Warragul pulls off pressure win at Traralgon
Warragul’s pressurepacked win over Traralgon to regain a place in the “five” and keep alive its chances of playing finals was the Gulls best for many years.
Warragul won 7-15 to 712 ending a 14-game losing streak against the Maroons going back to 2008.
In a game that fluctuated at Traralgon in a strong cross wind Warragul kicked the last two goals and hung in tight in a desperate final five minutes after a Matt Rennie goal put it in front.
About five minutes earlier Jared Lane, promoted for Saturday after good form in the reserves, stood his ground under the ball to mark courageously then slotted through a clutch goal from 40 metres to get the Gulls within a couple of points and a sniff of victory.
It was the type of game Warragul has conceded a few times this year and as recently as the previous week against Sale - in front or close late in the game then unable to go with the job.
Saturday was a different story.
They Gulls were tenacious in a do-or-die last quarter.
They’d been tenacious all day.
Two and 10-point leads at quarter and half time were eroded as Traralgon fought back in the third term to be in front 6-7 to 5-9 at the final change.
The Maroons then got the first goal of the last quarter at the nineminute mark but wouldn’t kick another as Warragul persisted and persisted and was eventually rewarded.
There mightn’t have been anywhere near as much at stake for Traralgon as the Gulls but it went in with a side that will be very close to what it will have on the ground in Saturday week’s qualifying final against Maffra, including former Essendon player Jason Winderlich.
Warragul had three changes to its line-up.
In came the experienced Leigh Sheehan, Lane and Under 18 player Nathan Tutton for his senior debut.
Playing on a wing Tutton impressed in his first game, especially one against a side such as Traralgon and with Warragul’s season on the line.
The outs were Dylan Proctor, whose hamstring injury has ended his season, junior Caleb Serong (rested) and coach Steve Kidd.
Utility Ambu Uliando’s “tagging” severely limited the impact of Traralgon coach and playmaker Mark Collison and the inputs from the leaders Brayden Fowler, Brad Scalzo, Nathan Paredes, Leigh Sheehan and captain and ruckman Chris Carey -set the path for the younger group to follow. And they did. Fowler has found some of his best form in the latter part of the season since moving between an on-ball role and periods in attack.
He kicked two important goals and Paredes led the list for the Gulls with three.
Between them, they’d kicked all Warragul’s goals to three-quarter time.
In what was a great team effort that, if repeated, will fully test Maffra Sam Russell, Tom Axford and Simon Fairbairn also stood tall.
So did defender Nick Stevenson containing Lee Stockdale, one of the league’s leading goalkickers and a thorn in the Gulls’ side in recent matches, goal.
Apart from the thought that went into some key player-on-player matchups Warragul also paid a lot more attention to utilising effectively its rotations from the interchange bench.
Those things all played major parts in the victory.
Now for “make or break” against Maffra on Saturday in a game that should to bring supporters out in force to Western Park. to just one