Lockington-Bamawm United breaks preliminary final hoodoo

By Richard Jones
Updated November 7 2012 - 2:44am, first published August 29 2010 - 12:05pm

LOCKINGTON-BAMAWM United wiped out its Heathcote District Football League preliminary final hoodoo with a stirring fight-back against Elmore on Saturday.With a grand final berth at stake, the Cats fought back from a last-quarter deficit to down the Bloods by 15 points.Lockington booted the last five goals of an absorbing struggle at Trickey’s Diesel Oval at Huntly to win 17.9 (111) to 14.12 (96).Cats coach Kahl Oliver booted a match-winning eight goals – two of them in the final minutes – to book an appointment with Heathcote in the 2010 grand final this Saturday.With Matt Bongiovanni, Adrian Dohnt and Leigh Deledio continually pumping the ball into attack, Lockington bounced out to a 26-point lead by quarter-time.The Bloods, kicking to the creek end, struggled to stay in touch. Centre half-forward Brad Comer booted two majors, the second from 50m on the scoreboard flank, to help Elmore remain in the contest.Meanwhile, Cats key forwards Sean Murphy and Oliver, along with Ben McPhee and Dohnt (2), were on target in a seven-goal opening term.Elmore reduced the gap by a single point in the second term, adding 2.4 to 2.3. Ashley Trollop was moved to full-back on Oliver, replacing Angus Parry, after the LBU star had landed his third major from a John Halloran pass.With midfield dynamo Jason Griffin sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Bloods looked slow and disorganised. Jared Keely and Julian Lake provided some spark as they combined to find Jack Bennett within range at the town end.Cam Cail brought the ball inboard to Adam Williams and his flying shot for the Bloods reduced the gap to four goals. Elmore’s Zac Perez really stepped up in the third term.Moved to full-forward, he booted 3.2 as Elmore unleashed its charge. In their best passage of play for the day, the Bloods started a move from half-back with Jake Smythe prominent, capped off by Keely landing the ball with Perez.The big Blood nailed that major then a minute later strolled into an open goal to bang home his second. Suddenly Lockington’s lead was 12 points: 9.7 to 7.7.When Elmore’s Williams snapped his third goal of the afternoon the big crowd could sense a complete game change. Minor scores to Perez, Tom Kuhne and Trent McInnes (the latter two ‘posters’) cut the Cats’ advantage to less than a kick.Under siege, the Cats’ Hayden Collins found his coach on a strong lead and Oliver’s goal, followed by another shortly after, handed Lockington a five-point buffer at the last change.Perez took the mark of the day in a pack early in the last. Again, he proved to be a better kick on the run than from a set shot.Majors to Bennett, McInnes, Keely and Lake – with only Oliver able to reply for the Cats – gave Elmore a 15-point lead 13 minutes into the last term.With Liam Main now in the ruck for Lockington, the turning point came on the boundary line close to the creek end goals.Corralled by Lockington players in the right forward pocket, Elmore defenders did not rush the ball through for a point.A holding-the-ball decision was paid to Cats veteran Sam Newth and he check-sided a vital goal.Centre half-forward Sean Murphy, who had been busy all match at both ends of the ground, took full advantage of a 50m penalty to add another Cats major. The Bloods’ lead had been slashed to three points at the 20-minute mark. Oliver plucked a great mark over Bloods defenders to nail his seventh and further goals to Murphy and Oliver, after Main had won the centre clearances, ensured LBU of victory.Oliver said his team had “lost their way a bit” for 15 minutes in the third term, but had gained a bit of momentum just before three-quarter time.“That goal to Sammy Newth late in the last got us going a bit. From there, and even though it was late, we managed to get the ball inside our 50 a bit quicker,” he said.Elmore playing coach Andy Grant said losing key midfielder Jason Griffin early hadn’t helped, but that was no excuse.“We had the momentum in that last quarter. To their credit, they were able to fight back.”

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

$0/

(min cost $0)

or signup to continue reading

See subscription options

Get the latest Bendigo news in your inbox

Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.

We care about the protection of your data. Read our Privacy Policy.