North Heidelberg held off a fast-finishing Heidelberg to advance through to the Northern Football/Netball League Division 1 second semi final.
The Bulldogs led by 59 points late in the third quarter before falling in for a 15.12 (102) to 14.15 (99) victory in the qualifying final at Preston City Oval.
Victory looked assured when Shane Harvey put through a torpedo from 50m on the boundary on the three-quarter time siren. His magical fourth goal of the day gave the Bulldogs a 53-point buffer entering the final term.
Despite Heidelberg kicking with the aid of the wind to the city end in the final term, most at the ground would have assumed the Bulldogs would coast to the finish line.
However, the Tigers had other ideas and came within a whisker of producing one of the greatest comebacks in finals history.
Tom Sullivan moved forward in what proved to be a masterstroke – with the star Tiger booting three goals in the opening 10 minutes of the last term to give his side hope.
Majors to Fletcher McIvor and Nathan Honey in quick succession cut the margin to just 21 points at the 16-minute mark of the term – before Sam Grimley and Josh Minogue converted within a minute of each other to cut the deficit to nine points early in time-on.
North Heidelberg managed to slow the game down as it tried desperately to halt Heidelberg’s momentum – however a fast break led to the ball finding its way to Chaz Sargeant, who coolly went back and kicked his second major o close the margin to four points.
The final four minutes were frantic, with Heidelberg launching the ball forward on several occasions without being able to find the goal that would have clinched one of the most famous wins in the club’s proud history.
Despite the final term fadeout, North Heidelberg would feel it was the deserving winner after leading throughout the entire match.
The Bulldogs kicked with the aid of the breeze in the first term and raced to a three-goal advantage after 15 minutes courtesy of two majors to Shane Harvey, either side of a long bomb from Leigh Gilbert.
Heidelberg wasted several gettable chances kicking into the wind and was made to pay when Jake Brown converted from long range late in the quarter to give North Heidelberg a 23-point advantage at the first change.
The Bulldogs maintained the rage after the break and slammed on the opening two goals of the second quarter via Kyle McDonald and Shane Biggs to stretch their advantage to 37 points.
Daniel Harris and Jesse Tardio were central figures in their side’s outstanding start – with both finding plenty of football in the clinches to give North Heidelberg the upper hand. Unfortunately, Harris’ day ended early in the third term after coming off worse for wear after a heavy collision.
It was Michael Brunelli who helped engineer a fightback for Heidelberg. The former skipper was immense in the midfield – winning multiple clearances to will his side into action.
Three consecutive goals to Sargeant, Christian Buykx-Smith and Josh Minogue, the latter after a fantastic rundown tackle inside 50, brought the Tigers back within 16 points entering time-on.
However, Billy Hogan and Liam Nunan combined perfectly from the next centre clearance to set up a goal for Jhye Baddeley-Kelly against the run of play.
Heidelberg controlled the contest in the final minutes of the opening half but couldn’t convert in front of goal – with several gettable shots being sprayed wide.
North Heidelberg broke the game wide open early in the third quarter. Hogan kicked a goal in the opening 40 seconds of the term, which started a run of six unanswered majors for the Bulldogs – with the lead blowing out to 58 points after Luke Dowdle converted.
Heidelberg managed three goals in time-on to cut the deficit, however it looked like the game was all over when Shane Harvey put through a torpedo on the three-quarter time siren to push the margin back beyond 50 points.
But with Tom Sullivan, Nathan Honey and Sam Gilmore running rampant in the final term, the game went right down to the wire.
North Heidelberg retains the double chance and advances through to the second semi final, where they will take on Greensborough for the first place in this year’s premiership decider. Heidelberg is off to the first semi final and will need to take the long route to take out this year’s flag.
Final score: Heidelberg 14.15 (99) def by North Heidelberg 15.12 (102)
HEIDELBERG
GOALS: T. Sullivan 3, J. Minogue 2, S. Grimley 2, C. Sargeant 2, F. McIvor 2, C. Buykx-Smith, N. Honey, E. McCuskey
BEST: T. Sullivan, N. Honey, J. Minogue, R. Stone, S. Gilmore, M. Brunelli
NORTH HEIDELBERG
GOALS: S. Harvey 4, B. Hogan 2, K. McDonald 2, S. Biggs 2, K. Green, L. Gilbert, L. Dowdle, J. Baddeley-Kelly, J. Brown
BEST: J. Tardio, N. Matthews, J. Fitzpatrick, J. Brown, B. Hogan, K. McDonald
