Thrillers abound in heartstopping round

It was a thrilling round of footy over the weekend in the Gippsland League, as four of the five games played were decided by single figures, two of them by just one point.

The only exception to this, which was Maffra's 11-point victory over Drouin, was still an intensely fought match that went down to the wire in what was an exceptional round of footy.

In fact, with an average winning margin of just 4.2 points, it was the third closest round in Gippsland League history and the closest since 1967.

The top-of-the-table clash between Traralgon and Leongatha lived up to its blockbuster billing, as Leongatha survived a late-game comeback to maintain their unbeaten streak, winning 12.5 (77) to 11.8 (74).

In what many have predicted to be a grand final preview, both sides crashed into each other with all the intensity of a finals game, as the Maroons clearly wanted to prove the old adage of 'it it bleeds, we can kill it.'

They were led from the front by the likes of Dylan Loprese and Liam Farley, while the Parrots enjoyed strong performances in the middle from Cameron Stone and Tom Marriott.

Missing star forward Brett Eddy though, the Maroons did struggle at times to convert their inside 50 opportunities, particularly in the second and third terms where Leongatha gained the ascendancy.

Trailing by five points at the first change of ends, the Parrots struck in the second quarter with an eight goal to two blitz, their fast ball movement allowing them to isolate their forwards on numerous occasions and take a 17-point lead into half time. This would then grow to 21 points at three quarter time.

If by that point the game was supposedly over, someone forgot to tell Traralgon. The Maroons came home with a wet sail, dragging themselves back into the contest.

It wasn't to be though, as a desperate last few minutes saw the Leongatha defence stand tall to deliver their 10th win of the season.

Now 14 points clear of second, the Parrots have one hand on the minor premiership, while Traralgon have slipped to third. The result now means that all four of the Maroons' losses have been by single digits, leaving them to rue the fact that if some of those results had gone their way they could be sitting comfortably higher on the ladder.

Liam Farley, Dylan Loprese, Samuel Hallyburton, Haydn Hector, Tom Schneider and Hugh Dunbar were Traralgon's best players.

Leongatha's top performers were Cameron Stone, Travis Nash, Aaron Heppell, Tom Crocker, Tom Marriott and Steve Forrester.

Wonthaggi find themselves moving from fifth all the way to second on the ladder after surviving a brutal one-point encounter with Sale.

The Power burst out of the blocks in the first term before watching their sizeable lead slowly disappear to the manic Magpies, but did just enough in the end to hold on, 14.6 (90) to 13.11 (89).

Noah Anderson and Jordan Staley both kicked three for Wonthaggi, while Brad Dessent had a great day up forward for Sale with three goals.

At the first bounce, Wonthaggi utterly ambushed their opponents, kicking 5.2 to 0.4 to leave the Magpies shell-shocked at the first change of ends.

Sale coach Jack Johnstone's quarter time words clearly had some effect though, as from that point the Magpies began to work their way back into the contest.

Some excellent contested ball work in the midfield from Jack Mclaren and a defensive masterclass from Mitchell Thacker allowed Sale to fight back with a four goal to one term, to leave the half time margin at just nine points.

The third term was a free-flowing and high scoring affair, befitting of two teams fighting for top five supremacy. Both sides traded blows and kicked six goals each to leave the three-quarter time margin the same as it was at half time.

A desperate final quarter ensued, as both sides understood the importance of claiming the four points. But, in the end, Wonthaggi came out on top, leaving Sale players devastated at the sound of the siren.

The result means the difference between second and seventh on the table is just one and a half wins, leaving the race for the finals wide open.

Tom Davey, Jordan Staley, Kyle Reid, Ryan Sparkes, Harry Dawson and Toma Huther were all excellent for Wonthaggi.

Sale's best were Jack Mclaren, Mitchell Thacker, Shannen Lange, Thomas Campbell, Finn Stephenson and Brad Dessent.

A missed shot after the siren saw Morwell claim a thrilling win over Bairnsdale, keeping their own finals dream alive.

They had to do it the hard way though, coming back from an early deficit and being made to work every step of the way by a Bairnsdale team that is growing in confidence every week. The final score was 12.18 (90) to 12.13 (85).

Morwell's Cody Macdonald seemed to bring his own footy, racking up 37 disposals in a magnificent midfield performance, while Nathan Noblett kicked four goals up forward to lead all comers for the day.

It was the Redlegs who had the better of the early goings, kicking five goals to two in the opening term to take a 17-point lead into quarter time.

From there though, Morwell clicked into gear, grinding the margin down until it was just one point at three quarter time.

In the final quarter, the Tigers finally took the lead and were holding on grimly as the final siren approached.

They had their hearts in their mouths though, as Redlegs playing coach Logan Austin marked the ball 50 metres out just before the siren sounded with Morwell six points up.

Kicking to salvage a draw for his side, Austin's shot went wide though, leading to utter elation for the Tigers as they escaped with the four points.

Morwell are now just one win outside the top five, but still have a relatively poor percentage compared to the sides around them, meaning they'll need to keep racking up the wins if they want to keep putting pressure on the top teams.

Cody Macdonald, Tristen Waack, Boyd Bailey, Nathan Noblett, Tyler Brown and Dan Musil were all strong for Morwell.

Bairnsdale's best were Byron Vickery, Kieran Vickery, Liam Giove, Damon O'Connor, Andrew Nelson and Daniel Preston.