Tara Murray
Lancefield produced one of its best wins in the last decade to upset Riddell in the Riddell District Football League on Saturday.
The Tigers hadn’t beaten the Bombers since 2010 and went in underdogs against a side that will be in the mix come finals time.
It meant little, as the Tigers showed the development they’ve made to come away with the points in a thriller, 11.10 (76)-11.9 (75).
Tigers coach Tim Bannan said there was plenty of excitement following the match.
“It’s pretty amazing to be part of it,” he said. “I think it is one of the best wins in years.
“Matt Bowden has played 250 odd games and he had never beaten Riddell before. It was a pretty amazing win.”
Bannan said the key for the group was the belief that they could actually get the result against a side like that.
He said they had been building without getting the results, but this time they showed they could go it.
“They stuck to the structures and everyone played a role,” he said. “No one got caught up in the position of the game.”
Bannan said from early in the game they thought they were in with chance and for them the task was pretty simple.
“We kept playing to our structures for the whole game,” he said. “They dropped off here and there, while we did let them back into the game.
“We believed from the first centre bounce.”
Not much separated the two teams all day, with just one point the difference at the final change.
In the end it would come down to the final minutes of the game.
Bannan said the dying minutes were a bit of a blur.
“About one and half, two minutes to go we kicked a point to get in front,” he said. “They went down into their 50.
“We were able to get it back in the middle and the siren went, it was so good.”
Zach Webb, Michael Conlan and Cameron Osmond kicked two goals each for the Tigers.
Luke Fellows was named their best along with Conlan and Osmond.
For the Bombers, Dylan Tarzcon was their best with four goals.
The win was the Tigers fourth of the season, the most the club has won since 2016 when they won seven games.
The Tigers finish their season on Saturday against Romsey, which needs to win to have any chance to play finals.
Bannan said a fifth win would be the perfect end to the season.
“It would be nice to knock off Romsey,” he said.
“We were aiming for four or five wins at the start of the year and it would be nice to finish just outside the top five.
“It’s credit to the boys and hopefully we can spoil Romsey’s party. It was close last time.”
In other matches, Diggers Rest beat Romsey, Wallan snuck home against Woodend-Hesket and Macedon beat the Western Rams.
