Stony Creek pull off upset of the year

THE Mid Gippsland Football Netball League finally got the upset result it was looking for when previously winless Stony Creek held on for a one-point win over rivals MDU 11-7-73 to 11-6-72 in Round Five.

When sides with history like these two take to the park you can generally throw the form guide and ladder out the window and so it proved on Saturday in a result that will have near on everyone in the league cheering for the underdog.

The Stony Creek boys jumped the Demons and slotted five of the finest in the first term to let the visitors know they were in for a contest.

When Stony Creek slotted the first of the second term inside a minute the upset was not only on the cards but in full swing.

As if roused by the challenge MDU responded with five of their own while keeping the home side off the scoreboard and turned a 15-point quarter time deficit into a nine-point lead.

Normal services had resumed and the underdog had thrown their best punches and the side much higher on the ladder was going to get the result, right?
Wrong.

The home side rallied in the third term and with Tully Bernaldo and Cameron Stone in everything the opportunities continued to present for Luke Frith who slotted five for the day.

Bernaldo managed two majors to add to his best on ground performance along with Colby Michael who also booted two.

With the home side leading by nine points at the final break and MDU coming home to the scoring end the scene was perfectly set for a dramatic last stanza.

No one was let down in terms of drama.

Stony Creek kicked two of the first three goals of the term and with 15 minutes gone looked almost safe with a 15-point lead.

But with Jaymie Youle heading the charge MDU kept coming and coming and had the last four scoring shots of the contest.

McRae kicked his fifth and it was back under two kicks, but when the siren sounded ever so shortly after MDU got back within a point at the 26-and-a-half minute mark of an enthralling last quarter the home side had hung on for one of the best wins in recent seasons.

Stony Creek coach Troy Shepherdson said post-game “in a tight contested game we were able to pull off a great win”.

“The boys have dug in hard and deserve the win,” he said.

MDU coach Rhett Kelly said “full credit to Stony who played like they had nothing to lose”.

He praised his opponents’ midfield who he said “were on top all day” noting of his own side they “didn’t defend hard enough to stop their spread from stoppage”.

“Very disappointing effort from us today,” Kelly said.

“Effort is a huge part of football and if there is no effort to defend it doesn’t matter who you are playing you will not win.”