PALMO, TAHS 63-ALL
IT might have been a scrappy match with plenty of turnovers and free kicks, but the dying minutes had everyone at TIO Stadium on the edge of their seats in an NTFL thriller last night.
The Warriors almost felt like winners after they kicked 9.9 (63) to finish level with Palmerston’s 10.3 (63).
The Magpies held a 14point lead early in the final quarter before a crazy finish.
Two goals to Waratah’s Lachlan Collihole reduced that margin to one.
But majors to Sam Talbot and Ezekiel Frank – Frank’s a spectacular one after taking a hanging mark inside 50 – opened up another handy lead of 13 to the visitors.
That was when Waratah’s renowned fighting spirit kicked in, with late goals to Jason Cooke and Adam Lyons.
“It feels like a loss. It was our best four-quarter effort for the year,” Magpies cocoach Tavis Perry said.
“We didn’t drop away until that last five minutes, when we ran out of legs.”
Palmerston’s Steven Smith was penalised for a throw in the dying seconds, with Brock Orval booting a behind to level the scores.
But then a huge tackle from the Magpies’ Riley Judd on Jarryd Hay near the goal square saw the Maggies sal- vage two competition points.
“It was a great comeback by our boys. It was a strange game. At the end of the day, I’m happy with the two points,” Waratah coach Michael McLean said.
It looked like the widely written-off Palmerston was set for a long night the way its opposition started the game.
Waratah booted two easy goals after the first two minutes, and the Warriors – who beat ladder-leaders Southern Districts last week – looked set to inflict a heavy defeat on the cellar-dwellers.
But the Magpies bounced back promptly with two quick goals of their own, Frank squaring up the ball for Alwyn Davey in front of goal, who made no mistake, before Des Ugle levelled the scores.
A nice goal on the run from Frank and a major to Sam Talbot, after an excellent display of pace and leadup work from Noel Collins, gave the black-and-whites a 14-point lead before a goal to Cooke right on halftime.
A booming goal to Cooke from 52m out gave a tiredlooking Warriors muchneeded spark, but Palmerston regathered the momentum with two quick goals to Jordan Erskine.
The topsy-turvy nature of the game continued when the Tahs majored from a free kick right on three-quarter time.