Picture: FRANK MONGER
EAST GAMBIER 10.9 (69) d WEST GAMBIER 10.4 (64)
IT was the perfect start to the 2019 Western Border football season, with two tight games and one where the reigning premiers went down to a side which did not make the top four last season.
The results certainly set the scene for an exciting year ahead.
It did not come any more dramatic than East Gambier’s five-point win over West Gambier at Malseed Park.
With the final siren about to sound the Roos looked home.
Enter new Bulldog Shaun King.
Following a free kick, Bulldogs coach Matt Willson kicked into the forward line and King grabbed the mark.
The siren then sounded, with East down by one point.
The requirement was simple – only a major score would do.
King went back and calmly slotted home the goal and the Bulldogs celebrated.
For a season-opening clash it could not have been scripted any better.
West had a host of new players to showcase, while East looked within to field a side, apart from a couple of notables – King and Robbie Brewster.
Brewster managed three major scores on the day, with King’s effort one which would have been celebrated long and hard Saturday night.
Both certainly endeared themselves to their new club in style.
The opening term began with West on the board in the first two minutes, with a major through the returned Garrett Ha.
West seemed to have the early run, with another goal to Dale Robbins to extend the margin.
However, Brewster was soon in on the action for East and when Mark Rumbelow kicked truly late in the quarter, the Roos took just a one-point advantage to the first break.
East seemed to find some run early in the second, with Jack Dawe leading the charge.
But when Michael Manuzzo snapped off the pack in front of the West goal, the Roos were back on track.
Kev Thomson booted a long goal from the pocket for East and then a second Rumbelow goal put the Bulldogs up by a straight kick.
West coach Brad Wilson and Tom Holmes had picked up where they left off in 2018, while Lawry Bradley-Brown was also making his mark through the mid-field.
However, by the long break the Bulldogs were up by four points and the scene was set for an epic final half.
And it did not disappoint.
Once more the third term was an arm wrestle, with Matt Willson pushing hard to lead his Bulldogs to victory.
However, the advantage continued to change, with neither side able to make a decisive break.
Tom Zeitz and Steve Wenman were strong down back for West, halting East’s dogged forward thrusts, while at the other end Tom Williams and Nick Lock held their own.
By the final break the margin was again one point, this time in the host’s favour.
A couple of final-term goals to the Bulldogs gave them the advantage early, but West responded and it was game on.
With 19 minutes gone the contest was tied up.
With 21 minutes showing on the scoreboard West had a chance to pull ahead, but a shot by Robbins missed everything and the Bulldogs lived to fight another day.
In the end Willson found King in the attacking zone on the siren and the rest is history.
For Willson it was a pleasing result after a tough day of football.
“It is good to get round one out of the way and even better if you can do it while getting a win,” he said.
“West has recruited very strongly and they put together a very good football side, especially for this early in the year.
“It was their first game playing together with a fairly new list and we knew it would be a tough game.
“For both sides it was really good to get a high-quality game under the belt this early in the year.”
East had five more shots at goal than West, registering nine behinds to four, while both sides manage 10 major scores.
Willson said while that was not ideal, the positive was those opportunities were coming under intense pressure.
He said West brought a strong defensive mindset to the contest, with no respite all day.
Heading into the final term with nothing in the contest, Willson said it was a matter of staying focused until the siren.
“It was just a bit of a grind and we knew it would be,” he said.
“We knew it was not going to turn for us in the first five minutes of the last quarter.
“We thought if we could keep chipping away at it and keep grinding away, those opportunities would come.
“Lucky for us it did come, just in the nick of time.”
When that moment arrived Willson said he was comfortable with the ball in King’s hands.
“I think regardless of where you are on the ground, kicking for goal after the siren to win the game is a fairly daunting task,” he said.
“As soon as Shaun took the mark I was really confident.
“Shaun is a terrific character and level-headed guy and I do not think the occasion got to him.
“For him, in his first game at the club, to do something like that is a really good way to welcome him into the group and show our fans who he is and what he is about.”
Considering the changes to both sides over the off period, many would have given West the best chance of victory.
The result showed how tight the competition could be this year.
Going forward Willson said he is pleased where the side is at the moment.
“We are very happy with where our list is,” he said.
“We actually had eight grand final players from last year out of the side for various reasons, but we do have a few players to come in over the next few weeks.”
For the victors Riley Janeway, Lock and Giancarlo Cooper were voted the best three, while for West, Zeitz, Dwayne Phillips and Ben Papps were given the nod.
