WESTERN Jets held their nerve to beat the Calder Cannons by two points in an entertaining TAC Cup showdown at Highgate Reserve on Sunday.
A high-quality game was ultimately decided by costly mistakes in Calder’s backline as the Jets punished indecisiveness to open the match-winning break early in the final quarter.
Calder challenged in the dying stages but fell to a third straight loss to start the season, losing 14.9 (93) to the Jets’ 14.11 (95).
The Jets trailed by three points at the final change but took the lead via James Sicily three and a half minutes in.
On 11 minutes, a telegraphed back-pass in the Calder defensive 50m by Jake Lever was intercepted by the Jets’ Mitchell Norton, who goaled from close range. With his tail up, Norton then ran into the 50m and kicked a banana goal after a Calder kick to a contest on half back spilt into his path.
Down by 13, Calder closed the gap when Jason Cooke kicked his fourth goal of the day. The Jets missed a golden chance to seal the game a minute later when Omar Abou-Zeid missed from 20m on the run, and Calder’s Matthew Merlo set up a grandstand finish when his attempt on goal tumbled through to make the score 92-95.
A desperate smother from Billy Myers denied one attempt from Calder to own the corridor and go into attack in time-on. In the 26th minute, Aaron Christensen broke free to send a high shot to the goalsquare. But no Cannon could mark, with a pack forming and Duom Dawam coming up with a free kick for holding the ball.
The siren sounded with the Jets trying to take the ball out of their defensive 50m and Calder pressed up, desperately seeking to score.
In the first quarter, Calder got the jump to lead by 18 points, only for Jets ruckman Duom Dawam to take control of the centre square and spark a brisk comeback at the start of the second term.
Cooke and Dylan Van Der Byl were Calder’s most dangerous around goal in the first half, while Norton and Harrison King were prominent for the Jets.
Calder threatened to escape again at the start of the third when Jayden Walker goaled after just 45 seconds to make the margin 16 points.
But the quarter developed into an end-to-end exchange with the lead changing a number of times.
Pele Manivong outran the Calder backline for back-to-back goals then hit the post with what would have been a third major in four minutes after attempting a set-shot snap from a tight angle.
Calder turned for home three points up when Nathan Blair backed his pace to escape his opponent and goal from 48m, with a shepherd from Van Der Byl on the line crucial to the ball getting through.
The TAC Cup breaks for metro teams this weekend due to a Vic Metro under-18 intra-team trial game.
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