WESTERN Jets came within seconds of a victory over TAC Cup ladder-leaders Geelong Falcons at Burbank Oval on Saturday.
The Jets, sixth with a 4-5 record, lost the match by three points as the Falcons bounced back from a 128-point loss to Eastern Ranges.
But it could have been the Falcons’ second straight loss.
James Sicily, one of the Jets’ best, took a mark 25 metres out on an acute angle right as the siren sounded. But the mark was disallowed and the Falcons declared winners.
Jets coach Torin Baker agreed with the decision.
“It was the correct call,” he said. “There was a fraction of a second in it.”
It was the final moment in an “engrossing” last quarter, according to Baker. The Jets trailed by two points at three-quarter time, and both teams could manage only a goal in the final term.
The Jets get off to a positive start, kicking three goals in the first quarter to take a seven-point lead into quarter time. Another four in the second put them 13 points ahead at the long break.
But the Falcons turned the game around with four goals to one in the third term to grab the momentum heading into the last term.
Brenton Payne booted three for the Jets and David Iaccarino kicked two. Matthew Boag (three) and Billy Beardsell (two) were the multiple scorers for the Falcons.
“I was fairly happy with our start, we were on top early,” Baker said. “But after half-time they changed the way the game was being played.”
Baker said it had been a tense season for the Jets, who have had seven games decided by less than three goals.
“Every game bar one has been on the line in the last quarter,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of close losses but some close wins as well. I’ve been really happy with the competitiveness of the group. The way we’ve been playing has been great.”
The Jets have two tough assignments in the next fortnight with matches against Eastern Ranges and Gippsland Power, both in the top three, before a month playing the current bottom four – Calder Cannons, North Ballarat Rebels, Oakleigh Chargers and Bendigo Pioneers.
