Orbost Snowy Rovers have suffered an agonising one-point loss to ladder leader, Lucknow, in the dying moments of its round nine East Gippsland Football Netball League last Saturday at the Lucknow Recreation Reserve.
The loss now sees the Blues precariously placed in fifth spot, two matches ajar of a group of teams, including Wy Yung, Boisdale Briagolong and Stratford.
Lucknow began the final quarter with an 11-point advantage, but the Blues were in for the fight.
The final term developed into an arm wrestle with the teams going goal for goal, as both sides held the lead and had opportunities to win the match.
The Blues had nine shots at goal to four in the final term, converting three goals while the Magpies kicked two.
Continued forward pressure by the Fenner brothers, Brayden, Lachlan (three goals) and Mitchell saw several vital turnovers, resulting in at least one goal for Orbost.
Among the many raids forward, veteran Magpie defender, Andrew Nelson, stood strong along with his rugged backline crew.
Jordan Ross continued to feed his team-mates, while Tom Smith and Max Welsh did everything they could to get the Blues home.
Glenn Perkins was standing resolute on his wing for the Magpies, pumping the ball forward towards Jake Richards and the Smiths, Jackson (four) and Dallas (two).
The pressure was building and missed opportunities by both teams had the scores level ticking into time on.
The ball was spending the majority of the time in the Lucknow forward 50, with the Orbost defenders doing a sterling job to not allow a score of any type.
ball into the pocket which ended up being punched through the points, practically on the siren.
Lucknow was left to celebrate while the Blues pondered what might have been.
Earlier the game started at a frantic pace, which seemed to suit Orbost and it dominated the early stages of the game, with Ash Jonkers in everything, continually propelling them forward.
The well drilled Lucknow half back line was shocked at the frantic nature of the ball coming in and only inaccurate kicking was costing the Blues opening up an early advantage.
Tom Smith was prominent early and was showing his class all over the ground, but as the quarter wore on, Lucknow started to get its systems going, with coach Shaun Mooney, Nelson, skipper Jesse Glassborrow and Joel McNamara starting to link up with Ryan Halford, who was putting on a display in his return game from injury.
IMAGE: Orbost Snowy Rovers suffered a one-point loss to Lucknow at the Lucknow Recreation Reserve last Saturday in round nine of the East Gippsland Football Netball League. The loss sees the Blues placed in fifth spot on the ladder.
