Picture gallery: Melton v Melton South
A great rivalry reached new heights on Saturday when Melton and Melton South played out a draw in the Ballarat Football League.
With 10 minutes to go, it was South that looked the winner, leading the Bloods by 28 points.
But Melton launched a spirited fightback to draw level.
Bloods coach Brad Murphy said it was frustrating to be so far behind, but he was pleased with the way his players fought out the contest.
“If you had asked me with 10 minutes to go if I would take two points I would have said, ‘Yes please’. With 10 seconds left we were one point in front, so it’s a weird feeling.
“I think the positives are that we fought the game out really well.
“We were down with 10 minutes to go and most sides would probably give up. But we had a real crack and got ourselves into a winning position.”
Earlier in the match, it was Melton South that made the running.
The Panthers kicked six goals in the opening term for a 26-point lead at quarter-time.
Melton pegged back the margin and trailed by 11 going into the final change.
But Panther forward Frank Holzer was intent on keeping his team on top and kicked the first three goals of the last quarter.
The Bloods’ fightback was led by Jarryd Ramsay, Lachlan Hickey and Murphy, who all featured on the scoreboard.
“For the first three and a half quarters, every time we got the football we were under pressure – we fumbled, we turned it over and we were just horrible, to be honest,” Murphy said.
“Then we just sort of started playing the way I’ve been drilling into the boys throughout the pre-season.
“We took a lot more risks, made our forward line a bit smaller with a lot more pace … we looked really dangerous every time we went inside 50 in the last 10 minutes.”
Holzer finished the match with seven goals for Melton South, while former Collingwood AFL player Chris Tarrant was impressive with two majors.
For the Bloods, Jake Gleeson and Nicholas Gale were among the best.
It was a tough debut for off-season recruit James Mulligan, who injured his hamstring and is expected to miss four or five weeks.
Next round
Melton now turns its attention to this week’s clash against Sebastopol.
“They’ve picked up a few handy VFL players,” Murphy said.
“We know we’re up for the challenge; it’s Anzac Day and everyone will be excited. We have to win and, unfortunately for Sebastopol, we’re coming.”
Melton South will have the bye this week.
