siren, with his team trailing by one point after an enthralling contest.

Trailing by an inaccurate 5.8 to Warragul’s 10.1 at half time, Leongatha turned it on with five goals to one in the third quarter and really looked like taking the game away from a plucky Warragul team, looking the better side in the first half despite missing three or four of their better players.

But the effort must have taken plenty out of the Parrots, and especially with the rain coming down at half time and during the third quarter, because they couldn’t manage a last-quarter goal while Warragul added one.

A last-break rev-up up by new coach, former Hawthorn champ, Gary Ayres, in which he challenged his players to rise up to the challenge which had just presented itself.

They got the first centre break after the last change and pressed the Parrots’ defenders for the first 10 minutes without luck.

The Parrots had their moments at the other end too but finally it was a free kick and a 50-metre penalty which allowed Tom Hobbs to break the deadlock with only two minutes left on the clock.

Not to be outdone, the Parrots surged forward with some chaos ball to the point where Marriott had the final shot – a point, and a fitting draw.

More to come,