‘Roos bring Eagles back down to earth

A LAST gasp resurgence by Gordon wasn’t enough to overcome a championship third-quarter display from Waubra’s Thomas Nash as the ‘Roos advanced to the Bendigo & Rural Bank Central Highlands Football League grand final, winning 8.7. 55 to 6.10. 46 on Sunday.

It took until about the six-minute mark before either team had any real scoring chances and then it was only Waubra who looked dangerous thanks to Caleb Mcgrath opportunity in the goal square that went sideways. Didn’t matter much, 90 seconds later Waubra got the first major thanks to a bad kick in from the restart, and shortly after that William Booth combined with Mcgrath for the ‘Roos second.

It stayed like that until right on the siren as Gordon got one back via a Bradley Hallam mark and goal.

While the rain may have stopped just as the ball went up to start the second, the challenging conditions continued, with both sides struggling to deal with a slippery pill. Gordon pulled even at just under five minutes in thanks Luke Gunnell, who scored off the throw in from deep in the right forward pocket.

Everyone had to wait another 15 minutes before the uprights were split again, as both teams worked the greasy ball into their corresponding forward halves, only to see it turned over and sent back the other way.

The Eagles got their first lead of the game with 22 minutes on the clock thanks again to Hallam, who marked at 35 out and promptly turned around slotted it home. The slight advantage didn’t last long though, as Nash began to stamp his authority, doing pretty much the same thing three-and-a-half minutes later.

Nash factored in heavily during the third quarter, kicking truly on the run from just inside 50, just after the restart. He followed that up with a repeat performance 15 minutes later from much the same position. Nash also played a key role in the only other major of the third, feeding Austin Murphy for his first.

Waubra further extended their lead five minutes into the final quarter before Gordon started their now trademark comeback, putting home three unanswered goals, including a corker from Ethan Crackel off a ball up.

With about six minutes to play the ‘Roos sealed the deal when Lincoln Barnes pulled down a high mark that half the crowed claimed was good, and the other half said came loose. Barnes withstood the pressure and expertly drove it home to secure the ‘Roos place on grand final day.