Weekly Times | PREMIERSHIP contenders Yallourn Yallourn North and Yinnar played out a dramatic draw in the Mid Gippsland league on Saturday.
Yallourn Yallourn North players and supporters celebrated wildly when Tim Phillips kicked truly from a free kick after the siren to give the Bombers what they thought was a one-point win.
But their jubilation was short-lived.
After the goal umpires exchanged scores, they found the Round 10 match was in fact a draw, 9.6 (60) apiece.
“Tim went back calmly and slotted it, and we celebrated,” Adam Bailey, the Bombers’ playing coach, said. “Three or four minutes later when I was talking to the boys on the ground we heard the news.”
Club secretary Kyme Hayes said the goal umpires did not wave their flags to indicate the score was correct at the end of the game, fuelling speculation the scoreboard was wrong.
Hayes said some members of the crowd were already aware the match was drawn, with the radio call informing them of the proper score.
The Bombers have risen up the ranks this season to sit top of the ladder, after finishing as wooden spooners the past two seasons. Yinnar remains in second place.
Bailey said he was “proud” of his charges going toe-to-toe with the same opposition that inflicted a 38-point loss in Round 1 this season. “I’ve watched the review and it was a tight, hard-fought match … and a draw was probably fitting.”
