Jackas edge Hampton in preliminary final
“While were were behind, we knew we’d have a strong wind in our favour in the last quarter and that scoring opportunities would come if we moved the ball around.
It took a goal by Jackas super sub Natan Cowan in the 25th minute of the last quarter of last Sunday’s VAFA men’s Premier C reserve grade preliminary final at Elsternwick Park, to clinch a comeback victory over the Hampton Rovers and advance to this Saturday’s decider against Parkdale.
But a win’s a win and the tight margin of 11.12 (78) to 11.9 (75) will matter little to a Jackas squad whose focus is now firmly on the grand final, to be played from midday at Trevor Barker Beach Oval.
“We had a very strong first two quarters, Hampton got in front in the third and then it was a nerve-racking finish, but we did it,” a proud and relieved, Jackas reserves captain Jordan Tonkin told The AJN on Tuesday.
Ahead 46-35 at the main break, Hampton Rovers roared to life in the third term, outscoring AJAX by five goals to two, to slip eight points in front. Most of those Hampton goals were scored by former AFL and VFL player Will Walker, who finished with six goals and was added to the Rovers’ starting team list earlier in the day.
“That was a surprise, but Joel [Burston] and our backline soon figured out how to handle that,” Tonkin said.
“While were were behind, we knew we’d have a strong wind in our favour in the last quarter and that scoring opportunities would come if we moved the ball around.
“The trouble was, we narrowly missed, or struck the goal posts, several times – myself included.
“But Natan [Cowan] snuck one inside the left post to get us back in front in the last minutes and we held on to win.
“We had a lot of support in the crowd, which really helped us, so we’re hoping for another great turnout at this Saturday’s grand final.”
Logan Siegel scored four goals for AJAX, Noah Spitz two and one goal each was kicked by Cowan, Jesse Velleman, Daniel Cohen, Brandon Efron and Cobi Chrapot.
While the first-placed Parkdale Vultures defeated AJAX by 23 points in a non-elimination semi-final a fortnight ago, most of the damage they inflicted was in a 15-minute period in the second quarter.
“We learned a lot from that semi loss and we’ll be getting a couple of players back from injury for the decider, so those are both positives,” Tonkin said.
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