The Sunbury Lions are through to their first Ballarat Football League grand final since 2016 in one of the most remarkable matches.
The Lions and Melton played off in a preliminary final for the ages on Saturday and it’s a match that everyone will remember for years.
Both sides had their moments in the match but come the final siren, scores were locked at 94-apiece.
It meant the the match was headed to overtime,
The Lions got on the board early in overtime and were able to stay in front to lock in a grand final spot, as they won 17.12 (114)-15.10 (100).
Lions coach Matt White said it was amazing scenes.
“I was at Port Adelaide when they had extra time against West Coast, but I didn’t play in that game,” he said.
“I told the guys to embrace this as it will never happen again in their football careers. It’s rare to make a preliminary final, let alone being in one that goes in overtime.
“Be battled through it and got the win.
“It was unbelievable.”
White said it was a fantastic game of football between two really good sides.
He said both teams had moments of momentum before it would go the other way and it was back and forth all day.
At three quarter time, the Lions led by seven points
“Melton got a run on it in the third quarter but they weren’t able to kick goals,” he said. “They keep kicking points.
“We were able to stir the ship and Fraser Ampulski kicked a point with a couple of seconds left.”
White said having come into overtime with the momentum they took plenty of confidence into that period.
The Lions kicked the first three goals of overtime to take control and they never gave up the lead.
Jake Sutton kicked four goals for the Lions while Jake Egan and Daniel Johnston kicked three goals each.
Egan was named the Lions best along with Jordan Tentonello and Ampulski.
Speaking on Sunday morning, White said planning was already underway for the grand final.
He said the preliminary final win was a step on the path to a much tougher game.
White said they had learned their lessons from playing Darley this season and were hoping it would be fourth time lucky.
For most of the Lions squad, it will be there first senior grand final at the club.
Nathan Wood is the only player from the 2016 team that will play on Saturday. An injured Josh Guthrie was also part of the 2016 grand final team.
Clarke Oval will be the place to be this week as the Lions prepare for seven grand finals this Saturday.
Only the under-19 netballers haven’t made it through to the grand final from the senior program.
White said this is something that they had been wanting to build across the club.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” he said. “While Kim [Bailey] and I want to win A-grade netball and senior football premierships, it’s about the whole club being successful.
“We’ve done a good job of this.”
