By Simon Dang
The crowd at Burbank Oval witnessed one of the most memorable and thrilling comebacks in recent times as Williamstown fought back from six goals down at three quarter time to pip the Scorpions at the post and get up 13.12.90 to 12.14.86 thanks to a last minute Sam Reid goal.
The match began very physically and scrappily with both teams looking to gain the early ascendency at all costs. Casey had a plethora of chances through a lengthy period of early dominance but inaccurate kicking saw them notch up 7 straight behinds with Matthew Newton floating the simplest of chances wide after finding himself in the open 20 metres out directly in front. Williamstown then lucked out with Brennan Stack slotting home two goals, the second of which saw the young Bulldog cap off an impressive chain of short passing from all the way deep in defence. A stalemate ensued which saw the Seagulls go into the break up nine points up.
The second quarter saw more adventurous play from both sides as Shane Valenti opened the scoring with a nice finish before Addam Maric fired home again to put his side ahead for the first time. The lead was short-lived though as Williamstown replied with goals from Ayce Cordy, Ben Davies and Matt Little before a consolation from Lynden Dunn saw Willy retain a slight lead at main break 5.6.36 to 4.10.34.
Casey coach Peter German must have given his team an earful at half time as his team came out firing. Piling on seven goals to one, the Scorpions had all the play with captain Kyle Matthews putting in an inspiring performance and full forward Newton somewhat redeeming himself with two goals. The Seagulls inaccuracy didn't help either as Casey went into the 3/4 time huddle looking comfortable having scored 11 goals to 4 since quarter time and coming into the last quarter up by 35 points.
The game seemed to have lost its sting with the Scorpions' scoreboard dominance and they looked to have ice the game when Michael Stockdale drove a shot from just inside 50 into an open goal square. The ball though bounced all the way to the line before cruelly returning back into the play to be collected by the Seagulls' defence. An early goal from David Stretton gave the Seagulls some hope before two direct turnovers inside the Seagull's forward line gifted goals to Matt Little and Guy O'Keefe. All the momentum was now with Williamstown and as Stack ran into an open goal before a goal from Newton relieved the pressure. A sense of desperation was evident in both teams' play with the Seagulls flirting with danger at one point passing the ball around on their opponents' goal line. Goals from Matt Little and Andrejs Everitt reduced the lead to 2 points before Sam Reid caught a break from a goal kick to slot home and give the Seagulls the lead for the first time since HT. With only moments remaining, the Scorpions managed to get the ball down in their fifty only for Daniel Hughes to snap just wide before the Seagulls milked the clocked until the siren drew a close to a miraculous game.
SCORE
Williamstown 13.12.90
Casey 12.14.86
GOALS
Willy: Little 4, Stack 3, Everitt, Stretton, Davies, Cordy, O'Keefe, Reid
Casey: Newton 3, Hughes 2, Stockdale, Maric, Valenti, Zomer, Matthews, Dunn
BEST
Willy: Davies, Stack, Callan, Reid, Stretton, Addison
Casey: Dunn, Valenti, Hughes, Newton, Matthews
Last Modified on 28/06/2009 22:26