A little more than 12 months ago, Melton South came from eight goals down at three-quarter time to defeat cross-town rival Melton in the Ballarat Football League.
A year on, and the Bloods were four goals up close to halfway through the fourth term on Saturday, but it looked like the Panthers were yet again going to run over the top of them when they hit front in the final minute.
PICTURE GALLERY: Melton South v Melton
But for the Bloods the game wasn’t over.
“With about 10 seconds to go we got back in front,” said Bloods coach Brad Murphy.
“The siren couldn’t have happen at a better time.
“It was good to show the fight-back. It’s as good as win as I’ve seen in football for a very long time.”
The five point result 14.13 (97)-13.14 (92) was a fitting reflection of the contest.
“It was closer than I would have liked,” Murphy said.
“They got the jump in the first quarter with four goals … we got it back to a two goal margin at half-time.
“We managed to get it to them needing three goals at three quarter time – I thought we were safe.
“Then [Panthers coach] Matthew Sutton kicked four goals in the final term.”
Murphy highlighted the performances of two blokes who had been “on the chopping block” during the week.
“Kieran Butty was fantastic and kicked three goals, including the winner,” he said.
“Corey Armstrong was another … he played absolutely fantastic on Sutton for the first three quarters. You can’t keep a good player like Sutton down.”
For Sutton, the game should have been over in the first half.
“We were the better side and we had them on the ropes,” Sutton said.
“We were winning by five goals in the first quarter. If we had got a couple more goals we would have put them away.
“After quarter time there was complacency and lack of accountability … we thought it would just happen.
“I kicked the goal to put us in front and I thought we had longer left,” he said.
“We have had seven under-18 players in the side, so it’s a learning curve. We have to teach them when to slow it down and when to take the game on.”
In other matches, Bacchus Marsh defeated Sebastopol and Darley went down to Ballarat.
