By Richard Jones
NEWBRIDGE fought back from a 10-point deficit deep into the last quarter to down Mitiamo by less than two kicks in Saturday’s Loddon Valley preliminary final at Inglewood.
NEWBRIDGE fought back from a 10-point deficit deep into the last quarter to down Mitiamo by less than two kicks in Saturday’s Loddon Valley preliminary final at Inglewood.
In a high standard and entertaining match the Superoos kicked five goals to Newbridge’s one in the third quarter to slip away to a nine-point lead.
But Mitiamo wasn’t able to hang on in the desperate last quarter as key forward Sam Mildren booted three of his six goals for the day to steer the Maroons home.
The last term was as tight and as tense as country football gets. The ball ricocheted from end to end with first Mitiamo goaling to extend the lead, then Newbridge answering.
Mildren’s cameo performance, with the closing three goals of the day, ensured the Maroons’ victory and a berth in the 2007 grand final against Calivil United.
Final scores: Newbridge 14.16 (100) d Mitiamo 14.6 (90).
The breeze favoured the town end and it was Mitiamo forward Ryan Haythorpe who stole the show in the opening term.
He booted five goals with his strong marking, mobility and deadly accuracy a real problem for the Newbridge defenders.
The inaccuracy which plagued the Maroons match-long was evident from the first bounce. They could manage just 1.6 in the opening quarter with Brad Comer the only Newbridge player able to split the big sticks.
However, the Maroons grabbed the lead by the half-time break by adding 6.6 when it was their turn with the wind.
Mildren, Comer, Matt Giri and Cam Grant were among the goalkickers, benefiting from Chris Giri’s run and fine delivery to his forwards.
Haythorpe added just one goal to his quarter-time tally and, indeed, had booted Mitiamo’s entire total of 6.1 by the long break.
He wasn’t the dominating player he had been earlier with Chris Lakey switched onto him five minutes before quarter-time. Lakey quelled Haythorpe’s influence, forcing Mitiamo to look for Craig Nicholls and Aaron McKean when they went into attack.
McKean didn’t let the Superoos down. In the third quarter Mitiamo added another five goals, with McKean contributing two, while holding Newbridge to a solitary major.
Garth Boldiston was rock solid at full-back for the Superoos with Michael Pratt adding run from the half-back line.
McKean’s second goal, a 60 metre bomb, sailed through on the breeze to hand Mitiamo a one-point lead and right on siren-time Tim Wicks goaled courtesy of a downfield free to extend the Superoos’ lead to nine points at the last change.
A tight, entertaining last quarter was what the big crowd had come to see and the players didn’t let them down.
Haythorpe, on one of the few occasions he’d been able to shake Lakey, goaled from a free at centre half-forward. The major took his tally to seven and Mitiamo’s lead to 15 points.
Two quick goals to Newbridge slashed the margin to less than one, straight kick before Craig Nicholls booted a steadier for Mitiamo.
Comer laid the ball off to the running Bodee Scullie for a Maroons’ major. Again the gap was back to three points.
Nicholls showed his versatility by toe-poking through a Mitiamo six-pointer from a goalmouth scramble and the Superoos had some breathing space once more.
Enter Sam Mildren. The Newbridge key forward’s first of three last term goals reduced the deficit to two points, a long bomb from the very next centre bounce gave the Maroons the lead and his third from 40 metres out sealed a grand final berth for Newbridge.
Mitiamo coach Bill Grant said he thought his side had control of the game at three-quarter time.
“They came back and we made a couple of crucial errors with the ball and let Newbridge in for two goals. Then we came back again and I thought we still had a chance, but again we made a couple of errors at bad stages.”
Speaking of the freakish performance of his key forward Grant enthused about Haythorpe’s value to the club. “He leads well and presents strongly and is a great target for us,” he said.
Newbridge coach Brent Dyer praised Mildren’s performance in a clutch situation. “He booted three goals in five minutes which was great for us considering the last quarter was nip and tuck and turned into a real slugfest,” Dyer said.
Looking ahead to the grand final the Maroons’ coach said the second semi-final loss to Calivil had showed his side “had a bit of a way to go.”
“We were fortunate enough to win both the home-and-away games against them and today we’ve had a good hard hitout against Mitiamo. Hopefully that will hold us in good stead,” he said.
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