By Marcus Uhe
“What a day for Berwick Springs Football Club!”
The biggest bottle of elbow grease in the world would have hardly wiped the smile off Rod Benstead’s face on Sunday afternoon, and if you’d just experienced what he did, you couldn’t possibly blame him.
His underdog Titans, an army of blue white and green, never stopped believing, stretching the proverbial ‘lacker-band’ to its pale discoloured limits.
They were the underdogs, but belief was sky high, with a come-from-behind win over the mighty Emerald side – just weeks earlier as part of a four-game winning streak to close the season – leaving them cherry-ripe for a tilt at a premiership.
But how can you prepare for extra time?
A 12-goal final quarter, with four lead changes and countless memorable moments, saw the scores locked at 106 at Woori Yallock when the siren rung to end the fourth quarter, cuing a cocktail of emotions from those in the outer; disbelief quickly turned to elation at the prospect of more of what they’d just seen.
After all, try finding better entertainment in the glorious Spring sunshine at better value than $10 for adults.
Despite Emerald making the better start, it was the Titans who kicked the opening goal of the contest, big names in Hayden Stagg, Chris Johnson and Daniel Ousley combining to find Brent Urwin on the run.
Having erected a brick wall of red and black across half way with Adrian Russo and Sam Cannon the chief carpenters, Emerald was stranded on four behinds, nerves coming to the fore.
Rogan Goonan held his composure to finally register the first major, having missed one earlier in the quarter, but Berwick Springs responded through Rhys Fletcher at the other end.
Wasteful kicking for goal from the Bombers meant that from the 16 inside 50s they managed in the first quarter, all they had to show was a five-point lead.
Three minutes into the second term, Corey Green put the Titans ahead, in a rare foray from the halfback line that penetrated the Bomber backline.
Johnson’s first, then Braydn Hoewel’s, thanks to Johnson’s work further afield, saw the Titans sneak ahead by 13.
With Emerald star David Johnson completing run-throughs on the interchange bench and Callum White unavailable through injury, the Bombers’ forward line was suddenly lacking targets, despite the aerial capabilities of Goonan.
Fast ball movement and forward pressure became the keys to their game, and the adjustment reaped instant rewards with the next four goals.
Nic Jansen kicked two, Goonan his third and Jordan Donadal a brilliant long set shot in front of his bench, seeing the Bombers surge ahead to a 15-point lead, the game back on the Bombers terms.
But the Titans kicked the final goal of the half through Green, benefiting again from the physicality of Chris Johnson at ground level.
A nine-point margin was a much easier pill to swallow than 15 for the Titans, a frustrating way for the Bombers to close the half, having won the clearance count by nine and inside 50s by seven.
The pendulum swung viciously in the third term, goals traded throughout as Berwick Springs lifted its game around clearances and won the inside 50 count for the term as a result.
Green book-ended the quarter with his third and fourth goals of the contest, with goals to Isaac Seskis, Jake Pedder and Ty Ellison in between.
A clumsy tackle that collected his opponent high saw Bombers’ vice-captain Josh Rich temporarily sidelined, and with David Johnson ruled out with a hamstring injury, it only shortened the rotations available on the Emerald bench.
With six points the margin at the final break, Benstead implored his side to take advantage of the ‘free swing’ afforded through the double chance.
With a spot in the grand final on the line and Emerald tiring with a hamstrung bench, the class of the Titans came to the fore.
Stagg was crowned best-on-ground in the Premier Division grand final last year for Narre Warren before making the switch to Mick Morland Reserve to ply his trade in blue.
He’s a player that rises to the occasion in big moments, with his credentials on full display on Sunday.
When there was a clearance to be won, Stagg and his long sleeves were there, feeding the ball to his outside players or hitting his forwards with a bullet on his left foot.
It was on show all day, but became more and more obvious as the contest went on.
His clearance at a boundary throw-in resulted in a running goal to Tom Nelson, a player who has owned fourth quarters late in the season, and put the Titans in front by a point.
Nelson then took a contested mark running back with the flight, landed like a cat and hit Ty Ellison on the lead, to push the lead to seven points.
Stagg, so often the giver, then became receiver, goaling after he was held without the ball to make it four in a row for Berwick Springs, who suddenly led by 12 points after 20 minutes.
The pressure was on Emerald, but the Bombers were up for the fight.
Goonan’s presence saw his opponent panic, holding him without the footy and allowing the full-forward to kick his fourth.
Lachlan Hoye then took advantage of a free kick at a boundary throw-in and went inboard with a risky kick, where Sam Cannon made the hazardous play a success.
Emerald back in front.
When Rich, refreshed and rested after his yellow card, snapped truly at a boundary throw in after 26 minutes to extend the lead to seven, and crunched Ousley in a menacing tackle at the next centre bounce, some thought the rollercoaster ride was coming to an end.
Oh how they were wrong.
Green appeared from nowhere to shark a goal at a stoppage, deep in the Titans’ forward line, cutting the lead to one as the Bombers players insisted it was off line.
He missed the next shot but tied the scores, before his teammates found Hoewel to put his side in front by six points, having goaled from the top of the square.
34 minutes in, Berwick Springs are home, right?
Jared Derksen didn’t think so.
The ruck tied the scores at 100 with a snap on the run, having gathered the ball at ground level after a hurried kick forward.
Nelson grabbed the next, weaving his way through traffic at a forward 50 stoppage for another six-point lead after 37 minutes.
But Emerald weren’t to be denied, Cannon tying the scores at 106 after Derksen shook off a desperate Titans tackle at centre-half-forward.
106 apiece the score read at the end of regular time, as the league’s General Manager of Operations Cam Hutchison appeared on the ground to remind players and officials of the rules; a crowd that payed for a bottomless brunch of action were being treated to a dessert of two three-minute periods of more footy.
Extra time belonged to one man, and one man only: Stagg.
He found Ellison on the lead in the pocket, who opened the scoring in extra time in the perfect way.
His clearance at ground level sprung Nelson into space, goaling on the run to put the pressure on the Bombers, now down by 12.
With Van Haren off the field joining Johnson on the injured list, the Bombers looked exhausted, enable to generate any forward momentum.
When James Makrodimitris goaled upon the resumption of play after the change of ends, Berwick Springs knew they were home.
Faith may have wavered from those in the outer, but Benstead’s was never shaken on the way to the 19.11 125 to 14.22 106 result.
“I always get a response from these boys, they’ve got character,” the victorious coach said.
“We were six goals down against Emerald halfway through the third quarter, and we got them (last time). I keep harping on that; we can do it.
“We’ve won a lot of close games and they’ve been winning big.
“If we can keep it close, that was my theory; I thought they might be a bit vulnerable today because they’ve been sitting up the top.
“Let’s be honest; they had more play, more inside 50s, and they missed, but there’s something that we have; it’s an intangible and it’s leadership and a will, things that are hard to explain, but it’s there, and something I believe in.
“People thought we could win, but I don’t think many gave us a chance.
“It was pretty special.”
While Johnson and Stagg were on-field conductors for the Titans orchestra, Benstead was quick to acknowledge those playing the instruments.
“I said today, ‘play your role and we’ll win’. Looking around, I thought ‘I can look in your eyes and see 14-15 winners.’
“It might not be at the contest, but even some of the lesser lights had moments and kept whacking away.
“I thought we were really good with that, it was a really even spread and players had moments.
“That’s what I really encourage, because that’s how you win games of football.
“I guess I think back to Richmond and embrace imperfections.
“We’re not perfect, but we want to keep going and going.
“That’s our mentality, to keep going, and you know you’re always a chance with that.”
Robbie Williams’ ‘Rock DJ’ infiltrated the Emerald rooms next door, where the mood was not as boisterous.
Coach Sein Clearihan put a line through David Johnson and Noah Van Haren’s prospects for next week, with hamstring and AC joint injuries respectively, but White is expected to return next week.
While no doubt disappointed in the final outcome, he has confidence in the credits that his Bombers’ built over the course of the home and away season to respond.
“Good sides bounce back, it’s only the third game we’ve lost this year,” Clearihan said.
“I just keep looking at that 22 points and thinking ‘you’ve got to kick straight’.
“If you haven’t got scoreboard pressure, you lose your confidence and when you lose your confidence you lose your run, and then you get nervous.
“To their credit, they did come back.
“Josh Rich got yellow carded so we were down there for 15 minutes, missing another rotation, and that hurt.
“But our fitness showed that we were there, but 14.22 doesn’t win you games of footy at this time of the year.
“We’ll lick our wounds and we’ve got Healesville next week.
“They’ll be right. It’ll be okay.”
