On one of the craziest final days in any football competition, Bannockburn has booked a berth in next week’s GDFNL elimination final with a 59-point win over Bell Post Hill at Victoria Park.
Heading into Round 18, the Tigers were one of three live chances to claim fifth spot and a meeting with Thomson, which was locked into fourth position no matter the result of its clash with Werribee Centrals.
However, it is fair to say that Bannockburn was second favourite behind reigning premier Inverleigh among the trio fighting for the last spot in the finals.
The Hawks, who faced a tricky trip to Anakie, held a two-point advantage on the Tigers and North Geelong, which hosted second-placed Belmont Lions at Keith Barclay Oval.
The first result to fall was out at Anakie, where the Roos – driven by the memory of club icon James Mapapalangi – overcame a slow start to hold off Inverleigh for a one-point win, 8.11 (59) to 8.10 (58).
The Hawks, who became the first reigning premier since the Lions in 2008 to miss finals the following year, knew their season was over due to the margin Bannockburn held over Bell Post Hill when the final siren sounded at DeMotts Road.
Any chance the Magpies had of playing finals appeared shot when they trailed the Lions by 19 points at quarter time.
However, a five-goal-to-two second quarter gave North the lead they held for most of the second half.
A 13.12 (90) to 10.9 (69) final term improved the Magpies’ percentage from 102.74 to 104.08.
Then came the nervous wait for the completion of the contest at Victoria Park.
Leading comfortably by 43 points at half-time, Bannockburn’s margin was whittled back to 16 points at the final change thanks to a five-goal-to-none third quarter from the Panthers.
Cue a stunning eight-goal final term from the Tigers, including goals from Doug Thomas and Josh Kunjka at the 32 and 34-minute mark, respectively, that provided Ron Pilgrim’s men with the required percentage boost.
Starting the day on 100.69 per cent, the 20.11 (131) to 10.12 (72) result vaulted Bannockburn to 104.93 – 0.85 more than North Geelong.
“It’s funny because I was pretty confident Anakie would win,” Tigers coach Ron Pilgrim said.
“Things were pointing their way during the week with the loss of ‘Butch’ (Mapapalangi).
“I was more concerned with the North Geelong game.
“So we were up to speed (with the scores), and that’s why we were all out attack in the last quarter.
“I think we had five shots at goal in the last three minutes.”
With the earlier finish to the Anakie-Inverleigh and North Geelong-Belmont Lions games, Pilgrim greeted his players with the news they were playing finals as they left the ground.
“On the bench, ‘Chipper’ (James) Chandler was doing some maths,” he said. “And Connor Jervies’ brother Jamo is the guru.
“I thought five per cent should give us enough, but he said we’ve made it by .90.
“It was pretty euphoric walking into the rooms.”
Pilgrim says he “would have been disappointed” not to have played finals, with Bannockburn quickly turning its attention to a third meeting with Thomson in 2024.
The Country Tigers could welcome back Rob Maibaum, Luke Bowdern and Bailey Alford for the clash with their city counterparts, who had the better of their two meetings during the season.
“For us, our goal, because of the youth and the speed that we’ve got, was to get to St Albans on the bigger ground,” Pilgrim said.
“Thomson has beaten us twice, and they’ve played that contested, tight, in-close footy.
“We’re not going to win too many games of footy playing that; we’ve got to get that outside run.
“We start again next week; if we produce our best, we’ll be a chance.”
Elsewhere, a six-goal haul from veteran Justin Carey helped Geelong West avoid the wooden spoon and ended the tenure of Corio co-coach Darren Bennett on a disappointing note.
The Giants trailed the Devils by 15 points at half-time at West Oval.
However, spurred on by the club’s All-Abilities team celebrating its premiership success from Friday night, West turned the game on its head with a 5.6 to 0.1 third quarter.
A six-goal-to-three final term sealed a 14.16 (100) to 8.11 (59) result.
Josh Viney and Harry Fraser were important for the Giants.
Brock Cerevenka was a standout for Corio with a season-best five-goal haul.
Winchelsea farewelled caretaker coach Brendan Forssman and club favourite Jarrod Winzer in style, scoring an upset four-point win over East Geelong at Eastern Reserve.
The Blues, who lost six games by 11 points or less during the season, were finally on the right side of a tight margin, 12.11 (83) to 12.7 (79).
Jordan Gould’s six-goal haul, which took him to 55 majors for the season, earned him a share of the GDFNL goal-kicking award, added to the Blues’ celebrations.
Gould will share the title with Werribee Centrals young gun Carmelo Saliba, who ended a stellar home-and-away season with five goals as the Centurions had the better of Thomson, 13.14 (92) to 8.3 (51) at Godfrey Street.
Saliba, who was ruled ineligible for the GDFNL Rookie of the Year award after accepting a reprimand for an incident in last week’s loss to North Geelong, showed why he’ll be a key player in Centrals’ push for a first premiership in 20 years over the next month.
Bradley Carlton and the returning Kai Gomes Pattiyage were also important for Centrals.
Daniel Mowat and Jay Diffey were the best for the Tigers, with Lucas Boyd, Josh Camm, and Jed Hanneysee managing two goals apiece.
X: @krockfootball
