MARYBOROUGH held on in a pulsating last quarter at Princes Park to snatch a thriller by one point over Kangaroo Flat in a winter 2008 fixture.

It was the BFNL's closest result four seasons back, with the Magpies having to dig really deep to snatch victory.

Their 29-point lead at the last change was whittled away by the charging Roos as the winter darkness closed in.

The Flat, so accurate in the first three quarters, booted 6.7 and two clutch Pie goals to Ben Jackson and Andrew Tatchell eventually clinched the four, premiership points for the home side.

Final scores: Maryborough 16.16 (112) def. Kangaroo Flat 16.15 (111).

It was nip and tuck for most of the afternoon. First one club would snatch the lead only to see the other grab back the ascendancy.

In the final analysis it was Jamie Bond's three-goal effort in the third term --- when Maryborough booted 7.3 at the scoreboard end to the Flat's 1.3 --- which was the deciding factor.

The 29-point lead which the Magpies had established by three-quarter time was easily the biggest margin of the day. Kangaroo Flat had to work hard to close the gap to less then one kick.

Roos' skipper Tyrone Downie turned in another outstanding effort. He kicked six goals from centre half-forward while big Joel West controlled the ruck battles and fed his smaller, running teammates.

Kicking to the town end the Roos sneaked out to a three-point advantage by quarter-time, thanks to three majors off Downie's boot.

Maryborough stayed in touch with the elusive Matthew Bilton (2) and Cameron Rinaldi booting replies.
Two second quarter 50-metre penalties proved costly for the Flat as the Magpies' Adam Hurse and Matthew Brown converted from point blank range.

But the Green and White midfielders led by Tim Kelly, Trent McInnes and Ryan Doherty continued to pump the ball forward and when Doherty and Ashley Benbow popped through angled shots the Roos led by a straight kick at the main break: 9.5 (59) to 7.11 (53).

AFTER a see-sawing first half when the lead changed continually, nobody could have forecast Maryborough's third quarter surge.

With Matthew Johnston, Glenn Handley and Martin Dell supreme in midfield and across half-back, Bond became unstoppable in the Pies' front half.

He laid off Maryborough's first goal to the running Brown and then added three of his own.

Glenn Chadwick and Luke Bucknall combined to land the leather with Bond for the first before Tatchell found the big man for another.

When Matthew Brown drove home his third for the match --- from another 50m penalty --- and Bond banged home his third for the term (and fourth for the day) it looked curtains for the Roos.

Again, the match had another twist. With the Princes Park lights on and kicking to the favoured scoreboard end where 21 of the day's 32 majors were scored, the Roos weren't finished.
Rowan Warfe and Andrew Gladman started moves from the half-back line and in the front half Brown, Philip Lobb and Downie were the targets.

After Jackson capitalized on a Jamie Bond pass and was the recipient of a dubious 50m penalty from a tangled arms marking contest it was time for Tatchell to spur on the Magpies.

He courageously waited under a high floater to mark --- and then kicked truly.

THAT was the end of Maryborough's goal-scoring, however.
But it wasn't the end of the Roos. Down by 20 points, 90 to Maryborough's 110, Kangaroo Flat kept pressing hard.

Lobb and Downie were on target in their front half. Skipper Downie then brought the deficit back to eight points with his sixth major and when Denis Hickey somehow snared possession and snapped truly from a massive scrimmage, suddenly there was just a point in it.

The Magpies did manage to hold on under the lights in the dying seconds to record a memorable victory. The heart-broken Roos trudged from the field.

Magpie coach Shane Fisher said while the third quarter effort had been commendable his side contained a few players "who let their guards down" in the tense final term.

"That was our negative for the second half. That last quarter was it. But to their credit the Flat came back hard.
"At one stage in the second quarter we had recorded 18 shots (on goal) to their nine so we'd been very inaccurate before we turned in a much better third quarter."

Fisher said it was Maryborough's policy to develop young players. This group included centre half-back Darcy Richards (now at Eaglehawk), Bilton, ruckman Shane O'Connor and wingers Luke Bucknall (the 2012 skipper) and Mitchell Kennedy.

Kangaroo Flat coach Darryl Wilson said 10 minutes of the third quarter had been the difference.

"In the midfield we let them run riot and our guys just weren't accountable. I suppose in the wash-up that 10 minutes cost us the game.

"Both sides missed scoring opportunities, there's no doubt.
"We knew it was always going to be a close game and we spoke about that at half-time.

"As a club we just have to win these sorts of games. Four goals, all resulting from 50 metre penalties after pushing blokes over --- we have to work on that aspect and eliminate it," Wilson said.

MARYBOROUGH 3.4 7.11 14.13 16.16 (112)
KANGAROO FLAT 4.1 9.5 10.8 16.15 (111)

GOALS -- Maryborough: Jamie Bond 4, Matthew Brown 3, Matthew Bilton 3, Adam Hurse 2, Cameron Rinaldi, Cameron Skinner, Ben Jackson, Andrew Tatchell. Kangaroo Flat: Tyrone Downie 6, Philip Lobb 3, Ashley Benbow, Tyson Holt, Matthew Brown, Denis Hickey, Ryan McNish, Danny Manning, Ryan Doherty.

BEST - Maryborough: Jamie Bond, Matthew Johnston, Glenn Handley, Martin Dell, Luke Bucknall, Darcy Richards. Kangaroo Flat: Tyrone Downie, Joel West, Andrew Gladman, Tim Kelly, Trent McInnes, Rowan Warfe.

MARYBOROUGH was well in the mix for a BFNL finals berth four seasons ago when they downed the Roos.

The Magpies eventually clinched fifth spot and a place in the elimination final with an 11-goal win over Castlemaine in the very last round of August that year.

But they had their concerns leading up to the sudden death final.

Joel Malone had been booked in for scans on an ankle injury while Jamie Bond sat out the final quarter-and-a-half and was limping noticeably when he went off.

Malone did not re-appear after half-time.

Coach Shane Fisher and club officials were hopeful that the inspirational midfielder plus key position player Bond would be right for the knockout Sunday final against Golden Square.
Fisher was satisfied with his club's showing in 2008.

After the victory over the Maine, he said "there were probably a few people around who thought we might finish last.
"So it's a great thing for the club for us to be looking at finals footy this year."

Richard's selections for split Round 14 - July 21st: Kangaroo Flat by 39 points, Strathfieldsaye by 19 points and South Bendigo by 62 points.

July 28th: Sandhurst by 11 points and Gisborne by 43 points.

Season tally for 2012: 50.

By Richard Jones