Lancaster snatched back the all-important double chance in a thrilling finale to the Kyabram District League senior football home and away season on Saturday.
A four-point Lancaster win, 12.14 (86) to 12.10 (82), only came after a big Wombat lead early in the game was whittled away in a tense final term.
Prior to the weekend’s game with Shepparton East, the second time the teams have met this season, the Wombats were sitting third on the ladder - despite losing only once this season.
Lancaster won the round two meeting by 37 points, but Shepparton East had not lost a game since that game - drawing with top team Murchison-Toolamba in round 12 (as the Wombats did in round five).
A seven goal to two first half saw the Wombats lead by 40 points at half time, on the back of an outstanding performance from surprise packet Wez Hill.
Hill, who has played 10 reserve grade games and six with the senior team (including the last three), will create headaches for selectors when it comes to picking the team to tackle Murchison-Toolamba in the second week of the finals at Girgarre.
The Wombats and Grasshoppers will play a repeat of the 2022 rain soaked grand final on Saturday, August 31. Prior to that game Shepparton East will play Tallygaroopna and Avenel will meet rival Nagambie in the other elimination final.
Those games are at Avenel and Lancaster on Saturday and Sunday, with the top two teams having a weekend to rest up before resuming in a game that will decide who goes straight through to the grand final.
Lancaster’s big half time lead was extended to 56 points at the final break on the back of a four goal to one third term.
From that point, however, it was all the Eagles. They kicked nine goals and had 14 scoring shots for the term, while Lancaster added just one major (at the 10-minute mark of the final term).
Lancaster coach Tom Davies said two injuries early in the game took their toll on his playing group and every magnet move that Shepparton East made at three quarter time paid dividends.
Lancaster was also forced to move ruckman Coby O’Neill to full back (when key defender Nick McAuliffe was injured), leaving Hill and Nick Ryan to do the ruck work.
“After Coby went down back Wez did a majority of the rucking and played as a fourth onballer. He got plenty of footy and was hard at the contest,” Davies said.
“They threw the magnets around a bit and got on a run. After losing two blokes in the first 10 minutes of the game we were forced to rotate about five blokes who in an average game wouldn’t have kept playing.
“It was a really physical game and our blokes kept coming off second best.”
He said his brainstrust could have responded better in the last quarter, but Shepparton East was a good side and the Wombats ran out of legs.
On a positive Paul Newman got through the game unscathed, taking his tally of goals to 22 from seven games, while Lachlan Boscarini played 75 per cent of the game and also came through uninjured.
“His experience was important late in the game,” Davies said.
He said the week’s rest would help his team, with Danny Foley and Ricky Thompson both expected back on field in two weeks’ time.
– Merrigum finished the season in 12th place, but were highly competitive against the league’s in form team - Nagambie.
Only two weeks earlier Nagambie had inflicted a first defeat on reigning premier Lancaster and when the Bulldogs played them in round two it was a 78-point defeat.
This time round, however, the Merrigum side stuck on task and at three quarter time trailed by just four points.
Nagambie led by 19 points at quarter time, but the lead was cut to 10 points at half time as a result of the defensive leadership of co-coach Darcy Collins and captain Zak Parkinson.
Coach Leigh Hall said his two onfield leaders played down back all day and were “great as usual”.
“We had a good day. We had very good pressure around the stoppages and our skills were very good around the ground,” Hall said.
“They had a bit more polish in the end and got the win.”
He said it didn’t help that three players had already played a full reserves game and the Bulldogs lost key goalkicker Jake Gascoyne in the first quarter.
“To push a top six team like we did with what we had was fantastic,” he said.
Shelby Ludlow-Lambrick and Brad Taylor were again the best midfielders, Ludlow-Lambrick kicking two goals and supporter by late season recruit Kyle Armstrong.
Logan Prout also battled hard against third-generation Nagambie star Jonathan Moore.