Bell Post Hill has outlasted Anakie by 13 points in a tense GDFNL elimination final at St Albans Reserve to advance to a first semi-final meeting with the Belmont Lions.
Leading by 19 points when classy veteran Dyl Witney snapped a goal on his non-preferred right foot, the Panthers appeared to have done enough.
However, the Roos, who returned to finals action after a 27-year absence, weren’t ready to roll over, and pulled the margin back seven points following goals from Paul Ridout and Josh Alessi.
However, when Alessi missed an opportunity a minute later to cut the deficit to a solitary point, which was followed by a 100m penalty that took the Panthers to the other end of the ground, the six-point difference was as close as Anakie would come to claiming a first finals victory since 1994.
Roos spearhead and league-leading goalkicker Andrew Boseley, who finished with three goals, did all he could, including launching to take one of the marks of the year across the region.
Bell Post Hill coach Ash Witney said the win was gratifying after a 26-point loss to the Roos in Round 9.
“We let ourselves down when we played this mob during the year, so it’s one we’ve had on the whiteboard – this one and North Geelong was the other,” Witney revealed.
“We let ourselves down with our contested stuff and hardness in that game, so we made sure to bring it today.
“It was a good win.”
Witney said Bell Post Hill was prepared for the late surge from Anakie.
“We’ve trained it a lot, especially the last four weeks,” he said.
“We’ve done a lot of match sim stuff in different scenarios, so it’s good to see it come out and it worked on game day.”
Dylan Godwin was a standout for Bell Post Hill, highlighted by a goal in the third quarter that gave his team a lead they would never surrender.
“He was unbelievable; he was really good,” Witney said.
“Zane Jones as well; I thought he was really huge. That’s probably the best game of footy Zane’s played for us.
“To win those kinds of games – those tight games and finals – you need 22 contributors, and that’s what we had today.”
A serious finger injury suffered by Tim Barton early in the second quarter took some of the gloss off the win.
The premiership great went to hospital, where he is expected to undergo surgery.
“His finger came straight out; it was sticking out of the skin,” Witney said.
“He hasn’t had much luck, the big fella. He did his calf a few weeks ago, and now his finger.
“We’ll see how he goes. I don’t think he’ll play next week, but you know he said he’d done his knee once, and he came back and played in a grand final.”
Anakie coach Jayke Mawson was left to rue his team’s ill-discipline.
“They kicked nine out of 11 goals from free kicks or 50m penalties, and they were all there,” he mused.
“So it’s just us being undisciplined. It’s hard to win a game when you give away nine out of 11 goals from free kicks. That 100-metre penalty hurt too… just little things didn’t go our way.”
After starting strongly in the heavy conditions to open up an 18-point lead midway through the opening quarter, Mawson concedes Anakie’s late-season burst to make the final might have caught up with his team.
“Maybe it took a bit out of us getting the last five wins,” he said.
“The boys kept fighting, but credit to Bell Post Hill, they beat us at the contest, which is what we pride ourselves on.
“But, the boys just keep cracking in and keep cracking in. So I can’t fault them.”
“No one gave us a chance to even be here.
“One win in three years before I got there, so to make finals my second year in – nothing to do with me as coach; I’m just throwing magnets around.
“It’s all the boys out there that just have the will to get here. So, massively proud, still disappointed with the loss, but can’t fault the boys.”
Boseley’s three goals took his final tally for the season to 76.
X: @krockfootball
ANAKIE 3.2, 5.4, 5.8, 9.11 (65)
BELL POST HILL 1.2, 5.3, 7.7, 11.12 (78)
GOALS: Anakie: J. Alessi 2, L. Dahlhaus, J. Mills, P. Ridout, J. Vandenberg
GOALS: Bell Post Hill: F. Jones 2, Z. Jones, D. Godwin, A. Casey, J. Flaccavento, N. Costello, J. Norman
BEST: Anakie: L. Dahlhaus, A. Boseley, J. Mawson, J. Long, J. Davey, J. Alessi
BEST: Bell Post Hill: Z. Jones, N. Flaccavento, F. Jones, J. Yates, D. Witney, H. Verschuren
