Late surge by Falcons leads to thrilling win

A THRILLING one-point win over Calder Cannons has extended Geelong Falcons’ season by a week.

The two sides met a week earlier in the final round of the regular season, when Geelong booked a seventh vs. 10th rematch with a 15-point win.

But Saturday’s wildcard match proved a dour lowscoring affair, as neither team managed to land the knockout punch.

The Cannons, underdogs despite finishing three places higher than the reigning premiers, got out to an 11point lead by three-quarter time, but grit and determination saw the Falcons kick three of the last four goals to snare a thrilling 8.8 (56) to 8.7 (55) win.

“It was a fantastic result, some really big efforts in the last quarter and we just grinded away and in the end got the result, which was fantastic,” assistant coach Luke Daffy said.

“Just our work around the contest was really, really strong. We knew it would come down to our effort at the source, having a lot of pressure on them and just working the footy forward.”

Jay Dahlhaus put the Falcons up by seven points midway through the last term, before the Cannons cut the margin back to a point with less than 10 minutes to play.

Scores then levelled with 19 minutes on the clock, courtesy of a Cannons behind, but the Falcons managed to secure a minor score with 60 seconds left to play.

“Charlie Sprague managed to get one across the line that got smothered and resulted in a point,” Daffy said.

“They transitioned the ball pretty quickly from a kick-in that ended up down the other end. Doyle Madigan actually set himself up really well defensively and took a mark in the goal square. It was a really smart decision by Doyle and an example of what probably the whole group in that last quarter (did).”

Daffy lauded the Falcons’ on-ballers for driving the final-term win.

“Ned McHenry was very strong and Cooper Stephens, both their last quarters were very strong,” he said.

“(Oscar Brownless) has continually been super for us the last probably five or six weeks since he’s come back from his carnival.

“Cooper Cartledge played down back, held up with some really big contests late.

“But it was a pretty balanced effort in the last quarter across all three lines and there were just some really good contributions across the group.”

The Falcons set up an elimination final meeting with second-placed Gippsland Power this weekend.