PICTURE GALLERY: Werribee v Williamstown semi-final
This wasn’t the one that got away; it was bthe one that was thrown away by the Werribee Tigers.
A Tigers victory seemed a fait accompli at three-quarter time of Sunday’s cut-throat VFL semi-final against Williamstown at North Port Oval – until the Seagulls produced a Houdini-like escape to win by 26 points with a scintillating nine-goals-to-nil final term.
The Tigers had turned a 22-point deficit midway through the first quarter into a 32-point advantage at the end of the third because of their willingness to take risks.
There was no reason for changing what had got them into a position of power.
At full steam, the Tigers are hard to stop, but they are prone to flat spots within games, a fact that worried Tigers coach John Lamont on occasions during the home-and-away rounds.
The Tigers chose the wrong time to go into their shell, falling away in the last 30 minutes.
The Seagulls sensed a swing in momentum sparked by an incredible last quarter from Kane Lambert.
Lamont must have felt sick in the stomach watching on almost powerless as the Gulls piled on goal after goal, eroding what most felt to be an unassailable lead and having salt rubbed into their wounds in time-on.
You could look at the last quarter as the death knell for the Tigers, but it was much earlier in the game when they failed to slam the door shut on the Seagulls.
Aside from conceding the opening two goals of the game, the Tigers were the dominant side for two and a half of the opening three quarters.
Ruckman Daniel Currie was the dominant big man against an under-sized Williamstown missing Nick Meese.
Jye Bolton, Ben Speight and Scott Sherlock gave the Tigers plenty of drive from the stoppages, while Jesse Crichton and Nathan Laracy were all over their opponents on the half-back line.
Brody Mihocek produced arguably his best game for the club in the heart of the defence.
Mihocek shut Ryan Ferguson out of the game for the first three quarters. His ability to judge the ball in the air to either out-mark the Seagulls forwards or get a clearing fist was a feature.
For all of the positives, there were sore points for the Tigers during the second and third quarters.
Firstly, they failed to make their inside 50 penetration count where it hurts most – on the scoreboard.
Secondly, their discipline sometimes let them down.
Jake Wilson’s behind-the-play hold on Gulls forward Scott Clouston resulted in a goal. Crichton then drove Clouston’s head into the ground after a great tackle to give him a free shot on goal when it otherwise would have been a boundary throw in, and Scott McMahon had a brain fade when he overstepped the goal square from a kick out.
There were a number of culprits who missed elementary goals from close in, be it at the set shot or in a pack situation.
It was small moments such as these that added up to a big problem for the Tigers.
The Tigers will be dirty for bowing out of the finals race on Sunday.
There have been many examples of this young Tigers’ side being able to match it with every team in the competition, but they will need to discover more consistency from quarter to quarter to avoid this kind of heartbreaking exit next campaign.
