A goal with less than 30 seconds remaining from Austin Humphrey has handed St Joseph’s a thrilling one-point win over St Mary’s at Drew Oval.
In slippery conditions, the battle of the competition’s two remaining unbeaten teams lived up to expectations, and Humphrey – playing his first game since Anzac Day – had the final say.
A well-weighted kick from Oscar Morrison found Humphrey about 30m from the southern end goal.
After taking a deep breath and some calming words from teammates, Humphrey made no mistake to ensure that Joeys’ perfect record stayed intact with an 11.9 (75) to 11.8 (74) victory.
“I was absolutely bricking myself, to be honest”, Humphrey told krockfootball.live. “I’ve kicked about 30 points this year, so I wasn’t really backing myself.
“But, the boys calmed me down before I kicked it so that always helps.
“I was just lucky enough to get it through.”
St Joseph’s started the contest the better, kicking the only three goals of the opening term to lead by 14 points at the first change.
That lead was pushed out to 20 points after Paddy De Grandi kicked the first of his three goals, followed by one from Joel Edwards.
However, five consecutive goals – including two majors to star forward Sam Dobson – helped St Mary’s to a five-point lead at half-time.
The lead changed six times in the second half before Humphrey stepped up to give Joeys a one-game buffer on top of the ladder.
St Joseph’s should extend its unbeaten run to eight when it hosts Lara as part of the club’s 30th anniversary celebrations of its 1984 GDFL Division 1 premiership.
St Mary’s should quickly return to the winner’s list when it meets St Albans.
However, the Saints are likely to be without Zak Sherman (ankle) but will welcome back Sam Bourke.
Hamish Bourke and Nick Minchin are also a chance to play.
X: @krockfootball
